By Arden Berry | Arts & Life Editor
Old Dominion’s first-rate, full Nashville production came Friday night to Foster Pavilion, bringing in country fans ready to don their cowboy hats and dance this Family Weekend.
In a first for Foster Pavilion, a T-shaped platform extended the stage, allowing artists to walk farther out and audience members in a designated pit to get closer to the action.
McCoy Moore opened the concert as the crowd filed in. Moore stepped out on the stage with a Magnolia Silos shirt on and drink in hand singing his opening song, “Sunshine State,” with a deep country drawl.
“Texas, how we doing baby?” Moore said.
Moore played a variety of songs during his 30-minute act, from “Prayin’ for Me” to “John Deere Blue,” the latter which Moore said is breakup song about a tractor.
The lights were dynamic throughout Moore’s set, changing from snakelike movements in “Went to the Bar” to pink lights that appeared to stretch like flamingo feathers through the smoke in his cover of Blake Shelton’s “Honey Bee.”
Moore said his Florida upbringing inspired his song “Chesney On A Beach.”
“I grew up on late ‘90s, early 2000s country music … everybody was listening to it,” Moore said.
Old Dominion arrived onstage on the heels of “Low Rider” by War winding down over the speakers. The audience stood and some made their way to the pit as the band sang “Make It Sweet.” One couple in the pit danced as the band played.
Throughout the performance, clear vocals rang out alongside thundering drums and bright guitars. The chemistry between band members was palatable as they played their guitars back-to-back and front-to-front. Lead vocalist Matthew Ramsey also interacted with the audience with clapping and call-and-responses.
“It’s good to see your faces, even all the way up there,” Ramsey said.
Ramsey introduced “No Such Thing as a Broken Heart” by saying that there is someone at each concert who needs to hear the song. He ended it by pointing his microphone toward the audience as they sang.
“I knew y’all would do it,” Ramsey said.
In the middle of the set, the band asked for song requests. They sang “Said Nobody” and “Different About You.”
“The crew is unaware of what song I’m going to do, so they’ll have to scramble,” Ramsey said.
“Snapback” was an audience favorite. The song neared its end with flashing lights.
“Are you with us?” Ramsey said as the lights flickered.
“One Man Band” was also popular. A spotlight shone on the stage, but the band members were far from alone.
“You guys want to sing this one together?” Ramsey said before beginning the song.
Ramsey’s glittery guitar was switched with different colored ones throughout the performance. However, beyond the basses, guitars and drums, other instruments included a xylophone in “No Hard Feelings,” a harmonica in “Coming Home” and an accordion in “I Was on a Boat That Day.”
Additionally, the dynamic lighting spun, shifted and shone different colors based on the songs Old Dominion played. “Written in the Sand” featured cascading blue and white lights and slowly flashing, sporadic green lights, “No Hard Feelings” had rainbow cascading lights and lights that would flash gold when Ramsey would tap his xylophone and “Making Good Time” included spinning orange and pink lights on the sides.
As for the rest of the arena, Foster Pavilion was transformed from its courtside state. Beyond the packed pit surrounding the platform, filled chairs covered the floor level and fans packed the seating on the sides.
“This looks like a fun place to see a basketball game,” Ramsey said.
A variety of fans showed up for the performance, including families.
“Even though it’s part of Family Weekend, I think it’s important that it’s not just for families,” Jason Cook, vice president of marketing and communications, said. “It is for parents coming back, but it’s also for current students, it’s for the greater Waco community. We’re going to pull people from Dallas and Austin for that concert as well, because they are big time.”
One student group in attendance was Mount Vernon freshman Craig Ross, Savannah, Georgia, sophomore Christian Johns and Morristown, New Jersey, freshman Robert Lannon.
“I think it was a great memory shared between the three of us, we had a lot of fun,” Ross said. “No shame in singing.”
Lannon said the concert showed the Baylor culture.
“We got late tickets, but we were still surrounded by our peers,” Lannon said.
Johns said “Written in the Sand” was his favorite song played.
“I had heard it a few times before, but I could just feel the emotion in the song, and it makes me want to listen to it more,” Johns said.
Lannon said his favorite was the encore, “I Was on a Boat That Day.” This encore was preceded by loud clapping, screaming and hollering for the band’s return. When the song ended, Ramsey said the band “shall return.”
“Thank you guys for … showing us that chasing this dream was not a crazy thing to do,” Ramsey said.
