Phil Vassar
April 24, 2008
Club Rodeo
San Jose, CA
As a bit of background, Vassar has written hits for Alan Jackson with Right On The Money, Tim McGraw with For A Little While and My Next Thirty Years and Jo Dee Messina's hits Bye Bye and "I'm Alright. Vassar released his debut album in 2000 which produced five hit singles in the U.S.
and was certified gold. Helped by constant air play on country radio, GAC and CMT, Vassar has risen to stardom over the past decade.
This night was electric. Previously, I saw Vassar 3 weeks after 9/11 at the KZLA country bash in Irvine, California. This night was special because it was one of only two CD release party's for his "Prayer of a Common Man" CD. KRTY brought Vassar to Club Rodeo in San Jose for this one night event. Tickets were only $10 so this was a must see show of a great performer and song writer, not to mention that the $10 included an autographed copy of the new CD as well!
As the audience packed in, members of the KRTY team took the stage in preparation for Vassar's arrival. When he took the stage, the crowd went crazy! He opened the show with the first hit off his new CD, "Love is a Beautiful Thing" which got the crowd going and followed that up with a past hit "Six Pack Summer". The crowd was into this show! Vassar took audience requests the entire night which was a pleasant surprise. Many times, artists tend to fill their set list with new songs to promote the new album but Vassar took the approach of having a great time with the audience and let us choose the songs that were played. Class act!
The audience was into the show from the very start as Vassar mixed classic hits, with new songs and a few "special" songs courtesy of Grease. The highlights of the show included "Bye Bye", "I'm Alright", "Carlene", "Just Another Day in Paradise" and "Little Red Rodeo" which are always crowd favorites. Vassar concluded the show with a great finale with Billy Joel's "Piano Man" which was a perfect ending to a great show.
The show had very high expectations and did not disappoint. Vassar has an incredible stage presence which was obvious from the moment he first appeared. I have not been to a concert in years where every person in the audience was able to sing every word to every song and it was clear that Vassar was very impressed by the crowd.
In addition, my wife had her hat signed by Vassar after the show and that was an extra, added bonus.
If Phil Vassar comes to your town, make sure that you make an appointment to go see the show. You will not be disappointed. If you went to this, or any other Phil Vassar show, let me know your thoughts.
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