CleveRock’s Chad Carlson is live in Nashville covering the 42 annual CMA Music Festival! Stay tuned for daily updates this week and into the weekend!
After a hectic opening day on Thursday, the CMA Music Festival offered more incredible performances by some of the biggest and best artists in country music again on Friday. The Chevrolet Riverfront Stage once again got things rolling with a set from Darryl Worley promptly at 10:00am. As always, Worley put on an entertaining show, but the crowd was nearly half the size of Thursday’s opener, Sara Evans.
The day’s performances continued throughout the morning and early afternoon with sets fromKeith Anderson, Casey James, Greg Bates, and Tate Stevens. But then, a small bit of drama ensued soon thereafter.
Aaron Lewis, who recently migrated over to country music from his time as a rock star withStaind, hit the stage at 2:15pm. He, like so many others during the first day and a half of the festival, had issues with the sound equipment, at times gesturing and shouting to those on the side of the stage. Lewis also played longer than expected, which put the festival committee behind schedule, especially considering issues being had with the weather. Craig Campbell,unfortunately, felt the effects of the scheduling mishap, as his set was cut short in the middle of one of his final songs, “Fish.”
Hunter Hayes surprised the audience at the Riverfront Stage with a set in the late afternoon, followed by Jo Dee Messina, who made it through only two songs before having her performance cut short due to the weather.
Other standout performances of the day included Angie Johnson, Chase Rice, and Rose Falconon the Bud Light Stage, as well as Kip Moore, Brett Eldredge, and Lauren Alaina at the HDTV Lodge.
Saturday’s performances promise to entertain fans just as much as the previous two days in downtown Nashville.
