Little Big Town Brings the Country Party to Night One of Crash My Playa 2017
There was even a surprise appearance from the host himself... Luke Bryan!
Thousands of country music fans have descended upon Mexico for Luke Bryan’s third annual Crash My Playa festival. The four-day island getaway includes four nightly concerts from headliners Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton and Little Big Town as well as performances by Randy Houser, Old Dominion, Dustin Lynch, Brothers Osborne, Kelleigh Bannen, Adam Craig, Brooke Eden and Lucie Silvas.
In addition to the nightly concerts held on the resort beach at the Barcelo, each day includes pool party concerts by several artists on the lineup at the resort, giving fans and up-close view of some of their favorite acts.
Bryan’s festival kicked off on Thursday (Jan. 19) where fans entered the picturesque beach located on the Barcelo resort property and were greeted by beautiful weather, overflowing drinks and food. The lineup for the evening included headliners Little Big Town, Randy Houser, Kelleigh Bannen and a surprise appearance by the host himself, Luke Bryan.
“Y’all having a good time?” Bryan asked the screaming crowd, walking out to the catwalk in white jeans, a black t-shirt and sandals. “Thank you guys so much for making this one of the best weekends of my life.”
He then introduced his friends and headliners Little Big Town but that wasn’t the last time fans would get a glimpse of the singer. Several songs into their set, Little Big Town dedicated “Bring It On Home” to “all the love birds in the house tonight.” While they sang the song, a man in the front row motioned to Karen Fairchild, saying he and his wife were celebrating their 40th anniversary that weekend.
“We got an anniversary right here,” Fairchild told the audience. “Happy 40th! They’re from Alaska. You completely deserve a hip shake from Luke Bryan for 40 years.”
Moments later, Bryan appeared from side stage to greet the couple with some dance moves as Fairchild sang “Country Girl (Shake It For Me).”
“Happy anniversary! I mean really, does it get any better than that?” Fairchild asked.
Little Big Town’s set spanned their catalogue with longtime fan favorites “Girl Crush,” “Boondocks,” “Pontoon” and the festival appropriate “Day Drinking.” When they came time to play their new single “Better Man,” the quartet thanked fans for making it the fastest rising single of their career.
Highlights throughout their performance included covers of Prince’s “When Doves Cry,” the Allman Brothers Band’s “Midnight Rider,” Luke Bryan’s “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” and a bluesy “Fallin'” by Alicia Keys.
“I don’t know about y’all, but I was tired of the gloomy January weather in Nashville,” Fairchild said. “When Luke Bryan asks you to come party in Mexico, you say yes.”
Throughout their set Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet traded lead vocals, each showing their diverse talent as a lead singer. It was their harmonies, though, that makes them stand from most as headliners. A long journey to headliner, the band thanked the country audience for their support over the years as they closed out the night.
Meanwhile, Houser played an energetic hour-long set where he debuted new music as well as put his own spin on several covers including Maren Morris’ “My Church,” Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man” and Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville.” He enlisted the help of the audience while singing “Margaritaville,” admitting through laughs that he didn’t know many of the words.
“I’ve had some time off and have been writing new songs,” he told the crowd. “Y’all care if I play something brand new? It’s a song about getting back to the basics.”
His new song, “Tailgate Downtown,” was a ballad that discussed how he tries to hold onto the good old days. Accompanied by acoustic guitar and accordion, “Tailgate Downtown” allowed his deep vocals to soar and despite the rowdy crowd, he captivated the beach audience. Later, during “How Country Feels,” “Goodnight Kiss” and “Boots On” he had the audience singing along.
“This is badass. Thank you for letting us play whatever the hell we want tonight. I love my job,” he said at the close of his set.
Bannen got the beach party started on Thursday with “Landlocked,” adding that “we aren’t actually land locked right now.”
“Y’all, did you have the best day? Did you just drink all day and look at the beautiful view,” she asked the crowd. Excited to be in Mexico herself, Bannen’s set included the gritty “Mama Got a Gun,” the bluesy “Cheap Sunglasses” and soulful “Smoke When I Drink.” After playing a fitting cover of Dierks Bentley’s “Somewhere On a Beach,” as well as her poignant next single “Church Clothes,” she ended her set with the high energy “Famous.”
As the night came to a close, each artist expressed their gratitude to fans for allowing them to make music for a living while Little Big Town’s Fairchild warned those in attendance not to party too hard. “Now listen, it’s night one. You gotta pace yourselves!”
Crash My Playa runs through Jan. 22. We’ll be providing daily recaps and interviews with the artists from Mexico so stay tuned!
