Ronnie Milsap, Danielle Peck
and Cledus T. Judd Concert Review by Jolene
Downs
It may have been mid October
with snow on the ground up north, but in Ocoee, Florida it was
a sunny 85 degrees and the fans were packed on the lawn ready
for the concert. On October 21, Ocoee was celebrating
Founder's Day and they had local crafts, rides for the kids,
all kinds of great food, a classic car show and of course
great entertainment. The entertainment started mid afternoon
with local talent acts and worked up to Nashville recording
artists Cledus T. Judd, Danielle Peck and headliner Ronnie
Milsap.
Cledus T. Judd followed a local
celebrity, the singing weatherman from Fox 35 News, Jim Van
Fleet. Jim has a great sound and it was easy to see why he is
a popular opening act around Florida. Judd hit the stage
dressed casually in a red t-shirt, visor, sunglasses and red
camouflage shorts. He had the audience laughing with his great
parodies of top country hits. "How do You Milk a
Cow" is a fun twist to Toby Keith's "How Do You Like
Me Now" and "My Cellmate Thinks I'm Sexy"
twists the Kenny Chesney song "She Thinks My Tractor's
Sexy." Cledus was onstage for about 30 minutes and his
easy audience rapport is part of what makes him one of Tampa's
favorite radio DJ's when he isn't on the road.
Danielle Peck hit the stage in
a gray t-shirt, jeans and heels after meeting and taking
photos with several of her fans. She is promoting her new
album on Big Machine Records and performed several songs off
of that album including her latest single, "Isn't That
Everything." She also did several covers during her show
including Tammy Wynette's "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go
Bad." Danielle is a fun personality who enjoys talking
with her audience. She closed her 30 minute set with
"Finding A Good Man."
Show headliner Ronnie Milsap
hit the stage to a standing room only crowd screaming their
appreciation. He was in his trademark Western shirt, jeans and
boots. Throughout the evening the lawn and reserved seating
section had been slowly filling as the time for his portion of
the show neared. It was very clear who the majority of the
crowd had come to see and Ronnie didn't disappoint. He opened
his show with one of his 40 #1 Hits, "Prisoner of the
Highway." With so many hits to choose from you never know
what you will hear at his shows. That night we heard
"Woman in Love," "Snap Your Fingers,"
"Any Day Now," "Smokey Mountain Rain,"
"Lost in the Fifties," "Stranger in My
House" and a medley of hits that included "I
Wouldn't Have Missed it For the World, Pure Love, Almost Like
A Song and Stand By My Woman Man." And through it all
Ronnie talked with the audience about different things. One of
his many influences in music was Patsy Cline, and band member
Rhonda Hampton came front and center to sing "Walking
After Midnight." He also recorded with Elvis and can be
heard playing piano on "Kentucky Rain." Elvis must
have been listening because that was his cue to make it
onstage for a fun back and forth banter with Ronnie with some
great one liners that had the audience laughing before they
did a duet on "All Shook Up." Ronnie left the stage
after an hour set to cheers and yells and the evening finished
with a great fireworks show over the lake.
