Ben Rector made his second Tuscaloosa appearance last night at The Bama Theatre in support of his newest record, The Walking In Between.
This sold-out show featured an electric crowd and sounded like the audience of a One Direction show, but it made for a good time.
The first performer of the night was Jon McLaughlin.
He was a little John Mayer-esque, but he had a sense of humor that carried him through the tough job of being the opening act.
When Ben took the stage, the crowd was on fire.
It reminded me of the first time I saw Justin Bieber: screaming girls everywhere.
There were a few guys in the mix, though and their turn in the spotlight came a little bit later in the night.
Throughout the 12 song set, Ben transitioned from playing guitar to the piano: the piano being more prominent.
His set consisted of:
When I’m With You
Let The Good Times Roll (On the setlist, it says Roll (Tide))
Moving Backwards (Ben said “It’s about to Kenny G Up In Here when the piano player played the saxophone.”)
When A Heart Breaks
Summertime
I Like You
Ordinary Love
Forever Like That
Hold On, We’re Going Home (Drake Cover)
The Beat
White Dress
Encore:
Sailboat
Before the Drake cover started, Ben told the guys in the crowd that they were about to dance. He demonstrated two separate dances: one for the shy guys and one for the more outgoing. One guy was hilarious with his dance moves and got a shout out from Ben. It turned out that the guy’s name was Ben as well. (“Guy in the red shirt is your name really Ben? If not that is the cleverest thing you’ve ever done.”)
Closer to the end of the show, Ben told the audience that most of his songs were not written about his wife, they were just made and we were here to listen to songs about his feelings. He told the story of a guy in Iowa, who, when he told the story, said “Ugh! Aww! Ugh!” when he found that out. After the show he asked Ben if what he said on stage was true. He repeated the same “Ugh” response from earlier and Ben asked, “Would you rather me have lied about it?” The guy answered affirmatively.
The last song, Sailboat, evoked a wonderful crowd response and I saw several girls cry.
It’s not a show unless someone cries, whether it be happy or sad tears.
Props to you, Ben Rector, props.