THE ZAC BROWN BAND PLAYS TO BABY BOOMERS?

Head to a country music concert and what do you get? A Boomer Field Report:

Zac Brown Band With Zac Brown via BoomerPDX

It was a Sunday, warmer than most for the time of year in the top left corner of America.

The locals weren’t fooled. It was long pants weather, but felt like shorts.

The headliner at the Sleep Country Amphitheater in Ridgefield, Washington was Zac Brown.

An invite came Friday night during the best backyard Octoberfest ever for a weekend bookended with bro-time.

Who is Zac Brown? Didn’t matter. Time spent with some people goes like that, when falling a tree feels like a party.

This was one of those times. I didn’t search out Zac Brown, but should have.

Remember the Zac Brown song you’ve been singing? Ask a millennial the same question and they start singing ‘Chicken Fried.’

Sounds like country and that’s always a good thing.

Zac Brown? Zac Brown Band? Why not?

Afterward, ‘why not’ felt like, “Why hasn’t anyone told me about this band?”

How do you prep for a country concert? You know you’ll hear songs about whiskey drinking, love lost, and maybe regret mixed in with hope. Maybe.

After three songs in, this came out:

Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream
I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been
To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed

Somewhere the Zac Brown Band detoured into Kashmir country, and they knew the way like they’d paved the road themselves.

Three more ZBB originals then Metallica’s Enter The Sandman? Robert Plant then James Hetfield with a haircut?

Wait a minute, this is a country concert?

This big band, really big like Bruce’s E Street Band, tore through their songs and added Charlie Daniels, Ryan Adams, Nirvana, Billy Joel, and James Brown.

Instead of playing to their crowd who could sing along as well as Pink Floyd fanatics who know all the words to The Wall, Zac Brown Band reached further into a universal baby boomer song book to reveal who they really are.

Who are they? They’re not Phish with their Grateful Dead-like following, but they are tribe-worthy.

If you quit your life to join the Zac Brown Zamily you won’t be sorry. Explain it to any Deadhead and they’ll understand. Everyone else, not so much, but ZBB is that good.

How do you judge great musicians? What makes them great?

Their instruments stay in tune, which is more than you can say about Grunge-era bands. They keep time like jazz guys. And they play like they’re on fire.

Another way of judging advanced musicianship? Play Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody in the encore. Nearly rolled out of my short lawn chair.

Is ZBB real life, or just fantasy? Caught in their landslide, no escape from reality.

What more could you ask for? ZBB invites you into the family. Google ’em.