Country music fans adore George Strait. A total of 53,518 of them filled the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to the brim on Sunday (May 27), as the old-school troubadour triumphantly closed out Bayou Country Superfest 2018 in New Orleans.
Strait rolled out one hit after another like boxcars on Press Street: "Write This Down," "Rollin' on the River of Love," "Check Yes or No," "Give it Away," "The Chair" "Oceanfront Property, and on and on."
Strait probably would have padded the two-hour (and then some) set with a few obscure songs from his many back albums, but it's not certain that Strait has any obscure songs.
The 66-year-old, semi-retired, Texas-born king of country arrived on stage wearing a timeless cowboy chic combo of crisply pressed, cloud-white western-cut shirt, boots, bad guy black hat, and blue jeans held up with a belt buckle as big as an old Standard filling station sign on the interstate.
Strait served up his hellacious hooks in a voice as clear and strong as Jose Cuervo Silver. His act is well-practiced, fast-paced and precise. His demeanor is utterly cool and classy. It's as starched as his impeccable shirt, you might say.
Which made it especially delightful when Strait paused unexpectedly between numbers and quietly said "yanny" into the mic. As the audience murmured in confusion, he said it again. Then he asked, "Do you hear yanny or Laurel?"
"I hear tequila," he said, flashing his lighthouse smile.
In the 21st century the Ramones could call themselves a country and western band if they wore cowboy hats and pointy boots; anything can be country. But Strait is a throwback to the days of steel guitar and twang. So much so that he sang a song Sunday called "Kicked Out of Country" that expressed his (tongue-in-cheek) fear that he might eventually be excommunicated from the genre.
On a somber note, Strait asked the audience to join him in observing the importance of Memorial Day. In a brief, poignant ceremony he helped present the key to a new home to a wounded Army veteran.
With a touch of red, white and blue ruefulness, Strait sang Merl Haggard's song "Are the Good Times Really Over," which includes the lines, "Are we rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell, with no kind of chance for the flag or the Liberty Bell?" The song concludes with a call to reverse the situation, but Strait avoided any explicit partisan political statement.
Strait was the headliner of a day-long concert series that included concerts by Chris Stapleton, Little Big Town, Kasey Musgraves and Midland. As the clock approached midnight Strait concluded the festival with an extended encore including "All My Exes Live in Texas," "I saw God Today," Bob Wills' "Take Me Back To Tulsa" and "Milk Cow Blues," and "The Cowboy Rides Away." Fans certainly left the huge venue beyond satisfied.
Last years' BCS was a three day event (including one day of free concerts) that producers said drew 60,000 fans overall.
In 2018, the festival was trimmed to two days (one free and one paid). The festival producers declined to discuss why one of the days had been trimmed. Attendance for Saturday's (May 26) free BCS concert in the Smoothie King Center have not been provided, but Sunday's reported total of over 53,000 fans almost reaches last year's overall attendance. Happily for Bayou Country Superfest 2018, Tropical Storm Alberto, which had threatened to disrupt the weekend, turned East, missing the city.
