Nashville, Tennessee – May 7, 2013 – With nearly 650,000 dollars raised, this year’s edition of We’re All For The Hall was once again a big success. The benefit Keith Urban and Vince Gill have organized for the last three years has given the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum a total amount of 2 million dollars! The proceeds will be invested in the care of the institution’s rare and unduplicated collection, in its vigorous schedule of school and public programs, and in enhancements for its core exhibition. Said to be: “The biggest and best edition ever”, by museum director Kyle Young, the concert attracted country music fans from all age groups and from many different countries.
A sold-out Bridgestone Arena hosted the ‘Rebels and Renegades’ show that featured, besides Keith Urban and Vince Gill, current super stars like: Tim McGraw, Eric Church, Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean and Montgomery Gentry. Country Music Hall of Famers: Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson and legends: Billy Joe Shaver, Hank Williams jr., Jessi Colter and Rosanne Cash. The show also included two crossover artists; Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock.
Keith and Vince opened the show, each playing two songs, and then taking a step back to let the other artists take centre stage while they joined the band. Kris Kristofferson mentioned: “This is the best audience and the best band I have ever played with in my life”, while Trace Adkins made sure to take a picture of his talented guitar players (of which you can see my version below).
Keeping with the concert’s theme, ‘Rebels and Renegades’, several of the artists completely stepped away from their usual playlist or combined one of their own songs with a classic. Keith choose the Rolling Stones/Linda Ronstadt hit “Tumbling Dice”, Vince went all out with Rodney Crowell’s “I Ain’t Living Long Like This” (which was a hit for Waylon Jennings), Gregg Allman’s “Midnight Rider” and The Marshall Tucker Band’s “Can’t You See”. Brantley combined his ‘Country Must Be Country Wide’ with a David Allan Coe cover “Long Haired Redneck”, while Eric covered The Band’s “Ophelia” and Jim Ford’s “Big Mouth USA”.
Special was Jessi Colter’s performance. She emotionally played “Why You Been Gone So Long”, which was a duet between her and her late ‘outlaw’ husband Waylon Jennings, and a small piece of an unreleases song she wrote while grieving for her husband.
Willie, Kris, Hank jr. and Billy Joe
Rebels them selves Willie, Kris, Hank jr. and Billy Joe really didn’t need to play any covers. Songs like «On The Road Again», «Me And Bobby McGee», «All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down)» and «I’m Just An Old Chunk Of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be A Diamond Someday)» will forever be classics and it was just amazing to see these artists play song that once made them an outlaw on such a big stage, in front of so many people. Eric Church said: “This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done” and he was right. This was a one-time show, showing comradery and love for the genre. Country music is all about remembering where you came from, it’s history and honoring the ones that paved the way for you. And this is exactly why the Country Music Hall of Fame can count on the benefit and the money raised for many years to come as Keith Urban and Vince Gill aren’t planning on giving up the fun of organizing this event just yet.
This was very obvious during the concert’s finale. All performers, except Jason Aldean, came back on stage to collectively sing Hank jr.’s 1979 hit song “Family Tradition”. With all the fans that packed Bridgestone Arena joining in, the artists were visibly enjoying the short time they had together. What a special night.
Set List:
KEITH URBAN
«Tumbling Dice»
«Without You»
VINCE GILL
«I Ain’t Living Long Like This»
«Midnight Rider/Can’t You See»
MONTGOMERY GENTRY
«One in Every Crowd»
«Gone»
BRANTLEY GILBERT
«Country Must Be Country Wide»
«Long Haired Redneck»
TRACE ADKINS
«Just Fishin'»
«Ladies Love Country Boys»
ROSANNE CASH
«Long Black Veil»
«Seven Year Ache»
BILLY JOE SHAVER
«I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday)»
«Live Forever»
ERIC CHURCH
«Ophelia»
«Big Mouth USA»
JESSI COLTER
«I’m Not Lisa»
Unreleased song (see article)
«Why You Been Gone So Long»
KID ROCK
«Born Free»
«All Summer Long»
JASON ALDEAN
«Take a Little Ride»
«My Kinda Party»
TIM MCGRAW
«How Bad Do You Want It?»
«Real Good Man»
HANK WILLIAMS JR. (Solo Acoustic)
«Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound»
«All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down» / «Theme from Dukes of Hazzard (Good Ol’ Boys)» / «I Walk the Line»
SHERYL CROW
«Picture» (with Kid Rock)
«If It Makes You Happy»
KRIS KRISTOFFERSON
«Sunday Morning Coming Down»
«Me and Bobby McGee»
WILLIE NELSON
«On the Road Again»
«Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die»
FINALE
«Family Tradition”
