Eric Church closed out day one of Faster Horses. Bryan Everson/The Pit and Press Row
Last weekend, a Hunt — Mark Hunt — got snuffed out at UFC 200 by Brock Lesnar in Las Vegas.
In front of a potentially more raucous crowd on Friday evening in Michigan, another Hunt couldn’t be contained.
There’s always something about a festival and the first act that to some degree breaks the seal, and Sam Hunt took the reigns with his set on the opening day of this year’s Faster Horses festival in Brooklyn, MI.
Maybe it’s partially his experience formerly as a quarterback at Middle Tennessee State and UAB that’s got him so able in commanding a crowd and getting them to follow, but songs like “House Party” make him seem like a natural.
The women had their share of the spotlight on the main stage, too. Actor-turned mom Jana Kramer, a Michigan (Rochester Hills) native got the locals going earlier there and for a short acoustic set. She teased a younger guy in the crowd and sent out the warning shot “Don’t Touch My Radio,” a cut from 2015’s “Thirty One.” “I Got The Boy” is a standout single from that release, and also played well acoustically.
And if she didn’t bring the girl power enough, Wynonna Judd brought some fastballs during her set, reminding the crowd that “there will always be women in country music.”
Judd, supporting her eighth solo album, was full of piss and vinegar, making quips to a fan she brought up on stage, then declaring, “I ain’t afraid to go back to jail.”
Closing the night was Eric Church, ideal for the night rangers. He’s great at changing the tempo like a conductor. Tracks from “The Outsiders” chalk full of heavy guitar can get a stadium crowd off their feet, but he can slow it down with the best of them. The bass drum beat from Craig Wright is infectious on “Like a Wrecking Ball,” a passionate ballad about, well, sex. It’s light on innuendo and makes you move.
The man who sings it nearly as good as anyone about drinkin’ and smokin’ played the best of selections off his latest acclaimed album, “Mr. Misunderstood,” like the title track, the single “Record Year,” one that his voice and guitar sound allow to tell a fine story.
Church’s 90-plus minute set to close the evening was satisfying, setting up for the next leg of the race at MIS Saturday, and a little more summertime with Jason Aldean and company.
