LONESTAR @ Freedom Country Fest – Freedom, WI

June 11, 2021

Review by Sharon Locklin
Photos by David Urmanski

THE BAND: LONESTAR

Drew Womack – Lead Vocals, Guitar
Dean Sams – Keyboards, Guitar, Backing Vocals
Michael Britt – Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
Keech Rainwater – Drums

Website: www.LonestarNow.com

On a hot night, with the smell of brats and burgers cooking on the grill, a group of concert goers, hungry to get back out after a long spell of pandemic restrictions, congregated at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Freedom, Wisconsin to hear a concert headlined by award-winning country band, Lonestar. Yes, you heard it right—country superstars Lonestar performing at Wisconsin’s Best Small Town Festival.

Concert Promoter, National Event Promotions, has been booking talent at this popular event for six years and, once again, it was a well-planned event that opened with local country favorite, Nashville Pipeline, and up-and-coming country sensation, Mitch Rossell, as direct supporting act to Lonestar whose excellence in writing strong lead and harmony vocals and exuberant instrumental tracks has kept them at the forefront of popular country music for more than 20 years.

For both national touring bands it was a coming out party after a year and a half of lockdown. Nashville Pipeline did a great job warming up the crowd that began to congregate early. Then singer-songwriter, Mitch Rossell, and band took the stage and showed why his light shines so bright on his journey to country music with experience performing with the legendary Garth Brooks and recent release of “Ran into You” which features vocal accompaniment by Grammy Award Winner Trisha Yearwood.

Finally, as the crowd swelled to over 2,000 people strong, Lonestar brought them all to their feet with show opener “No News” which they synched with their rendition of the Beatles “Get Back.” Premiering their new frontman, Drew Womack who replaced former lead vocalist Richie McDonald and previously led the Sons of the Desert, it was clear right out the gate that Womack was a great fit for the band both musically and from a stage chemistry standpoint. He wrote Sons of the Desert hit “Whatever Comes First” and collaborated with Lee Ann Womack (no relation) on her crossover pop hit “I Hope You Dance” which was released in March 2000. Both songs were performed for the Freedom crowd Friday night with heartfelt reaction.

It was clear the crowd was there to experience Lonestar to the fullest, and the band did not disappoint. With a set list including their first single, “Tequila Talking,” “Almost Real” (which almost didn’t make it onto the “What About Now” album) and their tribute to service personnel and their families “Already There,” they kept the crowd engaged from the start of their set to the finish an hour and a half later. But the best was yet to come. Their encore kept the crowd on their feet singing and dancing starting with their award-winning hit “Amazed” before transitioning to a Rock ‘n Roll medley that featured cover tunes including Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way,” Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” and Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” before finished off the night with a superb cover of the Eagles “Life in the Fast Lane,” that definitely reflected the mood of the crowd and proved to be the icing on the cake for what turned out to be a phenomenal night of live country music.

For a band that has been through some changes over the years, and only performing a handful of shows in the last year and a half, Lonestar definitely brought their A-game to Freedom Friday night and we all walked away exceedingly satisfied after their energetic and engaging performance.

SET LIST:
No News
Get Back
Heartbreak Every Day
Tequila Talkin
Running Away
Change
Lonely Grill
Everythings Changed
Coming Home
Mountains
Whatever Comes First
Shes Got It All
Hope You Dance
Front Porch
Mr. Mom
Already There
What About Now
With Me
Memphis