.:ANDY GRIGGS CONCERT Review 2005:.

     On most Saturday nights in Corpus Christi , Texas , it isn’t hard to find a concert or two around town to satisfy the appetite of the live music seeker.  This Saturday however, presented a potential train wreck for venues with four high profile country shows in town.

     In Annaville, the VFW held a concert featuring country legends Johnny Bush and Darrell McCall.  The folks at Concrete Street Amphitheater boasted the biggest bill with Texas Sweetheart Allie Danielle, South Texas own J.R. Castillo & Unwound and RCA’s Andy Griggs.  Over at the Executive Surf Club, they played host to the Eli Young Band with the Randy Rogers Band headlining the show, while down the road Graham Central Station played host to Texas Country Crooner Wade Bowen and West 84.

     In an attempt to cover as many shows as possible, we started our night early at the VFW and caught the first part of the Johnny Bush and Darrell McCall show.  The crowd was thin when the show kicked off, but it began to build shortly after that.  Comprised of a mostly senior crowd of 55 and older, the show provided a no frills-no nonsense approach to entertaining.  The show was good and was a slice right out of the Louisiana Hayride days of old.

     Our next stop took us to Concrete Street Amphitheater where those in attendance were busting the seams of the patio.  We caught the tail-end of Miss Allie Danielle’s show, as she played to an inattentive crowd who seemed to be waiting for the headlining Andy Griggs.  Though the Austin-native has built a name for herself in the Central Texas area, Miss Danielle was a virtual unknown to the Corpus Christi crowd.  As she ended strong with the title cut of her self-released CD “The Next Big Thing”, the crowd still remained unmoved by her performance and her stage exit just about went unnoticed.

     As we waited for J.R. Castillo & Unwound, the sandwich act of the lineup, to take the stage, we began to walk around the venue to get a feel of the crowd.  The more we walked the more we noticed that several people were donning J.R. Castillo & Unwound T- Shirts,   caps   and   other   memorabilia.   What   really caught us by surprise is when we asked the staff at Concrete Street where their merchandise was being sold.  To our surprise, J.R. & Unwound didn’t have a merchandise booth set up at all.

     When Unwound’s piano player hit the first rumbling E note on his B3 organ, the crowd immediately swarmed the stage in anticipation.  Still believing that they had a case mistaken identity, we assumed the crowd would subside after they realized it wasn’t Andy Griggs up next.  To our surprise, a literal roar came from the crowd as K99’s jocks introduced the band and J.R. took the stage.

     For the next hour, the J.R. Castillo & Unwound Experience rocked the house.  His requests of “Somebody Scream!” were answered by the pro-J.R. & Unwound crowd with deafening roars.  Song after song Mr. Castillo remained energized, passionate and flawless on the microphone.  From the performance of their first #1 single on the Texas Charts “Surviving Emily” to his Texican flavored “Cantinero, Cantinero”, J.R. Castillo & Unwound left the crowd hollering for more.  They proved to be an act that Andy Griggs would soon find hard to follow.

     Anytime you have a Nashville country act on the bill, they are usually the main attraction on any country concert lineup- especially when you’re talking about RCA’s Andy Griggs, who is in the midst of the success of his latest single “If Heaven”.  Griggs has always fared well in Corpus Christi and one would assume the crowd was just using J.R. & Unwound’s show as a warm-up for Griggs.  To our disbelief though, the crowd began to thin rapidly after J.R. & Unwound left the stage.  Curious, we asked members of K99’s staff and Concrete Street 's staff why the people were leaving before Griggs started.  The overwhelming reason seemed to be “the crowd was here to see J.R. Castillo & Unwound”.  I’m sure that this isn’t the first time that an under card has upstaged the main attraction, but this was a first for us.  The crowd had thinned to around 500 and you had J.R. Castillo and Unwound to thank.  I’m sure George Strait , Garth Brooks , Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney were in J.R.’s shoes at one time doing the same thing.

     The  Andy  Griggs  show was very  good  despite  the decline in the number still in attendance.  As always, the pureness of Griggs vocals lit up the stage and those of us who remained were treated to a great show.  From his early hits like “You Will Never Be Lonely” and “I’ll Go Crazy”, to his show stopping “If Heaven”, Andy Griggs was true to form.  His career looks as strong and as bright as ever.

     Our next stop was at the infamous Executive Surf Club, the hub of live Texas Music where the Eli Young Band and the Randy Rogers Band, were on the bill.  Unfortunately for the Eli Young Band, we missed their show.  However, when we walked into the patio area of the Surf Club, we found a standing-room-only crowd singing along to the sounds of the Randy Rogers Band.  A staple on the Texas Music scene, Rogers & Co. catered to their crowd with a slew of originals that included his latest hit “Tonight’s Not The Night”.  With a rugged voice very reminiscent of Gary Allan, Rogers seemed to captivate the crowd until the final call at around 12:15 am .  He shows definite signs of greatness that compare to fellow Texans Pat Green and Kevin Fowler.

     Last but not least, we made our worn out way to Graham Central Station to catch the last set of the Wade Bowen and West 84 show.  Although the parking lot was packed, we found its Country bar, Denim & Diamonds, to be sparsely occupied.  Wade Bowen seemed to be winding down as we sat down, but we did get to hear him rattle off two very good tunes with “Get Away” and “Just For Fun”.  Apparently Bowen and the boys had already played “Get Away” to kick off his show, but we were pleased to hear him play it again.  With a sound that conjures up visions of the Allman Brothers and Molly Hatchet, these guys are pure Texas Adrenaline Hick Rock. It turned out to be a good end to a long night.

     We had a blast going from show to show throughout the night.  We covered a lot of ground and a lot of music, but wouldn’t you know it, that on our last two stops at the Surf Club and at Graham’s we encountered several folks with J.R. & Unwound T-Shirts.  Corpus Christi is a big place with live music everywhere.  That has to say something more than the J.R. Castillo & Unwound Experience stole the show on this Country packed Saturday night.  It has to be said that he’s on the verge.