2012 CMA Fest – Night 3 at LP Field

Posted by Mike Carroll at 9:14 pm on June 24, 2012

Jun 242012

Our third and final night at LP Field during CMA Fest (we had to skip the 4th night) was another memorable night. The lineup featured Kenny Rogers, Hunter Hayes (this is when I took my break since I’ve seen him a lot lately), Love N Theft (acoustic), Little Big Town, Eric Church, Faith Hill, Kip Moore (acoustic), and Luke Bryan.

For the third night in a row, the show started with a Living Legend as Kenny Rogers performed some of his biggest hits. As he launched into “Islands in the Stream,” he began throwing autographed tambourines into the crowd…I just so happened to be the lucky one to catch the first one! It almost ruined my camera, but I was able to avoid disaster as I caught mid-photo.

Next up was Little Big Town, who surprised the audience by bringing Rodney Atkins out to perform his new single, “Just Wanna Rock ‘N Roll.” Little Big Town put on a great show, featuring their awesome new single, “Pontoon.” That song is destined to be a big hit this summer, just you watch and see!

Eric Church showed why he’s achieved headliner status this year, as he owned that stage and tapped into the crowd’s energy to put on one of his best performances ever. One of the coolest moments of the entire week was as he was performing his hit “Springsteen” – he asked the crowd to take out their cell phones and hold them up. He then told the crowd to look to their left, then to their right…and to remember this moment. And what a moment it was. The crowd was under a spell as he finished the song. A great lyric from the song says, “it’s funny how a melody sounds like a memory” – well, I guarantee you that tens of thousands of fans will have a memory of that moment for now on whenever they hear that song. Great stuff!

Faith Hill made a triumphant return to the stage as she played a rockin’ set that featured two new songs as well as her classic hits “Mississippi Girl” and “Take Me As I Am.” On this night, we got the rockin’ country-gal Faith Hill, who was dressed down in jeans and long sleeved shirt and performed like she was Miranda Lambert or Carrie Underwood. Let’s hope that when her new album comes out, she’s this Faith Hill, not the pop/diva-like Faith Hill that she’s been for most of the past ten years.

Luke Bryan closed the night with his usual high-energy, booty shakin’ show that had all the ladies clamoring in the Fan Photo Line to get as close to the stage as they could. Check out some of our photos below!