Keepin' it Country Media & Radio » Las Vegas

The ACM Awards Take Over Fremont Street

Jennifer Swirsky — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:01:21 +0000

Country music is taking over Las Vegas in April, as the ACM’s head to Sin City. While the coveted awards show will take place on April 7th, it’s the days leading up to the awards that will truly be “must-see” events!

Fremont Street is located in the heart of Las Vegas, and is only second in popularity to the infamous Las Vegas Strip. The Fremont Experience is a pedestrian mall downtown, which takes up a five-block radius and is well-known for being home to the world’s largest video screen (a whopping 1,500 feet long!). So, who can you expect to see at the Fremont Street Experience, performing on this monster screen? An incredible line-up consisting of co-headliners Gary Allan and Jake Owen, along with Randy Houser, Chris Janson, Jana Kramer, Kip Moore, Joe Nichols and Sunny Sweeney!

For those of you who are lucky enough to attend this event (taking place on April 5th-6th), we have great news: It’s FREE!

Unfortunately for those of us who will not be in Las Vegas during ACM week, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas; however, we are counting on those of you who will be there to sneak us a little bit of information on this incredible event so we can live vicariously through you!

Luke Bryan And Eric Church To Headline On Fremont Street

Ted Efron — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:55:56 +0000

Luke Bryan and Eric Church will be takin’ it to the street. Fremont Street, that is.

The two have been tabbed as the headliners for this year’s ACM Weekend on Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas. Bryan will headline on Friday night, March 30^th and Church will headline on Saturday, March 31^st.

The concerts take place in conjunction with “The Week Vegas Goes Country,” the week of the 47^th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, honoring country music’s top talent and the industry’s hottest emerging talent. The event will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday April 1st at 8pm EST on CBS.

For the sixth year in a row, the Academy of Country Music presents free and open-to-the-public concerts starting at 6:30pm on two stages in downtown Las Vegas at Fremont Street Experience. The weekend-long party leading up to the 47^th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards is sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and features headlining performers and emerging artists. Specific show times, additional performers and stage locations are to be announced soon.

CONCERT REVIEW: Pistol Annies — Stripped Down and Fired Up

Ted Efron — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:27:41 +0000

The Pistol Annies played their first-ever solo show Saturday night at the Las Vegas House of Blues. The trio (Angaleena Presley, Ashley Monroe and Miranda Lambert) admitted to being nervous. It could’ve been because it was their first headlining concert. Or it could’ve been because they chose to strip things down and make it an acoustic show. It turns out the only thing they needed to worry about was having enough room for all of their fired-up fans.

The final song played before the Annies hit the stage was Loretta Lynn’s “You’re Lookin’ At Country.” That song set the tone for a night of music that shows the traditional sound is alive and kickin’. (If you’re a guy, it might be kickin’ you somewhere very, very painful!) Shortly after 11pm the Annies started things off with the rockin’ “Bad Example.” The song, like almost every other song off of the Annies’ debut “Hell On Heels” album, would’ve fit perfectly being played during the old road shows featuring the likes of Johnny Cash and Buddy Holly.

The Annies sang all ten tracks from their album, but threw in a lot of surprises along the way. This included covers of Lynn’s “Fist City” and Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools.” They also sang a medley of songs that reminded each of them of where they’re from. Presley chose Emmylou Harris’ “Blue Kentucky Girl,” Monroe sang Dolly Parton’s “My Tennessee Mountain Home” and Lambert, wearing a longhorn belt buckle, saluted her home state with Tanya Tucker’s “Texas (When I Die).”

Lambert is easily the most well-known of the Pistol Annies. While many fans may not be as familiar with Presley and Monroe, they are familiar with their songwriting. The two performed songs they wrote, but were recorded by other performers. Monroe played “The Truth,” which became a #1 hit for Jason Aldean. Presley got the crowd rockin’ with her “Look It Up,” which was a hit earlier this year for Ashton Shepherd. Lambert’s contribution to the solo songwriter set was her chart-topping “Heart Like Mine,” in which the three took turns singing verses.

The Pistol Annies write and sing about strong and powerful women, but the show wasn’t exclusively a girl’s club. The band performed Ray Charles’ “Hit the Road Jack” with guest vocals by long-time Lambert guitar player Scotty Wray. He was part of the Annies’ backing band, joined by Aden Bubeck on standup bass and Chris Kline on guitars, harmonica and anything the Annies needed. With the show being in Vegas, we can say Wray, Bubeck and Kline played the role of the Jordanaires to the Annies being Elvis. They provided the perfect backing to let the ladies shine.

The biggest surprise of the night came during the singing of “Family Feud.” The girls introduced that song by bringing out co-writer Blake Shelton. As you might expect, the crowd exploded when the reigning CMA Male Vocalist of the Year hit the stage. Lambert appeared to bursting with pride as her husband and honorary Annie (technically an Andy) delivered a powerful performance. At the end of the song the two shared a kiss and hug before Shelton left the stage.

They concluded their set with “Trailer For Rent” (during which Lambert invited all the ladies in the crowd to join her in singing about being tired of their man’s crap (although she uses a different word) and “Takin’ Pills,” which addresses the addictions of all three Annie characters (One’s drinkin’, one’s smokin’ and one’s takin’ pills). To what extent the song is truly about the three of them, we may never know. But we do know it’s a great song that turns “life’s hard and were doin’ whatever it takes to get by” into a heck of a lot of fun.

The night continued with the band’s next first: Their first encore. They performed their smash-hit “Hell On Heels.” After the show they said they were amused to see all of the men in the crowd singing along with the song. But once again, it was Las Vegas. They followed that with the haunting “Housewife’s Prayer.” From the opening line of “I’ve been thinking about setting my house on fire,” the song just resonated with the crowd. Who hasn’t been to the point where they want to chuck it all? The Annies concluded the night with a final slice of traditional country singing the Willie Nelson/Waylon Jennings “Good Hearted Woman.”

If this first show is any indication, the red-hot Pistol Annies are right on target. The band has said they were using this show and two more that are scheduled for this week to see how they are received before adding more dates. It would appear more dates (and more seats at the selected venues) will be needed.

Country Stars Perform At iHeartRadio Music Festival

Jeanna D. — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 22:17:47 +0000

The iHeartRadio Music Festival, which has been dubbed as the biggest concert in radio history, took place this past weekend at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Hosted by Ryan Seacrest with appearances by WHTZ Z100/New York’s Elvin Duran, the extraordinary 2-day event spanned all genres of music with performances and appearances from some of today’s biggest and best stars. Music sensations Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, and Carrie Underwood took the stage to represent country music and perform some of their hits. Other mega-talents on hand at the event included Kelly Clarkson, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, the Black Eyed Peas, Cold Play, and many more.

Judging from the response in the media and online, the event did not disappoint and fans everywhere are hoping that iHeartRadio turns the festival into an annual celebration of music.