So I'm not into concerts - haven't been to one in 30 years, but I had to make an exception in this case. Oliver Anthony was scheduled to play at 1:30. We arrived at 10:45 and there were a couple hundred people there. The stage area seating and bar was already full. The food pavilion was also full, but a couple left and we were able to get a table about 25 feet from the stage. The people next to us were from NY. They were meeting up with family. They had no idea what was going on. When I filled them in the kids all pulled out their phones to look up Oliver. They unanimously decided to wait the 2 1/2 hours. By 1pm I'd gather there were 4-5 thousand people there - really hard to tell. But all of their fields were completely filled as were neighboring farms - so I could be low.
The opening act, Brisk, was really good - an eclectic mix of songs from the 90s to modern country. Oliver Anthony came out around 1pm. He came with his three dogs. My wife and I were able to meet him. He came across as very humble and incredibly nice. He signed my wife's poster with a love yall. I decided to let that go as this was probably one of his first autographs he's ever done.
At 1:30 he did a sound check then one of his guys asked everyone to stand for the National Anthem. After a minute or two of technical difficulties the crowd start singing it themselves. When we were done they played a more professional version. Oliver then took the mic and thanked everyone for coming. He told us he played Morris back in June and their were about 20 people. So this was a big grateful change. He let everyone know that afterwards he wasn't going anywhere, he'd like to meet everyone and that he was going to hang out until 2am. He then asked if he could pray with us and recited Psalm 37:12-29. It was amazing thing to be apart of.
It was obvious that he was very nervous and it took him a minute to begin. He started with Rich Men North of Richmond. Then played his other new hits that hold 4 other places on iTunes top 10. We knew things would be crazy when he finished so we took off a little early. He was great, the people were awesome and Morris Farm pulled it off without a hitch.
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