By LOGAN RIPLEY
Sports Editor
It’s just 45 minutes to and from one of the biggest concert venues in the area. Located in a town known for their thoroughbreds, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) again held a country, rock, reggae band that electrified the crowd with their smooth take on countless number-one hits along with some of their own.
Zac Brown and his band members took the stage at 8 p.m. ready to continue their Black Out the Sun Tour, which features them in Virginia, and then in Florida 10 days later. Though their tour is not over, having five shows left, they put on a spectacle that would make many performers need to take a break for a few weeks.
With the temperature in the mid 50’s and a slight breeze in the air, fans of ZBB huddled close together as they simultaneously grooved to the alternative music that many bands can’t hang with. This was a concert where fans in the crowd knew every song, new or old, which gave them a chance to sing along with their beloved musician.
Starting off the first set, they played crowd favorites that captivated fans, giving ZBB the ability to dabble with some of their own favorites later in the second set. The first hour was highlighted by “Chicken Fry” and “Free,” which is a salute to the U.S. Military. They then changed their tune and went into some 90’s music. Nirvana made an appearance in the set piece, along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge.”
Straying away from their country roots for a quarter of the set changed the atmosphere. It brought back memories for some of the older fans while bringing in new for the younger ones. It seemed as if the attire of the fans morphed from the boots and flannel to cut jeans and a baggy white tee. Many didn’t know the people who stood side-by-side with them, but it didn’t matter, because when one moved, they all did. Dancing was established in the lawn seats which echoed all the way into the front row.
The most upbeat song ZBB played was “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” which featured Jimmy De Martini on the fiddle where he battles the devil for his soul. The crowd got into this song with the most enthusiasm of the night, with feet stomping on the grass to the beat while Zac Brown sang lead vocals.
It wouldn’t be a ZBB concert without their classic, “Colder Weather.” Its slow tempo and rhythm along with heart-grabbing lyrics makes everyone think that Brown is singing solely to them, just “you and I in this moment,” Brown said to the crowd. He began the song that led to not lighters, but phone lights in the sky; something that shows the changing in time from the 90’s songs that rang out earlier in the set.
Finishing the song with, “And I can’t wait ‘til then-I can’t wait ‘til then,” Brown left the crowd, the fans headed back to the state park for their cars and the lights were turned off until the next time the Zac Brown Band can grace the stage at SPAC.
