On Saturday, November 11th, the first ever Live on the Plains took place at Sistrunk Farms in Opelika, Alabama. The festival was created by the same people who created the Auburn Rodeo, with the vibes of the festival being similar. The main difference between the two is that Live on the Plains is a straight music festival with no actual Rodeo in sight.
The performers came from two different fronts. Openers Hudson Westbrook, Bayker Blankenship, and Braxton Keith gave the modern country flavor. Mountain Grass Unit and Childers came it with a more bluegrass feel with sprawling instrumentals and jam sessions galore.
The festival gates opened at 3:00 p.m., with the concert starting at 4:00 p.m., but attendees got to the farm early. Parking opened at 11:00 a.m., and many concert goers spent the morning day drinking and tailgating. The practice of tailgating is not only allowed but encouraged by the festival. This is a tradition that is taken from the Auburn Rodeo, with attendees driving trucks with grills, footballs, chairs and tables in the back. Walking around the parking lot, I saw plenty of beer pong setups, hamburgers and hotdogs being served, couches and tents. There were even some attendees who drove U-Hauls for the ultimate tailgate setup.
The crowd also stuck to the traditional dress code of the Auburn Rodeo, with guys and gals wearing jorts and cowboy hats. Many festival fans were wearing t-shirts with either beer companies or American flags on them. There was even a subset of guys who wore just jeans and boots, leaving their shirts at home.
After five hours of tailgating, the festival started at 4:00 p.m. with Hudson Westbrook taking the stage. Westbrook is a singer-songwriter from the Texas country scene who did not debut until this year. He has released a steady stream of singles, and his first EP comes out on November 15th. He was accompanied by a backing band consisting of a electric guitar, violin and drums. Westbrook played the acoustic guitar during his set.
Westbrook had the shortest set of the day, but did a fantastic job with his time, playing songs like “5 to 9” and “Take it Slow.” He repped clothing vendor Raised Rowdy with one of their hats and wore a red stripped shirt and blue jeans. Westbrook is young in his music career, and it shows in his songs and performances. But he has a ton of potential to be a star in the country world and he already averages over a million streams a month on Spotify.
After Westbrook, it was the first break of the festival. Each set had around a 45 minute to an hour break in between. During the downtime, there was a few things for guests to do. For the hungry crowd, there was some food options, such as corn dogs, chicken fingers and a burger. But the prices were steep. A foot long corn dog and fries or chicken tenders and fries cost $20 and did not come with a drink.
If the crowd wanted to drink more, they could head to the bar where you could get a mixed drink for $15 or a 16 oz beer for $11. There was also a Crown Royale lounge area since they were one of the sponsors of the festival. Some concert goers grabbed Crown Royale bucket hats from the ranch and wore them for the rest of the concert.
There was also some clothing vendors for the fans looking for some country wear. Vendors include Down and Dirty Hat Co., Western Head Hat Company, and the aforementioned Raised Rowdy. These vendors sold cowboy hats, snapbacks, Trump merchandise, t-shirts and more. There was also a permanent jewelry vendor known as The Bonded Bar Co.
There was also a merch stand. It featured shirts, hats, and sweatshirts of the featured artists and the festival itself. Merch prices were not high or low compared to other concerts, with all t-shirts being price at $40 or less.
For the attendees that were just looking for fun between the sets, there was free corn hole boards for playing, a mechanical bull, and giant American patterned cowboy boots to take pictures in front of.
Getting back to the music, next to Grace the stage was Bayker Blankenship. He is a newer artist from Tennessee. Unlike everyone else, Blankenship rode solo as all he brought to the stage was his voice and his guitar. He has good songwriting chops, and is a decent guitar player. He played his biggest song, “Maxed Out,” along with some other originals.
Blankenship just recently started his music journey, only releasing a handful of songs this year. He already averages over two million listeners a month on Spotify, with “Maxed Out” sitting around 47 million streams only six months after it’s release. He also has a lot of work to do, as Live on the Plains was one of his biggest shows yet. He could use a backing band for help, but he has potential as he is very reminiscent of Luke Combs in songwriting ability.
After Blankenship ended his set, Braxton Keith took over. Keith was a major upgrade to his earlier peers, as he has been releasing music since 2019. He had a backing band consisting of two electric guitars, a bass, and drums. Keith looks like he belongs in a spaghetti western, with his cowboy hat and curly mustache. He had the most swagger out of the performers so far, and the crowd really got into his performance. Standout songs include “Settle for a Beer” and “Blue,” his newest single.
After a brief intermission, Mountain Grass Unit appeared onstage. They are the closest to Childers sound wise, being a bluegrass band from Birmingham, Alabama. The group consists of Drury Anderson on mandolin and vocals, Luke Black on guitar, Sam Wilson on bass, and recent addition to the group, Josiah Nelson on fiddle. The group started in 2016 when they were teenagers and have gained a steady ground following since then. They released their first songs online in 2021. Mountain Grass Unit average less than 50 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify, but they have been travel tested and were the best performers other than Childers.
Mountain Grass Unit are gifted in the art of bluegrass. The Birmingham boys jammed out and sang beautiful harmonies. Stylistically, they were remarkably interesting to look at. Anderson wore the Canadian tuxedo, while Wilson was dress casually in jeans and a t-shirt Some concert goers swing danced to their songs. The standouts from their set were “Where I Land,” “Boxcar” and “Hey Mama.”
Before getting to Tyler Childers, there was another brief intermission, but this time with a little controversy. Onstage, an event organizer for Live on the Plains took the stage and talked about how excited he was “for the next four years of our country.” He then asked the crowd to say the pledge of allegiance at 9:00 PM and got the PA to play “God Bless the USA.”
Afterwards, Childers came onto the stage. He sang his first couple of songs, starting off with “In Your Love” and “Country Squire.” During one of the breaks between songs, Childers brought up the earlier intermission, saying that the pledge was “cute, but God Bless the USA sucks.”
“I was told there wasn’t gonna be any of that MAGA shit,” said Childers. “But I was lied to. Sorry, I’m a little grumpy.” Childers would go onto play a full set, playing some of his hits like “All Your’n” and “Shake the Frost.” He gave an exceptional performance, with my personal favorite part being the fully instrumental song, “Cluck Ol Hen.” But the vibes were off after the pledge and his statements. Childers came to the stage angry and some of the crowd seemed displeased by his performance.
“He’s a great artist,” said one fan. “But he’s a terrible performer.” During Childers set, there was a small part of the crowd who started leaving before he finished his set. As the band finished playing, Childers thanked the crowd for their support and said “Stay safe out there. It is scary times, hold onto your people.”
Childers wasn’t the only one who was displeased by the pro Trump display. “I actually felt pretty uncomfortable at this event because of the aggressive hawking of political merchandise (with cheesy slogans, at that)” said @sam.baraoidan on instagram under a post highlighting the crowd. “And then I was made more uncomfortable by the event promoter invoking the pledge of allegiance (news flash - people of all nationalities are allowed to enjoy country music and attend your concert, and should not feel forced to engage in a jingoistic ritual for a country they may not actually feel comfortable pledging allegiance to). And when the promoter proceeded to make pointedly political comments sharing his opinion on the future of the country, I was cooked. I'm thankful that I stayed through to the end to see the artist that I came to watch stand up for his values after they were compromised!”
I thought Childers did a fantastic job in keeping his head cool and putting on a good show, but it does beg the question of Childers was the right performer for this festival. Childers has not said much about politics but has shown to be left leaning based on his track record of standing for the Black Lives Matter movement and having a gay relationship be the plot line of his music video for “In Your Love.” Also knowing the performers of previous rodeo events, most have strayed closer to tradition country radio and party country music. Childers doesn’t fit that mold at all and that ultimately caused a rift between him and some of the crowd.
Childers did bring in some fans who would have normally skipped this festival, so there is a bonus in booking him. But his outlook on the festival did not line up with the people organizing it.
Overall, Live on the Plains was a fun night. There were some road bumps and problems that can be worked out to make a better festival experience next year, but there’s always room for improvement, especially for the first of anything. My biggest takeaway is that it is a wonderful opportunity for younger artists to play with a big, headlining act, and that is always a good thing.
