Some of Country & Western’s top music stars and legends descend upon the Southern California dessert for the third annual Stagecoach festival this past weekend.
The Stagecoach festival is the Country & Western version of the Coachella Art & Music festival which was held last weekend at the same venue, The Empire Polo Club, a sprawling facility located in the middle of the Coachella Valley.
The festival consists of 3 stages which provide music throughout the day, a BBQ competition, art exhibits, mechanical bulls, and plenty of food and beverage vendors to accommodate pretty much everyone's taste.
The 3 stages offered a variety of musical performances. The Mustang stage was predominantly blue-grass and folk music, while the Palomino stage was chock-full of some of the legends of Country Music, while the Mane stage had a full line-up of today’s hottest Country stars.
Day 1 at the festival consisted of a very entertaining mix of styles. The Mustang Stage had acts ranging from the Nashville newgrass sextet The Infamous Stringdusters to the legendary bluegrass/banjo master Earl Scruggs. The Palomino Stage featured performances from Kevin Costner and his band Modern West, The Reverend Horton Heat, and Lynn Anderson. The highlight of Day 1 at the Palomino stage was an amazing performance by the Charlie Daniels Band, for 72yrs old he can still rock.
The Mane Stage on Day 1 opened up with a set from Danielle Peck followed by a Hootie-heavy Darius Rucker performance.
Up next on the Mane Stage was one of the highlights of the show, Little Big Town. As the Coachella valley winds rolled in, LBT took the stage and didn’t disappoint with their harmonious vocals, as they brought everyone to their feet.
With the crowd warmed up and the dessert sun retired for the night, consummate professional Reba McIntyre took the stage. She worked her way through what appeared to be a very well scripted set, entertaining yes, but it all seemed very thought out.
Day 1 was closed out by the rapid fire guitar-licks of non-other than Brad Paisley. He masterfully worked the crowd through all his hits, as he brought his Paisley Party Tour to the Coachella valley.
Day 2 of the festival was very stacked with big names. Highlighting the Mustang Stage was the Hot Club of Cowtown, Ricky Scaggs and Peter Rowan.
James Intveld opened the show on the Palomino stage. The Southern-California born rockabilly brought the early comers to their feet, singing along to many of the songs off his "Have Faith" album.
Up next was a great band called The Duhks. Hailing from Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada the soulful voice of Sarah Dugas belted out countless tracks, while bow wielding fiddler Tania Elizabeth kept the crowds attention. This band had a very unique sound, imagine combining bluegrass, fusion, African, folk, jazz and soul all into one sound.
Over on the Mane Stage a great lineup kept the crowd entertained all day. Randy Houser opened the show, followed by an amazing performance from the Zac Brown Band. Zac Brown put on a great set including a very cool medley of their hit "Where the Boat Leaves From" mixed in with several breaks of Bob Marley’s "One-Love." Up next was Lady Antebellum who put on a very energetic set that had way a lot of cover-songs in it. Then came the fiery Rocking attitude of Miranda Lambert, she belted out all the favorites including "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend."
Next up on the Mane stage was not the headliner for the night, but definitely was who everyone came to see. Kid Rock took the stage and pounded out well over an hour long set. As the opening video intro rolled, the entire Stagecoach facility came to life dancing and screaming like the Beatles were playing. It was amazing to watch 50 yr old women dancing in the aisles screaming along to every word of "American Bad Ass."
By the time Kid Rock left the stage and Kenny Chesney took over to close out the night, I think the crowd was spent. While Chesney put on a great show, one couldn’t help but notice the droves of people flocking out of the venue a few songs in to his set.
If you didn’t make it out to Stagecoach this year, be sure to check it out next year. It was an amazing festival to attend.
--- More Photos to come tomorrow ----
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