THE STEVE MILLER BAND    
Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives
The Freeman Stage
Tuesday, July 30th, 2019

  On a hot and humid July evening, Steve Miller brought his 2019 summer tour to The Freeman Stage at Bayside with special guest Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives.

  Marty Stuart and his band took the stage at 6:30 and played a 75-minute set that consisted of a few of his own recordings; but most of the night’s songs were from other country artists such as "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'” by Travis Tritt, "Six White Horses” by Johnny Cash, "Pretty Boy Floyd" by Woodie Guthrie, "Ring Of Fire" by Merle Kilgore, plus a couple by Kenny Vaughan, and a few others.

  After the intermission, The Steve Miller Band took the stage at 8:30 and with a huge video screen behind the band they opened with "The Stake", "Jungle Love", "Abracadabra" and "Living in the USA" before stopping and telling the sold-out crowd "welcome to the backyard party", as anyone who's been to The Freeman Stage knows of the setting and can relate to his words. After their next song, "Space Cowboy", he now takes a minute and says tonight this concert is where "country music meets rock music", and where "rock music meets country music". Then he invites Marty Stuart and his band to join them onstage to sing a couple songs together. Now, with both bands on stage, they play a Jimmy Reed cover of "I Wanna Be Loved", and a Rabon Tarrant cover of "Blues With a Feeling" after which handshakes and hugs were exchanged and Marty Stuart and his band exited the stage. Next up came "Fly Like an Eagle" and "Rock'n Me" to end their first set of the night.

  After a short intermission, they returned to the stage and opened with "Take The Money and Run", "Swingtown", and "Jet Airliner", then took their bows and waved to the fans before exiting the stage.

  Now you usually don't get a three song encore from most any band nowadays, but after a brief break, they once again returned to the stage to the excitement of the audience. To end their concert they played the ever fan favorite "The Joker", to which everyone in the crowd sang along, word for word. Check out the schedule at The Freeman Stage. Great entertainment right here on the shore.

Gary Crouthamel - Concert Photojournalist