The wait for live entertainment is over and people are ready to be entertained. The sea of people lined up to get into the Fruityard to see Little Big Town was long and full of energy. The parking lot was packed as people grabbed their chairs to post up on the lawn for the first live outdoor concert in this area since the pandemic hit over a year ago.
The members of Little Big Town are Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook. They have been together for over 20 years bringing country music to fans. They performed for a packed house on Sunday night, Aug. 1 kicking off the concert with one of their chart toppers “Pontoon” as the crowd cheered and applauded.
The group is on their Nightfall Tour which is the ninth studio album that they have released. They performed tracks off that album including “Over Drinking,” “Nightfall,” “The Daughters,” and the lively “Wine, Beer, Whiskey” as well as many of their other hits from throughout the years.
The special guest that opened the show was Madi Diaz. She is an American singer-songwriter that has a very mellow and sweet folk sound. Diaz hit the stage with her euphonious voice and guitar.
The lights were flashing, the sound was clear, and the energy levels were high at the Fruityard in Modesto. Little Big Town had fans on their feet throughout the night singing and dancing to their harmonies.
During a break between songs they addressed the crowd sharing how much they love this area and that they spent some time in Modesto over the weekend and even stopped by the mall. Fairchild added that people in this area must have been ready for live concerts as the venue had run out of margaritas prior to their performance.
Although these summer days have been in the upper 90s and at times triple digits the weather cooperated on Sunday night as the sun set and a cool breeze picked up making it very comfortable for an outdoor concert.
Masks were not required and the majority of the guests in attendance did not wear them.
With live music back at venues in the area like the Fruityard, Gallo Center for the Arts and Ironstone Amphitheatre, there will be variety of acts to see in the weeks ahead.
Among the shows on the schedule are: coming to the Fruityard is Cole Swindell who will perform live on Thursday, Aug. 5 and Rick Springfield and Richard Marx on Friday, Aug. 27. Brantley Gilbert will perform at Ironstone on Aug. 7 and Train will perform on Sept. 9.
