Friday Night: Lady Antebellum At RodeoHouston

Photos by Marco Torres

​Lady Antebellum
Reliant Stadium
March 11, 2011

Less than a month after winning five Grammys, Lady Antebellum made their way to Houston for another stint at the Rodeo. Having been forced to listen to "Need You Now" countless times over the past year - half a dozen times at the Grammys, every other time we scrolled through our radio presets and never mind all the times we heard it while sitting at coffee shops around town - Aftermath wasn't exactly looking forward to hearing what we assumed would be the band's big finale. But otherwise, we were ready to boot-scoot another Rodeo.

Hell, we even wore a Future Farmers of America shirt. At the Rodeo, that's the equivalent of having an "I Support Our Troops" bumper sticker. People respect it and rarely ask questions... which is a good thing, because our knowledge of FFA is pretty limited.

As Lady Antebellum took the stage - in spite of taking what felt like forever to exit the truck that drove them there - the crowd screamed, and the night's musical entertainment began.

​"I want to know how 70 thousand people in a stadium sound," said co-lead vocalist Charles Kelley as the crowd howled. "And I want to dedicate this next one to anyone who's got a good woman or a good man."

A charming, leisurely ballad about the love of growing up in the country, "American Honey," followed. Then Lady Antebellum switched gears and got the crowd back into a two-stepping mood with "Love's Looking Good on You," during which Kelley and Hillary Scott stared lovingly into each other's eyes while pretending to flirt onstage.

It's kind of like in rap music videos when female vocalists rub their backsides against the rapper whose song they are being featured in... except with flannel shirts and minus the whole backside-rubbing thing.

During last year's performance, we remember Scott's voice making Kelley's sound minute by comparison, but this time, it seemed the other way around. While Kelley's vocals were strong and raspy - minus missing a note or two here and there, it was a solid performance - Scott's voice just wasn't as strong as it often needed to be.