In the early 2010s, Katy Perry was one of the biggest names in pop music. In 2008, the release of her sophomore album, One of the Boys, saw lots of success with hits “I Kissed a Girl” and “Hot and Cold.” Overall, the album showed so much promise for a new artist. This made anticipation for her next record extremely high. Fans, critics and the world could not wait to see what Perry had to offer. Perry did not fail to deliver.

In 2010, Katy Perry released Teenage Dream, which is right next to Taylor Swift’s 1989 as an example of pop music perfection. The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys, received almost universal acclaim and tied Michael Jackson’s record for most No. 1 hits from an album. Those five No. 1s were “California Gurls,” “Teenage Dream,” “Firework,” “E.T.,” and “Last Friday Night.” Teenage Dream was pop music done right. 

That’s what makes the rest of Katy Perry’s career so puzzling. Perry has not matched the success of Teenage Dream and hasn’t even come close. Her third album after finding stardom, Prism, was a solid attempt, Witness received mixed reviews and Smile was considered a flop. After Smile, Perry settled into her role as an “American Idol” judge for seven seasons. Upon announcing her exit from the reality competition show earlier this year, Perry announced she was recording new music.  

Anticipation started to grow for Perry fans. Could she recapture the magic of Teenage Dream? The magic of an album that perfectly gave us bops to dance to (“Last Friday Night”), songs to cry to (“The One That Got Away”), songs that questioned our purpose (“Who Am I Living For?”) and songs that make us realize that the world isn’t always the dream we want it to be (“Wide Awake”). Could Perry recapture that magic with this new album?

That album, 143, was released on September 20th and I can tell you with such sadness that the answer is no. Sadly, it’s Perry’s worst album to date. 

The premise of 143 is “I love you.” For the older generation that remembers when we used numbers on cell phones to get letters to type into text messages, you will know precisely what that means. Perry told critics that this album should not be taken seriously; it should just be a fun dance record. The problem is that the album isn’t fun at all. The album is only 33 minutes long and feels 25 minutes too long. Almost every song on the record is instantaneously forgettable. It is so confusing because Teenage Dream knew what it was doing, and it was a no-skip album.  

The problem, I feel, is that the pop landscape has changed so much in recent years. In 2024, Sabrina Carpenter is topping the charts with songs full of personality, cheeky fun and witty lyricism. Chappell Roan gives us authenticity and a sense of not holding back with her storytelling. Taylor Swift has perfectly matched personality, storytelling, catchy beats and is a master at writing lyrics. It would be a success if Perry were releasing Teenage Dream in 2024. But 143 has no catchy beats, exciting hooks or personality. The worst part is the album feels like it is something A.I. might have created. 

This is difficult for me to write because this is coming from someone who has been a Katy Perry fan for years. I went to see her on her “Witness” tour in 2018 and had an absolute blast. I was someone who was singing a little-known song called “Russian Roulette” and grooving to it while no one else around me seemed even to know what the song was. I always try to find something I like about every piece of art; it is tough to find with this album.

However, the best song on the album is “ALL THE LOVE.” It tells a beautiful story of how Perry had finally settled that love wasn’t for her and that she wasn’t meant to be happy. However, “ALL THE LOVE” comes back to her. The other song that stood out to me was called “WONDER.” Her daughter, Daisy, sings this song with her. The song makes us question when we get older: will we still have that same sense of wonder we had when we were kids? These two songs are the only two I feel are worthwhile on the album.  

This album has had some controversy surrounding it as well. Perry worked with Dr. Luke as a producer on this album. Perry has been an advocate for women and women’s rights and Dr. Luke was sued in 2014 for infliction of emotional distress, sex-based hate crimes and employment discrimination by pop singer Kesha. In June 2023, Kesha and Dr. Luke released a joint statement saying they settled. Perry has claimed that she was contractually obligated to complete another album with Dr. Luke, but there have been reports that she was only contractually obligated to do three albums with him, and that obligation had been fulfilled. So, it appears this was a choice for her, and it doesn’t make her look good.
 
I hope that Katy Perry’s next album is the BIGGEST COMEBACK in pop history. I hope she uses this time to figure out what didn’t work with 143 and use it to fuel an album that will be remembered for generations and generations to come. I’m rooting for her.  

Alan Jackson brought his “Last Call: One More For the Road” farewell tour to Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark., on Saturday, September 28, for an evening of the kind of traditional country music that made him one of the biggest hitmakers in the genre from 1989-2010.

It’s a continuation of a tour that played to sold-out crowds from coast to coast in 2022 and now sees the Country Music Hall of Famer playing 10 more cities spread out over nine months between August 2, 2024 and May 17, 2025. These aren’t necessarily Jackson’s last 10 shows, as more could be added, but then again, they could be, as well.

For Jackson, 65, it’s kind of all up in the air after he revealed a diagnosis of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease in 2021. This has led to balance issues that are obvious on the stage. Jackson needed help walking on and off of the stage and would lean on amps and speakers while gingerly moving around the stage — though he did move more than one might expect given the circumstances.  

Jackson began his show around 8:30 p.m. with an abbreviated performance of his 1994 No. 1 hit “Gone Country,” in which he only performed the chorus repeatedly.

This would be a disappointment for me throughout the night, as it was the previous time I’d seen him perform in St. Charles, Mo., seven years ago. Jackson does this annoying thing where he will only perform snippets of some of his biggest and best songs and would also do it during his set with “Here In the Real World,” “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow” and “Midnight in Montgomery,” which all likely fall in my top-five Alan Jackson songs. However, I should probably be grateful for any of “Midnight in Montgomery,” which he said he hadn’t performed in years and only did so because of a fan-held sign in the crowd.

I understand Jackson has a hall of fame’s worth of hits and it would be hard to get through them all in a 90-minute show – I wonder if he performed longer sets earlier in his career or if it’s become a thing since the CMT diagnosis – but I’ve never liked being teased with snippets or medleys at live shows.

Other than this disappointment, which I was expecting thanks to my previous time seeing him, the show was mostly great (performing “Country Boy” and “Good Time” over those abbreviated classics knocks a point or two off the total score).

Among my favorite performances on Saturday night were “I Don’t Even Know Your Name,” “Little Bitty” and “Don’t Rock the Jukebox,” all No. 1 hits for Jackson between 1994 and 1996.

Some of Jackson’s more touching songs, written and recorded throughout his legendary career, came toward the end of the set, like his tribute to his father, “Drive (For Daddy Gene),” his 9/11 remembrance, “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” and “Remember When,” a love letter to his wife and the challenges of a long relationship.

The festiveness would pick back up to end his set with “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” his 2003 No. 1 duet with the legendary Jimmy Buffett, “Chattahoochee,” probably the song he’s most famous for, and the one that certainly got the most significant crowd reaction from the Bud Walton Arena crowd, and “Where I Come From,” his 2001 No. 1 hit that wouldn’t crack my top 25 Alan Jackson songs but the crowd appreciated.

He would return to the stage for a one-song encore of “Mercury Blues,” his cover of an old blues song from the ‘40s that he took to No. 2 on the country chart in 1993.

Lee Ann Womack opened the show for Jackson, as she had done the last time we saw him in 2017. The two make a terrific concert pair with their unwavering dedication and loyalty to traditional country music, though both have chased more pop-country-leaning trends at least once in their careers.

The sound in the arena for Womack’s set was atrocious initially. It lasted until about her fourth song, which is incredibly disappointing as her opening set was only 10 songs, and Womack has one of the greatest voices in country music of any era. The sound difficulties made it harder to enjoy some of her best songs like “Never Again Again,” “Ashes By Now” and “A Little Past Little Rock” than it should’ve been.

Thankfully, by the time her performances of “The Way I’m Livin’,” “I May Hate Myself in the Morning” and “Last Call” came around, the sound mix was crisp, and she could easily be heard throughout the arena.

She finished her set with the biggest hit of her career, “I Hope You Dance." The song, a Grammy Award winner for Best Country Song, saw her chasing some of those early pop-country trends but remains a prime example of how to do pop-country properly.

I’d like the opportunity someday to see Womack perform a full headlining set, but she doesn’t seem to tour much these days. What I really need, as a fan, from her is a new album, which she hasn’t released since 2017’s The Lonely, the Lonesome & the Gone.

​We’re down to 40 days before the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, and it’s already pretty much consumed the everyday lives of Americans and will continue to do so until the election is decided (which may or may not be on Election Day).

When you spend as much time consuming pop culture as I do, you start to see the election and politics seeping into the pop culture world as the election nears.

The most significant pop culture meets the election moment came a few weeks ago when pop music sensation Taylor Swift endorsed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris for President while encouraging her fans within the U.S. to register to vote and vote.

This caused outrage among some, primarily those who will vote for Republican candidate Donald Trump. Some don't like it when celebrities endorse politicians in general, no matter whom they’ll be voting for in November.

My perspective on celebrity endorsements has always been that it’s the celebrity's right, as any other American, to share whom they want to vote for and why. If I can speak out about my preferred political candidates on my social media outlets, Swift and Kid Rock have every right to do so on their platforms.

It’s risky, though, for celebrities.

Swift undoubtedly has fans of all political backgrounds, and endorsing a particular candidate may turn those fans off from her music. It doesn’t mean she should keep her mouth shut and sing. It simply means there are pros and cons to celebrities endorsing politicians. She’s no doubt weighed these pros and cons and made her decision.

I’ve never let a celebrity endorsement or celebrity commenting on politics change my feelings about their art. But there have been celebrities I’ve come to view as idiots and lost respect for personally because of their political views, and it’s an unfortunate feeling to have about someone whose work you admire.

It’s the risk the celebrity takes when they venture to talk about matters unrelated to their day jobs. And I will always stand by their right to do so because – as I’ve said – I reserve the right to do the same.

One thing I’ve seen lately that has bothered me about politics and celebrities is the demand for celebrities to spill their guts about their political opinions.

When you go to your local polling place on Election Day, you enter a booth because your vote is confidential. It’s your vote and yours alone, and you don’t have to share it with anybody.

The same confidentiality given to us regular Joes and Jills should be afforded to celebrities.

Fans and, especially, the media shouldn’t inquire about celebrities' political endorsements, affiliations or opinions unless the celebrity offers them up.

You’ll seldom hear/read me saying specific questions should be off-limits to the press. It’s truly a no-win situation for many celebrities when it comes to being asked about politics as a non-answer can be viewed in today’s world as just as deadly to one’s reputation as answers regarding politics.

Many celebrities are brave or dumb (depending on how you view such things) enough to discuss political topics, leanings, opinions, etc. If they offer up the topic, please ask away as often and as much as you’d like. But for those who don’t want to be involved with politics out in the open, let’s afford them the privacy they deserve. We don’t have to know everything about our favorite pop culture icons.

Will Hoge brought his one-man act to Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack in Little Rock, Ark., on Wednesday, September 18, for a fantastic night of music.

It was night one of a short trek out west for Hoge at Stickyz, where he mixed in a number of fan favorites from his more than 20 years on the road and some new stuff from his latest release, Tenderhearted Boys, which came out in mid-April.

The 51-year-old singer-songwriter from Nashville is one of the most underrated songwriters in the Americana world. His songs range from folk to country to rock and pop. He can do a little bit of it all and showcased that perfectly on Wednesday night, swapping between multiple guitars, harmonicas, and a keyboard.

Hoge opened the show on Wednesday night with the plaintive “Even the River Runs Out of This Town” from his 2020 album Tiny Little Movies. It’s one of my favorite songs in his repertoire.

What makes Hoge such a terrific songwriter is his ability to perfectly capture the little moments in life that make up our world. His songs are lived in. They’re real, and you feel them in your heart, soul, and mind.

You can feel the highs and lows of a relationship in “A Little Bit of Rust,” you can feel the young high school love in “17” and how a relationship can change one for the better in “Better Than You Found Me.”

Then there’s the songwriter who’s trying to make the world a bit of a better place with important message songs about the despicability of the Confederate flag in “Still a Southern Man” and poking fun at the absurdity of the MAGA cult in “Whose God Is This?”

Hoge told the Stickyz audience that “Still a Southern Man” had gotten him hate mail from the Ku Klux Klan. That’s a pretty badass badge of honor if you ask me.

Hoge is certainly not afraid to speak his mind in his work and has done so terrifically, especially with his 2018 politically tinged album, My American Dream, which I wish he’d perform more tracks from in person. I can certainly understand why he doesn’t. It’s risky. But I think his crowd is with him. And, if they aren’t, that’s their problem.

Hoge had the opportunity to highlight a couple of tracks off his 14th album, Tenderhearted Boys. However, I wouldn’t have minded hearing even more from the new record; it’s another solid release by the veteran singer-songwriter. He performed “Deadbolt,” a song about being caught up in rapture with the one you love. He finished his show with “I’d Be Lying,” which is about being a traveling performer and leaving your family behind while making a living. Hoge spoke before the song about his teenage boys, and you can tell the impact family life has had on him and his music.

Among my other favorite performances of Hoge’s set was his tribute to songwriting legend John Prine, “John Prine’s Cadillac,” which appeared on his previous album Wings on My Shoes from 2022 and is such a fun listen, and “Middle of America” and “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” which show off Hoge’s more commercial songwriting abilities. “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” is arguably the most successful song of Hoge’s career as it was taken to No. 1 on the Billboard Country chart in 2012 by Eli Young Band and earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Country Song of the Year.

The most fascinating thing about Hoge is how he can capture the attention and imagination of a room of people just by himself and a guitar. That’s the power of songwriting.

For years, the music industry has been known for wanting artists to put out albums that are almost carbon copies of their previous works. These works, of course, were massive commercial successes and sometimes even critically acclaimed. These companies wanted a return on their investments, and why not continue with what has proven to sell?  
​
Lately, artists are starting to evolve in their crafts and not feel tied down creatively to continue exactly what they were doing. It surprises fans, and it has been great from my perspective.

Beyonce released her first country-influenced album in February, Cowboy Carter. The R&B superstar that gave us massive hits such as “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It),” decided to put out an album taking her back to her country roots. Beyonce is originally from Houston. The result was a creative, powerful, beautiful country album that should easily be nominated for the next Grammy Awards. It has a considerable chance of finally getting Beyonce the top honor that has evaded her for so long, even though she has won more Grammys than anyone. My favorite song from the Cowboy Carter album was “Levii’s Jeans,” featuring Post Malone. At the time, I had no idea Post Malone was planning his own foray into the country music genre but I was full of anticipation for its release date.

Post Malone’s seventh studio album, F-1 Trillion, was released on August 16th and was 100 percent worth the anticipation.

It took me several days to get through this album but for the best reasons. The album's first eleven tracks are so catchy and sound like they could all be hit singles on country radio. I found myself replaying these songs on repeat because of how great they were. Post Malone has assembled a team of writers who know what a country music song needs to please country music fans. The rest of the album is just as fantastic, though. The original album had 18 songs, but on release day, Malone surprised his fans with nine more songs, bringing the total to 27 new songs.  
​
F-1 Trillion is a love letter to country music that makes us all swoon.

Post Malone has assembled some of the best artists in country music to collaborate with on this album. Fifteen songs are collaborations, leaving 12 as songs with just Malone as the artist. These artists include Tim McGraw, Hank Williams Jr., Morgan Wallen, Blake Shelton, Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, Jelly Roll, ERNEST, Sierra Ferrell, Chris Stapleton, HARDY and Billy Strings.

The songs cover a wide variety of topics. There are songs about drinking (“Pour Me A Drink”), wanting the fine things in life (“Finer Things),” finding beauty in struggles (“Nosedive”), embracing being different from the status quo (“Losers”), not wanting to break someone’s heart (“Have The Heart”), and a sweet song about giving your daughter away that is sure to be played at many upcoming weddings (“Yours”). Of course, the album mostly touches on love, how amazing it can be, and how it can wreck us for the rest of our lives.

What is really interesting is that while most of the album sounds like contemporary country, the song “Missin’ You Like This” begins, and you feel like it is a 1980s or early 1990s country song that you, for some reason, didn’t hear when it was first released. I love this song, and it takes you back.

It isn't easy to pick favorites from this album because this is a no-skip album. However, my favorite songs are “Killed A Man,” “Nosedive,” “Guy for That,” “What Don’t Belong to Me,” “Goes Without Saying” and “Wrong Ones.”

“Killed A Man” was the most surprising song on the album. You think it will be a saloon fight kind of thing, but it ends up being a look at ourselves and how we try to evolve to become better people by “killing” our old selves. It is such a therapeutic song and probably my favorite on the album. As a girl dad, the song “Yours” definitely tugged at my heartstrings as a dad reminds his daughter’s future husband that he was there first. I could see this playing as a father-daughter dance at both of my daughters’ weddings.

“What Don’t Belong To Me” breaks your heart a little because Malone sings that he can give this woman everything but cannot give her his heart because it has slowly been given to other things throughout his life, and he has nothing left to give.

The entire album surprised me and made me a Post Malone fan. I am excited to hear all of his previous albums that are more pop and alternative rock now. This album should be a contender at the Grammys in some country categories and the general field. 

The Turnpike Troubadours returned to Little Rock, Ark. on Saturday, August 17 for a show at the First Security Amphitheater near the Arkansas River downtown.
​
First Security Amphitheater is one of a few venues the band has played at in Little Rock over the years, and it packed in a massive ground despite the sweltering heat and the venue being nothing special. You know how you’ll hear “there’s not a bad seat in the house” for some concert venues? Well, that isn’t the First Security Amphitheater, where due to not having much, if any, decline in the seating and the lawn seating not being on much of a decline either, there’s not a great view to be had other than maybe the first few rows of the pit area and the first row of the seated area.

Despite these negativities, it’s always a special night of music when the Turnpike Troubadours are around, especially when such a talented opener as Charles Wesley Godwin is on the bill with them. Tyler Halverson was also on the bill, but unfamiliar with his music, I couldn’t make out much of what was being sung. It sounded fine, though.

The Turnpike Troubadours have been one of my favorite bands since I was first introduced to their music via a local radio station about a dozen years ago, and they’ve been one of my most-seen bands in concert since then, even with a hiatus that lasted multiple years. I’ve seen them grow in popularity exponentially from the magic of sharing them with like-minded musical brethren in a bar venue from right in front of a stage to now getting to share them with thousands in arenas and amphitheaters. That magic that comes with a small venue close to the stage isn’t quite the same with bigger crowds, but it’s nice to know more and more people have fallen in love with the music you love.

If there’s one knock about the Troubadours, and maybe it’s only the case because I’ve seen them live so many times, they don’t change up their sets or play new stuff. The band’s most recent album, 2023’s A Cat in the Rain, their first since 2017, is terrific, but the group only played two tracks from it on Saturday night, the show opening “Mean Old Sun” and “Brought Me,” later on.

The band probably played around 25 songs on Saturday, all terrific, but I didn’t hear a single new live debut.

Granted, this isn’t as much of a con for me as it might come off in print; when Turnpike is doing their “greatest hits,” every single song will be one I’ll be shouting along with the entire show.

The band’s de facto debut (their actual debut is out of print), 2010’s Diamonds & Gasoline, will probably always be my favorite album of theirs and any band in general. It continues to be their most-played album live nearly a decade and a half after its release. The boys played eight of the album’s 12 tracks, and it was a surprise they didn’t play more, opting to leave out “Shreveport,” which they almost always do in concert.

Among the Diamonds & Gasoline songs on Saturday night were crowd-favorites “7&7,” “Kansas City Southern,” “Whole Damn Town” and “Every Girl,” all of which may be top-10 Turnpike songs for me.

One of the most significant crowd responses during the evening came when the band performed “Good Lord Lorrie” from its 2012 release Goodbye Normal Street. The song has some Arkansas references and ranks as a surefire top-five Turnpike song for me.

The crowd also really enjoyed “Before the Devil Knows We’re Dead” and “Gin, Smoke, Lies” off Goodbye Normal Street.

One of my favorite moments during the set was just how awesome the band’s cover of Old ‘97s’ “Doreen” sounded back-to-back in the set with “The Mercury,” both recorded for the group’s self-titled 2015 album. The show was generally loud, but this was the most raucous portion of the set.

Toward the end of the set, Turnpike brought Godwin out on the stage with them, now dressed in street clothes, to join the band on “Long Hot Summer Day,” a John Hartford cover from Diamonds & Gasoline that has probably always been the one song most synonymous with the group, despite being one of the few non-written songs ever recorded by the band. You could tell Godwin was having a blast sharing the stage with some guys who were undoubtedly among his musical heroes.

The band would finish with “The Housefire” and “Pay No Rent,” both from 2017’s A Long Way from Your Heart, before realizing they had time for one more and gave us a bit of a throwback with “Easton & Main,” a song originally from that now out of print debut that they re-cut for their self-titled album.

An evening with the Turnpike Troubadours is always going to ensure you of two things: the fantastic songwriting of vocalist Evan Felker and the outstanding musicianship of a talented group of guys in Kyle Nix on fiddle, Ryan Engleman on guitar, R.C. Edwards on bass, Gabriel Pearson on drums and Hank Early on various instruments. 

​

It’s been an exciting year for me as a concertgoer seeing Charles Wesley Godwin. He’s a guy I’d been looking forward to seeing since his 2019 debut Seneca blew me away with the songs “Hardwood Floors” and “Seneca Creek.” I’d had tickets to see him twice around 2020-2021, but both shows were canceled, one due to Covid and the other never announced why. As of this year's beginning I still had not seen him despite two more impressive albums: 2021’s How the Mighty Fall and last year’s excellent Family Ties.
​
I was thrilled when he opened for Jason Isbell and the Turnpike Troubadours when I went to Oklahoma City in January to see their co-headlining show at the Paycom Center, giving the crowd a fantastic little 30-minute showcase of what he could do.

When he did a headliner set a few months later at The Hall in Little Rock, it was a show I knew I couldn’t pass up. Let me tell you, he is the kind of musician who is at the point where he should be nothing but a headliner. He’s that good as a performer and songwriter, and his band, The Allegheny High, is incredible.

Seeing him open for Turnpike again on Saturday night was terrific, but unfortunately, his set was not as long as I’d hoped – he may have gotten 45 minutes. Honestly, dropping Halverson and giving Godwin more stage time may have been a smart move by the show’s organizers.

But what Godwin did give the crowd on Saturday, one I fear wasn’t giving him the amount of attention I wish it would have with idle conversation and standing in long beer lines the priority for many, was a showing of what he’s capable of with utterly fantastic songs like “All Again,” “Family Ties” and “Another Leaf” from Family Ties and “Hardwood Floors.”

Having seen Godwin three times in 2024, he’s become the first artist I’ve ever seen more than twice in one calendar year, and you can bet I’ll be looking forward to seeing him again in the future, too.  

The Rolling Stones wrapped up their 2024 Hackney Diamonds U.S. tour on Sunday, July 21, at the Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in the remote Ridgedale, Mo. amphitheater just outside Branson.

Seeing The Rolling Stones, considered by many to be the greatest rock & roll band ever, in the middle of nowhere in southern Missouri, just a few miles north of my home state of Arkansas, is something I’d never thought I’d experience.

The venue opened in 2022 and is centered in the Ozark Mountains, with views of Table Rock Lake in the middle of a 1,200-acre nature preserve. It was one of the dreams of Bass Pro Shops CEO Johnny Morris, who, adding The Rolling Stones to his little piece of paradise, proved that maybe some people can always get what they want.  

Thunder Ridge Nature Arena reportedly seats about 18,000, but with its large grassy areas can accommodate as many as 80,000 people for shows.

The Rolling Stones opened up their set at 9:45 p.m. Sunday with “Start Me Up,” of course, the No. 2 hit from their 1981 album Tattoo You, which has probably led off nearly every show the band has done since it was released. It’s a quintessential rock show opener.

The Stones mixed hits, new songs, and some deep cuts into their two-hour set, which also saw many hits fail to make the cut, but that’s always going to happen when you have a 60-year-old band with the number of massive hits as this one.

Throughout the night, the Stones featured four songs off their latest album, Hackney Diamonds, which is their prerogative. Still, I found myself having that “play the hits” mentality that so many concertgoers seem to have, which I know firsthand can annoy folks who genuinely want to hear the latest from artists. These are essentially “bathroom songs,” the songs folks choose to head to the venue’s restrooms during, which I must admit I did during “Whole Wide World” and “Mess It Up,” played back-to-back from the new album.

There were plenty of hits, however, during the 20-song set that lasted close to two hours, including some favorites of mine like “Get Off of My Cloud,” from their early years, and “Tumbling Dice,” off 1972’s Exile on Main St., when they were the biggest group in the world.

The Rolling Stones album that saw the most songs played during the show was 1969’s Let It Bleed, which included the title track as the fan-voted song of the night. Before each stop on their Hackney Diamonds Tour, the band would place four songs on its website for the fans to vote on, and “Let It Bleed” was the winner for the Missouri stop, despite my hope that “Dead Flowers,” my selection, would win out.

Sticky Fingers, which featured “Dead Flowers,” is probably my favorite Stones album. Surprisingly, not a single song from it was performed on Sunday night, despite hits like “Wild Horses” and “Brown Sugar,” which the band likely doesn’t play due to obvious content-related reasons.

Speaking of content-related reasons, when the band performed 1968’s “Sympathy for the Devil,” one of the show’s highlights, vocalist Mick Jagger omitted the line, “I shouted out who killed the Kennedys,” which has been the case since one of the candidates for President of the United States was recently involved in an assassination attempt.

Among my other favorite performances of the evening were “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” “Honky Tonk Women” and “Gimme Shelter,” which featured amazing vocals from backup vocalist Chanel Haynes, whose previous career was as a Tina Turner impersonator, and I can certainly see why.
My favorite performance of the evening was definitely “Paint It Black,” the band’s No. 1 hit from 1966, which has always been my favorite song of theirs.

About midway through the show, Jagger took a much-needed break and let guitarist Keith Richards, one of the most legendary figures in rock history, take the forefront to perform a few of the songs he did lead vocals on over the years: “You Got the Silver,” “Little T&A” and “Before They Make Me Run.”

When it comes to seeing The Stones live in concert, it’s more about just being there and living in the moment and seeing legends kick ass in their early ‘80s. It’s seeing Jagger strut down the extended center stage like a Prima donna – it’s wild he can still do it at nearly 81 and still belt out the songs. It’s seeing the dual guitar legends of Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood hit their classic licks that are among the most legendary in the history of rock music, like the opening riffs of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” And I still can’t get over this happening in the middle of a forest in the Ozarks.

The Rolling Stones finished off their terrific set with a little bit of new and a little bit of old, beginning with “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” off Hackney Diamonds, before ending with the song that kick-started their ascent to rock music icons “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Seeing ‘Satisfaction’ live is going to be one of those “I can’t believe I saw that” moments when I get older, like having previously seen Paul McCartney perform “Yesterday” or all the times I’ve seen Bruce Springsteen do “Born to Run” in person.

Blues-rocker Samantha Fish opened the show on Sunday night and put on a guitar hero clinic for the audience. Due to epically long guitar solos and jam sessions with her talented band, she probably only performed four or five songs during the set, including outstanding covers of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins/Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “I Put a Spell on You” and MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams,” but it was a pleasure to watch. Opening for The Stones was a bucket list moment for her. She even said it was bigger than being nominated for her first Grammy Award earlier this year.

Despite the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of seeing The Rolling Stones on Sunday, it wasn’t without its headaches. Usually, I wouldn’t put this kind of stuff in a concert review, but I must warn any future Thunder Ridge Nature Arena attendees. If you want to attend a concert at this venue, as beautiful as it is, you had better be prepared for a parking nightmare. The venue being in the middle of nowhere means the parking situation can be a nightmare. It took us two hours, the same length as The Stones’ set, to leave the parking lot once we trekked back to our cars (they do have a tram service if you don’t feel you can walk from the lots to the venue). I’ve never been to a concert venue with a parking situation as atrocious as this one. Morris should throw some of his billions of dollars into correcting this issue because I can see it being a reason for a lack of return customers to his venue.   

by Tyler Glover

There were 14 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 songs through the first half of 2024. Here are the five best of those No. 1 hits:
​

5. “Yes, And?” - by Ariane Grande
When first hearing the beginning of this song with its 45-second intro, I was immediately taken back to the 1980s. The extended intro is so catchy that by the time Ariana Grande starts singing, you might feel as if you wanted the intro to continue a little longer. “Yes, And?” is a song that feels very similar to “Thank You, Next” in the best ways. Ariana Grande is shrugging off the haters, saying yes, this is my life and what I’m doing, and ... why is that your concern? Some people did not really like this song because of the fact that Grande is with actor Ethan Slater, who was married and a new father very shortly before their romance began. To be honest, though, music is subjective, and I do not think of this when listening to the song. I think of my life and how I want to brush off the haters in my own life. This song is such a bop and one of the best of 2024 by far.

4. "Please Please Please" by Sabrina Carpenter 
Sabrina Carpenter is quickly becoming one of the hottest singers in the music industry. She has been putting out albums for years, but after touring with Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour, Carpenter blasted into the public’s consciousness with her massive single, “Espresso.” “Espresso” could quite easily be THE song of the summer. However, Carpenter followed up the success of “Espresso” with this Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 song, “Please Please Please.” “Please, Please, Please” highlights those moments when we are with someone who has the potential to embarrass us. You go out into public, and you want people to like you, you want people to root for you, and you want people to think you are with someone perfect for you. However, sometimes, your significant other can just not help themselves. The lyric resonates when Carpenter sings, “Please, please, please don’t prove them right.” The public may think these things about you, but don’t play right into their hands; show them they are right about you. Carpenter is an artist that will be one to watch in the coming years. 

3. “Fortnight” - by Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone 
“Fortnight,” the lead single on Taylor Swift’s massively successful eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, talks about how sometimes, we are affected in life-changing ways by a romance, even a very short-lived affair. The lyric that stays with me from this song is “I love you. It’s ruining my life.” How many of us can say that being unable to get over someone has caused us severe anguish? I mean, it can be to the point of not feeling like you can go on with your life. You were supposed to be with that person, but you won’t be. There is nothing you can do about it, but you know that loving them is what is causing you so much torment. Swift has a way of writing lyrics like no other. In my opinion, she is the ARTIST and SONGWRITER of our generation. No one can tell a story like her, making this easily one of the best songs of 2024 so far.

2. "Texas Hold 'Em" by Beyonce 
Beyonce’s commercially and critically successful album, COWBOY CARTER, is the frontrunner for the Grammy for Album of the Year, in my opinion. I also feel like the Record of the Year Grammy should go to the album’s lead single, “Texas Hold ‘Em.” The production, the vocals, the lyrics, and the catchiness of this single have been unparalleled this year so far. “Texas Hold ‘Em” is an EVENT song. It is the kind of song you hear and feel like you should be at a stadium dancing to it. The song uses the popular game of Texas Hold ‘Em as a metaphor for a guy who “won’t lay his cards down.” She wants him to get on the dance floor with her and be himself. When we are dating or at the beginning of a relationship, it is natural to have our guard up because of past trauma, but Beyonce encourages him to put his cards down and be himself. She is safe. She will not break his heart. “Texas Hold ‘Em” is such a bop, and the minute it comes on, there is no turning the radio station because it is time for a “real life hoedown!” 

1. “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” by Ariana Grande 
The second single off of Ariana Grande’s blockbuster eternal sunshine album is not only the best Billboard Hot 100 number 1 song of the year, but also the best song of the year, in general. This song brilliantly captures that complex situation where you are trying to navigate a relationship with someone after a break-up. You want to stay friends with that person, especially if you are completely in love with them, but at some point, you realize that you love them so much and that love cannot be extinguished. When you are entering that new relationship with them, you cannot love them the way you want to, and if you are an all-in-or-nothing person, you have to make that sad decision to end all communication with them. Grande’s song captures this complexity in a way that no other song has. The lyrics that truly gut you are: “I don’t wanna tiptoe, but I don’t want to hide/But I don’t want to feed this monstrous fire/Just want to let this story die.” 

“Bonneville Salt Flats” by Luba Dvorak with Ryan Bingham
Luba Dvorak, born in Czechoslovakia, raised in Canada and now calling Houston home, has come out with his finest Springsteen-esque song about needing to feel the speed in “Bonneville Salt Flats,” off his latest album Dumpster Fire, featuring Texas country star Ryan Bingham on backing vocals and a terrific harmonica performance. It’s one of the best story songs of the year thus far. 

“Damn My Love” by John Craigie feat. TK & the Holy Know-Nothings
I’m the kind of music lover who often has to hear a song a few times before truly knowing how I feel about it – to separate it from average to something a bit better (I can usually pinpoint why I don’t like a song on first listen). But I loved “Damn My Love” by John Craigie featuring TK & the Holy Know-Nothings from the first listen. It has this infectious, bouncy melody throughout. Some of the lyrics are an absolute chef’s kiss that makes me jealous of Craigie’s songwriting like: “pink trees raining such a beautiful mess/walking in on nature like she’s still getting dressed” and “I was over-dressed and under tattooed/cowboy hats and neck tats all around the room.” I’d bottle this song up and wear it if I could. 

“I Lie” by Zach Top
Zach Top’s sophomore album Cold Beer & Country Music has shot him to the forefront of the nonmainstream country music world. Honestly, with upcoming opening slots on Lainey Wilson’s tour, he might even trickle into the mainstream, with his throwback sound that hearkens back to the best of the neo-traditionalists of the early ‘90s. There’s a lot to love on the album but the one I’ve been digging most thus far is “I Never Lie,” co-written with Carson Chamberlain and Tim Nichols, about the futility of trying to cope with heartbreak. It reminds me of something Tracy Lawrence or Mark Chesnutt would’ve knocked out of the park 30 years ago. 

“Right Back to It” by Waxahatchee feat. MJ Lenderman
Waxahatchee has often been considered more of an indie or indie-folk artist but the latest release Tigers Blood certainly has an alt-country/Americana sound to it, especially the album’s lead single “Right Back to It.” The song sees Katie Crutchfield dueting with MJ Lenderman, who was called in to play guitar on the album, and the harmonization between the two is incredible. Crutchfield told NME that she wanted to write love songs that are “gritty and unromantic” but find a “newness or an intimacy” with the same person. She accomplished it brilliantly here. 

“Same Water” by The Secret Sisters
The Secret Sisters – Laura Rogers and Lydia Slagle – have always had brilliant harmonies. That’s one of the best aspects of their music. On “Same Water,” off Mind, Man, Medicine, sees that beautiful harmonizing on a serious song about dealing with depression and extending an empathetic hand to others dealing with the same problems. “We’re all drowning in the same water as you” is a beautiful line about struggling through these moments and this world together. 

“Sober Thing” by Cody Jinks
There are a handful of selections off Cody Jinks’ latest album Change the Game that could’ve made this list but the one I’ve probably listened to the most thus far is “Sober Thing.” The lead-off track on the album paints a picture of a man fighting, and potentially losing, a battle against alcoholism. It’s a classic country music theme and Jinks’ baritone fits the song perfectly.

“Solitary Road” by Charley Crockett
​Honestly, I could’ve placed any number of songs from Charley Crockett’s excellent $10 Cowboy on this list but the one I’m going with today is “Solitary Road,” which opens with a fantastic guitar that follows along for its entirety. Written by Crockett and Billy Horton, it comes off almost as a country version of the Bob Dylan/Jimi Hendrix classic “All Along the Watchtower” in tone and theme telling a tale that feels almost mythical and apocalyptic. 

“Watch Me Gone” by Mark Knopfler 
Mark Knopfler has had an interesting career going from guitar hero and frontman of one of the biggest rock bands of the late ‘70s through the mid-‘80s in Dire Straits, to premier Americana singer-songwriter as a solo artist. His return on One Deep River, his first album in six years, sees him having not lost a step. The breakup tune “Watch Me Gone,” which sees Knopfler in his famous whispery growl, is my favorite off the album – even if the chorus of female voices on backing vocals annoys me. 

“White Lies, White Jesus and You” by Katie Pruitt
Katie Pruitt had one of my favorite songs of 2020 “Loving Her,” a beautiful song about same-sex love. Now, she’s released “White Lies, White Jesus and You,” off her latest album Mantras, a devastating look at people failing to respect and love others because of their sexual identity or preferences and the hypocrisy of using religion. The line: “speaking of some things I’ve put behind me: white lies, white Jesus and you” might be the best I’ve heard all year. 

“Yearnin’ For You” by 49 Winchester
49 Winchester’s song “Russell County Line” and album Fortune Favors the Bold were among my favorite country music songs and albums of 2022 so the band’s upcoming album Leavin’ This Holler, debuting August 2, is one of my most anticipated of the year. The album’s first single, “Yearnin’ For You,” which was released in early April, is a roaring testament to longing to be home with the one you love while living the life of a touring musician. It’s essentially a more up-tempo, raucous take on “Russell County Line.”