Country concert scores touchdown with FRY Fest crowd

By Diana Nollen

The Gazette

CORALVILLE - A triple-decker sandwich of Southern fried rock was the perfect way to end the first Fryday.

Jake Owen, The Outlaws and The Charlie Daniels Band brought their blazing sounds - each with its own distinct flavor - to ignite a bonfire of sound Friday night on the Iowa River Landing's big grassy field near the Coralville Marriott.

I didn't see Coach Hayden Fry in the crowd of several thousand, but his name was mentioned with reverence and awe many times throughout nearly five hours of music that capped the inaugural FRY Fest “celebration of all things Hawkeye.” Even the full moon shined gold in the black night sky.

Owen, winner of the Academy of Country Music's 2009 Top New Male Artist award, kicked off the concert at 6:30 p.m. with “8 Second Ride,” one of his good-time bad-boy anthems fueled by an infectious outlaw minor key.

He kept the pace mostly rockin' through the songs off his first two albums, wrapping his sexy baritone drawl and megawatt grin around themes of cute girls, big trucks, dirt roads and whiskey. He has a softer side, as well, crooning “Startin' With Me,” the song he said “changed his life” when he wrote it, and his favorite, “Don't Think I Can't Love You.”

He can switch from lively to lovely in under 60 seconds, with no grass growing between songs.

He's also learned a valuable lesson early in his career, by taking the songs off his CDs and giving them even more exciting spins in concert, tossing in some bluegrass breaks and honky-tonk keyboards to shake things up a bit.

Yee-haw. Keep your eyes on this one. He's revving up for a hot career.

The Outlaws hit the stage next, living up to their name and long-standing reputation for making solid, white-lightning sounds. Their roots grow back 40 years with music that never grows old. When several members toss their long, straight locks over their guitars, they look a little like Southern headbangers. But when they open their mouths, their tight harmonies are pure gold, giving them a distinctive departure from their peers.

They played their early hits, “There Goes Another Love Song” and “Green Grass and High Tides,” and gave extended solos throughout their set to showcase their prowess on organ and trio guitars. Ya gotta love that old-school rockin' Hammond organ sound, pioneered by the Allman Brothers Band.

Some of the older faces in the all-ages audience no doubt perked up when they heard the opening strains to one of the band's biggest hits - their cover of “Ghost Riders in the Sky.” Nothing like a good old cowboy song to stir a nostalgic air, especially when it's given a Spanish guitar intro and ends with a gathering storm of instrumentals.

As the temperature dropped, the crowd thinned. But those who stayed for the headliner got a full dose of Charlie Daniels at his best. It was nearly 10 p.m. when he tore loose with his fiery fiddle and signature sing-speak, and he just kept rolling through his hits until well past 11.

From declaring his “Simple Man” ideology to reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, this is one good ol' boy who lets you know exactly where he stands politically, patriotically and philosophically. No holds barred. He speaks from the heart about the eye-opening experience of performing for the troops in “some of the most remote regions of the world,” then thanks the veterans in the crowd who served in any conflicts.

He explains that being a redneck is really cool, tosses the word Hawkeye into the mix whenever possible, puts a gospel spin on “How Great Thou Art” and sings a tribute to Johnny Cash with “Folsom Prison Blues.”

And then he brings it all home in a blaze of glory with “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” spicing up the mix with fancy fiddlework from Miss Iowa Anne Michael Langguth of Iowa City and WMT-FM's Katheryn Foxx.

He knows how to fire up a crowd.