Review by Lori Simpson

Day three of the Pepsi BamaJam 2012 started off muggy and hot but isn’t that the perfect weather for an outside concert in the south? The heat did not deter the largest crowd of the weekend to pile into the festival on day three.

The Bud Light stage kicked the festivities off with Downside Up followed by Bridge To Grace, Moreland & Arbuckle, Mockingbyrd, Rosehill, and Breaking Laces. The bands playing the Bud Light stage were very interesting young bands. One good thing about the side stages this year is that you get to see bands that you may not have been exposed to without BamaJam.

Greg Bates opened up the party at the Ram stage, and that is just what it was…a party. Following Bates was Jaida Dreyer and Tyler Farr before the very popular redneck rap band Big Smo took the stage. Big Smo has a couple of main stage acts catching their show in YelaWolf and Uncle Kracker. Closing out the Ram stage for the final day of BamaJam 2012 was Drake White and Randy Montana.

The main stage kicked off the final night with American rapper Yelawolf. He is a wildly popular entertainer and a bit unusual for BamaJam but he had the crowd rocking. He was a fitting kickoff to night. Next up was rocker Uncle Kracker who started off with “Four Letter Word” followed up by a setlist that included song from throughout his career such as “Smile” and “Drift Away”. From the crowd’s reaction I would have to agree with one of his popular songs, “Good To Be Me.”

Leading up to the grand finale, we change directions with the jam band Gov’t Mule. They played a nice set of blues rock for this lower Alabama Crowd.

Traditional country star Jamey Johnson hit the stage next. He is no nonsense and plays great country music. Johnson started off with “High Cost Of Living” and of course played his mega hit “In Color.” He also came baring an apology from Willie Nelson whom did not get to preform Friday night because of the weather. Johnson said, “I saw Red in Atlanta and he ask me to do a couple of songs and tell the crowd he was sorry he was not able to play.” At which point he sang a couple of Nelson’s songs including “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.”

Next up on the main stage was the never aging Sheryl Crow. Crow has had many hits and she sang a lot of them with the help of the audience, including “If It Makes You Happy”, “My Favorite Mistake”, and “The First Cut Is The Deepest.” She brought a roar from the crowd when she ask for a beer, none showed up, then follow up the request with a question, “Who do you have to sleep with around here to get a beer.” She finished her set with the song Linda Ronstadt made famous, “Your No Good.”

The most anticipated artist of the entire weekend closed the show to a very large and wild crowd. The man himself, Kid Rock, hit the stage wearing a University of Alabama number 3 jersey. That jersey along with Rock announcing to the crowd that he owns land in Alabama now brought the crowd to their feet and they never sat back down until they were in their cars almost 2 hours later. Kid Rock is an amazing entertainer and has more energy on stage that anyone I have seen and it is astounding how much he can work up a crowd. He had a good mix of hits along with high energy songs that were not chart topping hits for him but are none the less great songs. He even played some guitar, piano, and spent a little time on the skins. The only disappointment I had with his show is when he sang “Picture” and did not invite Sheryl Crow out to sing it with him.

The Pepsi BamaJam 2012 passed all expectations especially when you consider the first day was almost a wash from the weather. BamaJam farms has a water park that was open for the concert goers to cool off and they are also adding a 9 hole golf course to the grounds. The festival was getting quite a few early ticket sales for next year’s BamaJam so like everyone else, I am looking forward to next year to be even bigger than this year.

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