Photos and Review By Ryan Renger
The Son Of A Sinner and the Backroad Baptist Jelly Roll and company rolled into the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City for one of the best shows of the year. The 38-year-old Country-Rock fusion singer is on the heels of recent music releases and a documentary about his life that have propelled him into the upper echelon of Country music stars. His Backroad Baptism tour brought himself and several amazing artists across the country on a tour widely acclaimed as a rejuvenation of Country music and what Jelly describes as "Real music for real people."
The show was opened by Nashville-based singer and rapper Struggle Jennings. With a raspy and sultry voice that flows through the speakers like butter on a warm knife, his energy and enthusiasm make him the perfect opener for an artist like Jelly Roll. Jennings' set opened with Troubadour of Troubled Souls. The song is a mix of everything great about rap and country; it is just the right vibe to get the crowd on their feet early. Jennings is an outspoken patriot, which is a central theme to many of his songs and resonates with most of his fans, who share many of the same sentiments as Jennings. His set continued with more great songs like Savior and Alligator Shit. It was obvious that the thousands that showed up for Jelly were just as excited to see Jennings. His set ended with Outlaw Shit, and with that, the crowd was yearning for more!
On the stage next was another great country star. With her vibrant voice and immaculate guitar playing, Ashley McBryde took the crowd by storm as she jumped into Made For This. For the majority of her set, McBryde stood at the mic stand with her guitar blasting out great country music. It was obvious that the audience loved McBryde and her songs, with many in the crowd having their own posters, shirts, and flags dedicated to her. Her set continued with more great songs like Brenda Put Your Bra On, where one lucky fan got thrown a bra from McBryde. She continued to play more great tunes, with Shut Up Sheila and The Devil I Know. McBryde took various breaks through her set to thank fans for their support and expressed the sentiments that she would not be able to do everything she could without them; they thanked her right back with raucous applause along with hoots and hollers. McBryde ended her set with One Night Standards before walking off stage to a standing ovation.
After McBryde left the stage, it was time for the main event of the evening. The sold-out T-Mobile Center began to rock with excitement and anticipation. As the 36-hour band took their positions on the stage, 18,000 people jumped to their feet, screaming as Jelly Roll took the stage with the swagger and confidence of a man who knew that every person in that building was there for the sole purpose of rocking out to his music. Jelly's first song of the night was The Lost. With one song down and over a dozen to go, the crowd was in for the long haul, and not one person was fazed by the idea of being on their feet for hours. The flames started firing on stage as Halfway To Hell rang out, bringing everyone to hell along with the son of a sinner. Jelly's voice sounded immaculate on this night, with his signature tone proving why he is one of the current best country artists. It didn't take long for Jelly to roll out his recently awarded Son Of A Sinner, for which he won the CMT for Breakthrough Male Video of the Year. Another song from the night with an amazingly powerful video, She, showed the impact that Jelly Roll's music has had on his fans' lives. Many held up signs showing their sobriety date, which coincides with the theme of an overdose that the She video discusses. More great songs like Same Asshole and Need A Favor were played before a cover of one of the greatest rock songs, The House of the Rising Sun. Jelly cited this as one of his favorite songs and a major inspiration for his music. Another great cover was on this set, and it is one of the songs that helped propel Jelly's career in recent years. A couple of years ago, Jelly went out on tour with an amazing Hard Rock band, Shinedown, and every night on that tour, she would join the band to sing Lynyrd Skynyrd's song, Simple Man. Well, on this night, it was Jelly who was joined by someone else as he brought out McBryde, who helped him with both of their vibrato-driven voices playing nicely together for a great rendition. The night unfortunately had to end next, but it ended on a high note with fans screaming along to Save Me. Overall, this show was an amazing night of music from start to finish, and it is most definitely worth a trip to an arena near you to see it! If you have not had a chance to catch Jelly on this tour yet, you should! He has nearly two more months of shows nationwide where you can see him and some amazing opening acts!
See more photos from the show at the links below!