Clay HaleAs my friends and I walked up to The Lyric to watch Scotty McCreery on Sept. 9, I took notice of a handful of things.
For starters, Scotty McCreery has some dedicated — and I mean dedicated — fans. With a home game less than 24 hours away, Oxford’s Square was packed with people and void of parking. I have to believe most of the cars were for McCreery, as there was a line wrapping all the way around the side of the venue with a sea of umbrellas acting as canvases to stop the pouring rain.
Admittedly, the rain had me feeling a little sluggish, but all it took was the lights going down and the thunderous screams of “Scotty, Scotty,” surrounding me like a movie theater’s surround sound to get the excitement coursing through my veins.
As his classic, crooked smile graced the stage of The Lyric, the exhilaration of his fans seemed to multiply tenfold. He began to perform the title track of his hit-making album, “Same Truck,” and the phones flew up for the first of many times throughout the night.
McCreery followed it with his top 10 hit, “Feelin’ It,” — which despite becoming a single almost a decade ago, lit the room on fire with its catchy chorus and strong energy.
There was a slight tease at the release of a deluxe version of “Same Truck” potentially dropping this fall thanks to McCreery sharing a new song, “Do Nothing Right,” with the crowd. It was infectious, fresh and audience members were losing their minds.
The rest of the night continued to be captivating thanks to McCreery’s stellar stage presence and an effective multi-colored light show that joined the seemingly endless list of bops he had in his back pocket.
A big moment for me was “See You Tonight” — McCreery’s first top 10 hit. Released before his label change from Mercury Nashville to Triple Tigers, which was arguably where his big break really took effect. “See You Tonight” was the song I associated him with for the longest time, and it was cool to see so many other people remembered this jam as much as I did.
“Hotty Toddy, y’all — we’re having a good time tonight,” McCreery said immediately before his most recent No. 1, “Damn Strait.”
When the seemingly final song — “You Time” — was over, the crowd decided he was, in fact, not over. “Five More Minutes,” the audience chanted again and again until McCreery came out again to fulfill their wishes.
“Five More Minutes” — McCreery’s first No. 1 — stole the show. Everyone in the building knew every lyric verbatim and wanted McCreery to know. It was an incredible moment for an incredible song.
To everyone’s surprise, however, McCreery did not stop there. He lassoed a collection of classic ‘90s hits into medley form that he claimed the crowd deserved for their eagerness and welcoming nature.
“My name is Scotty McCreery, and I love Ole Miss,” McCreery said before leaving The Lyric stage for good.
Listening to the audience throughout the night, however, it seems they loved him just as much as I did. Hopefully, he’ll make a return sometime in the near future.
