Concert Review By: Brianna
Nightingale, CSO Contributing Journalist
As
the lights dimmed and clips of Emerson Drive songs played through
the stereo, country music fans cheered loudly on a Wednesday night
at Joe’s Bar in Chicago.
For many years I always hoped to
one day see Emerson Drive perform live. On this night I saw
them for the second time at a show hosted by our local country
station, US99. The crowd’s cheering became significantly more
emphatic as the six members of Emerson Drive made their way to the
stage through a side door of the venue. Launching into their set
with “Sweet Natural Girl,” the guys made an exciting entrance
that anyone who had seen them live before probably expected. “November,”
a song from their What If album was played just before my
favorite song of theirs, “Fall Into Me”. Mates put the
microphone out for a few fans to lead the crowd with lyrics from
“Fall Into Me”. “Too Much” and one
that will grab any female’s attention, “Lucky Man,” were to
follow.
Emerson Drive played another
favorite of mine, “Waitin’ On Me,” before Mates took a
minute to thank the fans for helping get “Moments,” their
current single, to number two on the charts. Brad mentioned
that there was a good chance it would soon get to number one; it
did the next day. Keyboardist Dale Wallace, lead singer Brad
Mates, and guitarist Danick Dupelle were the only ones left on
stage with acoustic guitars for Guns-N-Roses’ “Patience,”
Lifehouse's “You and Me” and “Next To You” by Shenandoah.
The six members of Emerson Drive
did another six-song set before they thanked everyone for coming
and left the stage. The crowd continued to cheer until they
came back on, one by one, each playing solos. The night ended
with an amazing performance of “Devil Went Down To Georgia.”
Brad, Danick, Dale, Mike,
Patrick and David signed autographs after the show. With
excellent performances and friendliness toward fans, Emerson Drive
is a band that has great songs but the extent of their talent is
unknown until they are seen live.
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Brad Mates belts out "Moments".
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Complete 17-Song Set:
Sweet Natural Girl
November
Fall Into Me
Too Much
Lucky Man
Waitin’ On Me
Moments
Patience – Guns ‘n Roses
You and Me – Lifehouse
Next To You – Shenandoah
Last One Standing
I Should Be Sleeping
Testify
Everyday Woman
A Good Man
Countrified
Devil Went Down To Georgia
