The Band Perry brought their edgy, darker, new look and fresh sound to the Hard Rock Rocksino on Saturday, May 6. With dramatic light and sound effects, they kicked off their headlining set with two well-known and much-loved country songs, “Better Dig Two” and “Chainsaw.” Although they were hits on the country charts, these sounded a bit different than what we are used to, but it was a refreshing and vibrant change, especially if you enjoy coming to live shows so you can hear the songs differently than the album recordings.
The trio, consisting of siblings Kimberly, Reid and Neil Perry, is quick to point out that although they look very different these days, with Kimberly joking, “I have bangs now,” they really are the same people they have always been. They consider themselves to be “wandering spirits,” and thanked the fans in the audience for standing by them through the changes as they evolve in their music.
There really was something for every kind of music fan in this show. They of course played all of their hits, including the standout number one song that won them so many awards, “If I Die Young.” They had been told this song was too sad to release as a single, but even so early in their career they stayed true to themselves and released it anyway, and it definitely paid off.
They performed their newer recordings, which like it or not, are undeniably “pop,” but still stay true to The Band Perry sound. These included the very personal and autobiographical “Comeback Kid,” which contains lyrics that just about any person can relate to, and “Stay In the Dark” which is the brand new single from their forthcoming third album “My Bad Imagination,” to be released sometime in 2017.
Perhaps the most fun part of the night was neither “country” nor “pop.” It was The Band Perry doing what they do best, and that is rocking it out on a Saturday night and there is no better place to do this than at a place that is aptly titled the Rocksino. They covered many diverse musical artists: Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” The Eurythmics’s “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy,” Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack,” Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” and the crowd favorite, Queen’s “Fat-Bottomed Girls.” In doing so, The Band Perry leaves little doubt that there is no musical genre they cannot conquer and that there is no need to restrict themselves to only one category of music.
Many fans are eagerly anticipating the new record this year, which the band stated is almost finished, and I hope to see them return to the top of the music charts once again, regardless of which charts that may be.
