Granger Smith announced his thirty nine date tour back July of 2021 on his Instagram. The tour was named after his most recent album, “Country Things”. I purchased tickets to the second to last date on the tour, in Bakersfield, CA. The show took place at Bakersfield Historical Fox Theater which is a gorgeous venue.
Courtesy of For the Love of Music
The venue was easy to get to, and very accessible. The seats were pretty comfortable for venue seats and every seat in the house had a good view of the stage. I purchased tickets for Row 7, seat 11 since those were the closest to the stage available at the time of purchase. The Powell Brothers opened the show. The band is made up of Taylor Powell, Blake Powell and Mike Smith. I was blown away the minute they stepped on stage. Such true instrumentalists and a real deal band. I instantly became a fan. They sang a lot of songs which I enjoyed including a cover song.
Courtesy of For the Love of Music
About twenty to thirty minuets later, Granger came on stage with his band as the crowd erupted with eager hopes which Granger fulfilled. As everyone stood on their feet clapping, dancing, singing the lyrics while yelling ‘YeeYees!’ in between songs Granger’s setlist kept all entertained.
The setlist was as followed (accompanied by the albums they are on)
Holler (Country Things)
You’re In It (When The Good Guys Win)
Backroad Song (Remington)
Buy A Boy A Baseball (Country Things)
I Kill Spiders (Country Things)
Hate You Like I Love You (Country Things)
God Bless The USA (Lee Greenwood COVER)
Silverado Bench Seat (Dirt Road Driveway)
Diesel (Country Things)
That’s Why I Love Dirt Roads (Country Things)
City Boy Stuck (Remington)
Happens Like That (When The Good Guys Win)
Merica’ (When The Good Guys Win)
Don’t Tread On Me (Remington)
If The Boot Fits (Remington)
The Country Boy Song (Dirt Road Driveway)
Courtesy of For the Love of Music
The setlist is not and order and I noticed from other set lists that songs were moved around or changed out but for the most part the setlist stayed the same throughout tour. Sixteen songs was a lot more than I expected from what I heard so I was extremely happy with the setlist.
Granger talked to fans in between songs making sure to engage with his audience. Granger has made it a tradition to grab a fan’s phone and film himself while he performs, “Hate You Like I Love You’.
About the Venue: This is the first time i have been to the Historic \Fox Theater in Bakersfield. I was blown away by how well they up kept this venue and how gorgeous it was!
Seats: We enjoyed the show from the Left section, sixth row, with end seats. Seats were pretty good but for a Granger Show I would love to be first row or pit next time. The pit wasn’t rowdy and they were respectful of their neighbors.
Sound: GREAT sound! It was definitely a great sound system. When The Powell Brothers opened the sound was a bit hard to hear, I couldn’t make out the lyrics real great but for Granger’s part of the show it was really good.
Cleanliness: Outside and Inside of the venue was sparkling clean. No trash and everything was very well taken care of.
Parking: Parking was free for us and I’m sure you can find free parking around the venue as it’s a downtown area. It wasn’t busy at all except for the concert so I don’t think parking should be a problem.
Rating: Overall I would give the show a 9/10. Granger and his band did not disappoint, the only reason why I knocked the score down one point is because I expected to see more of Earl Dibbles. Granger changed into Earl for the last song and that was it. I would have loved to seen Dibbles perform Workaholic or If You’re Country & You Know It. Overall great show, great venue and great price. I would definitely go see Granger again.