By Sterling Whitaker June 11, 2016 5:21 PM
Old Dominion had a big surprise for the thousands of fans who attended the second day of the 2016 Taste of Country Music Festival on Saturday (June 11).
The edgy country group took the stage at the three-day country music and camping festival in mid-afternoon, after William Michael Morgan kicked things off at the natural amphitheater at Hunter Mountain in upstate New York. They were definitely one of the most progressive country acts on the bill across all three days, following a raucous Friday that included sets from the Cadillac Three, Big & Rich and headliner Kid Rock.
Old Dominion brought a very different vibe to the proceeding with their edgy songs, including hits like “Break Up With Him,” “Snapback” and their current single, “Song For Another Time.” They peppered the set with other songs from their debut album, Meat and Candy, including “Said Nobody” and “Can’t Get You,” but they also laid a new song on the crowd, as singer Matt Ramsey told Taste of Country Nights they would last week. A mid-tempo, bittersweet breakup song called “Not Everything’s About You Anymore” captured the crowd immediately when Old Dominion debuted it onstage at Hunter Mountain.
“We’ve been experimenting a little bit and making new stuff that we’ve been writing,” Ramsey says. “It always depends how long our set is as to how much new stuff we throw in there … we’ve been trying out some new stuff on the road.”
OD filled the valley with a variety of up-tempo and slower songs, and they had the crowd singing along with almost all of them in a fun, relaxed performance that really lent itself to audience participation. When the crowd was clapping along during “Nowhere Fast,” singer Matthew Ramsey remarked, “This is all we ever hoped for,” as the crowd erupted into cheers.
Fans also loved an interlude where the group played hit songs they’ve written for other artists, including “A Guy Walks Into a Bar,” “Sangria” (which featured a tasty-yet-flashy guitar solo from Brad Tursi) and “Say You Do.” They finished on a high note after the one-two punch of “Break Up With Him” and “Wrong Turns,” leaving a very happy crowd still anticipating a huge afternoon and night still to come from the Swon Brothers, Eric Paslay, Frankie Ballard and headliner Kenny Chesney.
Read More: Old Dominion Bring New Music to Taste of Country Festival | http://tasteofcountry.com/old-dominion-2016-taste-of-country-music-festival/?trackback=tsmclip