(Source: Nash Country Daily)

by Lisa Konicki  |  June 11, 2016

It was night two of the CMA Music Festival Concerts at Nissan Stadium, on Friday, June 10, that showcased a stellar lineup of talent. The night was warm with a light breeze that swept through the stadium to keep the heat at bay. But it wasn’t enough to keep the heat from coming off of the stage as the country music acts— Clint Black, Chris Stapleton, Sam Hunt, Eric Church, Chris Janson, Justin Moore, Hank Williams Jr. and Carrie Underwood—kept getting hotter.

 

Clint Black started the night off with a rousing rendition of “Nothing But The Tailights” to get the crowd going. It was when he brought out his wife of 25 years, Lisa Hartman Black, that things started to heat up. The couple launched into a duet of “You Still Get to Me,” from Clint’s album, On Purpose, before he finished his set with old favorites “We Tell Ourselves” and “Killin’ Time.”

It was Chris Stapleton’s turn next. The singer came out whaling, like only he could, on his tune “Nobody to Blame,” with his wife Morgane by his side. The crowd was treated to the gravelly voiced singers “Outlaw State of Mind” and “Might As Well Get Stoned.” It was then that Chris decided to introduce the band by singing — pitch perfectly —all the bands introductions. The reluctant star then finished his night with the slow and sexy “Tennesee Whiskey.”

The night changed as we went from quiet and shy Chris Stapleton to the outgoing and rambunctious Sam Hunt. 

Sam took the party to another level as he entered the stage jumping around and singing his first No. 1 hit “Leave the Night On.”  Sam was the first of the artists to make it out into the crowd to get up close and personal with the fans— running back and forth hitting every inch of the stage. His set list included songs such as “Raised On It” and his latest single, “Make You Miss Me.” But it was when the hit-maker sang “House Party” and “Take Your Time” that the crowd went crazy, standing on their feet the whole time.

Eric Church slowed things down a bit kicking off his set with the song “Knives of New Orleans” from his latest album, Mr. Misunderstood. The singer was clad in his green leather jacket and signature sunglasses. Eric stuck with songs from his new album including “Record Year,” “Mr. Misunderstood” and “Chattanooga Lucy.” Singing background vocals was singer Joanna Cotten, who Eric described as his favorite singer ever. Joanna joined Eric for a duet of “Mixed Drinks with Feelings” to close out his set.

In the surprise moment of the night, two of country’s young guns were brought out onto the stage to add to the night— Chris Janson and Justin Moore.

First, Chris Janson got the crowd into a frenzy when he burst out onto the stage singing his No. 1 hit single, “Buy Me A Boat.” The fans showed their love to the Chris by turning on the lights on their phones and lighting up the stadium. The raucous singer showed off his talent in front of 60,000 people as he jammed on his harmonica.

Justin Moore was the second surprise guest of the night, performing his latest single, “You Look Like I Need a Drink,” as the crowd sang along.

Hank Williams Jr. got the crowd on it’s feet as he began his set with a rockin’ rendition of “Born To Boogie” — they don’t call him Rockin’ Randall for nothing.  Hank kept the energy level on high as he broke into “Are You Ready for the Country” with Eric Church, who came back out to the stage to join Hank for the duet.  But it was Hank’s final song that drew the most cheers from the already excited audience — “Family Tradition.”  The noise level hit a fever pitch as the crowd, even taking over for Hank at times, sang every word of the classic hit. In a total Hank Jr. moment, when the song ended, Hank just simply walked off the stage without warning, in essence, dropping the mic.

With the crowd still in full force at the end of the night, Carrie Underwood took the stage belting out her 2007 hit single, “Last Name.” Carrie commanded the stage as she ran down to the crowd to interact with her fans, using every inch of the platform. Her set list included a majority of hits including “Undo It,” “Wasted” and her current single, “Church Bells,” which found Carrie at her absolute best. But the blonde beauty really wowed the crowd when she broke into a sassy rendition of “Choctaw County Affair,” showing off her blazing harmonica skills. Carrie closed the show with fan favorites, “Something in The Water, “Blown Away” and “Before He Cheats,” leaving fans on their feet for the entire set.