Review: Crowder brings ‘hillbilly metal’ music to kick off Covered Bridge Days

Published 11:41 am Thursday, September 22, 2022

By Contributed Content

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BY NELSON MORAIS
Star Correspondent
Popular contemporary Christian band Crowder delighted a large crowd at a concert held on Elizabethton High School’s football field Wednesday evening.
The well-attended concert, held on a night of almost perfect mild temperatures with a light breeze, was the official kick-off for this weekend’s Covered Bridge Days festival.
After storming the stage at Citizens Bank Stadium around 9 p.m. with hard-charging and high energy songs, lead singer David Crowder joked to the audience, “We call that hillbilly metal.” Later on in his set, he set aside his acoustic guitars and sang slower songs while playing the piano.
Concert-goers on the football stadium’s artificial turf got up from their chairs or blankets on the ground in order to stand and groove too much of the roughly 70-minute concert.
David Crowder, a somewhat iconoclastic singer/musician, masterfully performed many of his hit songs, including “Good God Almighty,” “God Really Loves Us,” “How He Loves,” “Glorious Day” and “Run Devil Run.”
At one point he facetiously apologized for singing three songs in a row about the Holy Spirit, including a rousing rendition of “Ghost” (“We’re Ready”).
“We’re having a great time up here,” said the lead singer.
Crowder even  got the audience fired up with a quick tempo “hoe down” medley of classic Christian songs “I Saw the Light” and “I’ll Fly Away.”
The memorable concert concluded with a fireworks display next to the football stadium.
Big Daddy Weave took the stage before Crowder, the headliner band.
Stated lead singer Mike Weaver to the audience, “You are some nice people.”
Big Daddy Weave, another popular contemporary Christian band, performed many of their hits, including “My Story,” “Overwhelmed,” “Redeemed,” “Every Time I Breathe,” and “The Only Name (Yours Will Be).”
Weaver appeared to get choked up emotionally when talking of his brother, Jay Weaver, who died in January at the age of 42. He was the band’s bass guitarist.
Mike Weaver introduced an audio recording of his brother on a podcast taped prior to his death in which Jay Weaver prayed over a concert audience similar to Wednesday’s audience, asking for physical and spiritual healing for attendees.
Mike Weaver also said Big Daddy Weave will celebrate its 24th year as a band in October.
Both bands had simultaneous large screen projections of their live performances on both sides of the stage that also displayed the lyrics being sung to each song.
Country stars Kip Moore and Dylan Scott were scheduled to perform Thursday evening, also at Citizens Bank Stadium. The Grascals, an internationally acclaimed bluegrass group, is set to perform Friday evening; Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder on Saturday; and The Isaacs, a multi-Dove award-winning and multi-Grammy nominated bluegrass Southern gospel music group, on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

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