On Thursday, October 18, the popular country group, Emerson Drive, visited West Chester University. They came with the intention of pleasing country music fans, and that’s exactly what they did.The group of six originated in Canada, but they eventually won the hearts of Americans with hits like “I Should Be Sleeping” and “Fall Into Me,” both of which they played at Thursday night’s gig.
The guys opened up with some newer songs, introducing some stuff the fans may have never heard. They also did a few cover songs, which included Lifehouse’s, “You and Me.” However, they did a good job of mixing their older, popular songs in with the rest. This gave the crowd a chance to sing along. They got the crowd pumped with fast pace songs, but simmered it down with songs like, “Moments,” and “A Good Man,” which they performed in a very sensitive manner.
The lead singer Brad Mates never stopped moving. He bounced around the stage and sang right to his fans that were lined up in the front of the auditorium. He made sure that they were having as much fun as he was. As for the fiddle player, David Pichette, he was always smiling; he looked like he was enjoying life.
When the band started to play their new single “Countrified Soul,” the guitar player whipped out a new guitar that was painted green and had the John Deere logo on it. The fans cheered and pointed at the guitar that represented what it is to be “Countrified.”
When the band was seemingly finished with their songs they went behind stage, but the crowd was louder than ever chanting “one more song!” The instrumentalists finally came back out to face the fans and they each played a little something individually. When Mates reappeared the crowd once again screamed for his return.
As the opening chords to the famous Charlie Daniels Band song, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” began, cheers once again filled the room. The crowd sang along to the final song of the night and gave Emerson Drive a warm farewell and Thank You for performing at WCU.
After the concert, many fans stayed to chat with the band members. The group signed autographs and asked each person how they were doing or what they were up to and such. They were pretty down to earth and seemed grateful of their fans.
It seems as though WCU enjoyed having Emerson Drive come and visit. The band received a joyous welcome when they entered the stage area and nice goodbye.
Brittany Heckman is a third-year ststudent majoring in Criminal Justice. She can be reached at BH614514@wcupa.edu