Darius Rucker and his band performs Friday at The Joint. All photos by ANGELA TEMPLE / Courtesy
Darius Rucker and his band performs Friday at The Joint. All photos by ANGELA TEMPLE / Courtesy
Darius Rucker and his band performs Friday at The Joint. All photos by ANGELA TEMPLE / Courtesy
Darius Rucker and his band performs Friday at The Joint. All photos by ANGELA TEMPLE / Courtesy
Darius Rucker and his band performs Friday at The Joint. All photos by ANGELA TEMPLE / Courtesy
Darius Rucker and his band performs Friday at The Joint. All photos by ANGELA TEMPLE / Courtesy
Darius Rucker and his band performs Friday at The Joint. All photos by ANGELA TEMPLE / Courtesy
Darius Rucker and his band performs Friday at The Joint. All photos by ANGELA TEMPLE / Courtesy
Darius Rucker and his band performs Friday at The Joint. All photos by ANGELA TEMPLE / Courtesy
As
Darius Rucker took the stage to a full house Friday at
The Joint, his first words were "What's up Tulsa?!"
Dressed in red tee, worn jeans, brown boots and ball cap, he was casual and warm, friendly and charismatic as fans stood and cheered to welcome the country music crossover to the venue inside the
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa.
His set included his recent solo-era hits and new music, including the gospel-tinged “True Believers,” along with classics from his days as frontman for Hootie & the Blowfish and cover tunes that spanned
The Steve Miller Band to
Hank Williams Jr. to
Prince.
His vocals strengthened by the second song, “Alright,” as the twangy clap-along got fans to their feet with a backing band that included keyboards, banjo, guitar, fiddle, pedal steel and drums. Rucker’s vocals hit their stride by the fourth song in. “I love playing this song,” he said. “I. Love. Playing. This. Song,” he repeated before singing the first few words by himself, strumming an acoustic guitar.
Before the first line was sang, the audience had pressed against the barricades, singing in unison and cheering the Hootie & the Blowfish hit, “Let Her Cry.” The tune added tinges of fiddle and slide guitar as it soared.
There are few bells and whistles at a Rucker concert. It’s a front-and-center show with no pyro, no dancing girls, no LED video screens. It featured a strong set, if somewhat stark in its decor. That's ok by me. Rucker has a gift for sharing his inherent love for music – and performing it – with his crowd.
“Come Back Song,” “Southern State of Mind” and “Radio” effervesced as adult contemporary country, the easy-feeling fare I listened to as a child in the ‘70s and ‘80s with my father and cousins on road trips. The set swelled into “History in the Making,” “Only Wanna Be With You,” “This,” “Wagon Wheel,” “Don't Think I Don't Think About It,” “Hold My Hand,” and even Prince’s “Purple Rain.”
He jumped from that a fun, drinking sing-along to the Steve Miller Band’s “The Joker,” which surprised crowds new to his sets. People waved beers and hollered along. His set included the snarky honky tonker “All I Want,” and Bocephus’ “Family Tradition,” a song he said was played at the first Hootie & Blowfish concert back in 1986.
It struck me that I missed most of this music when I was in college, though his band was huge. Here’s a storyteller musician that’s relevant and emotive, and polished and talented and real. Did he grow into this? No. I grew up.
