Rodney Atkins rang in his birthday Bobcat-style when he came to Ohio University on Thursday evening to perform on the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium stage.
The country artist was serenaded by the band, crew and an amped-up audience in the middle of singing “I Got Friends with Tractors” and presented with a card on stage.
Before the birthday celebrations, Tyler Farr and Josh Thompson opened the show. Farr sang songs that will be released in the fall on his new album, including a track on which he collaborated with other artists, including Willie Nelson and Lee Brice. Thompson changed it up with a booming bass line accompanying his entrance.
“It’s almost like three different concerts,” said Andrew Holzaepfel, associate director of the Campus Involvement Center, which runs the Performing Arts and Concert Series. “Josh Thompson was almost like watching a rock show in a country setting.”
Atkins came out to a screaming crowd after Thompson finished his set. He played selections from his three albums, leading off with his Top Five hit “Farmer’s Daughters.”
“Everything (in my music relates to small-town life),” said Atkins in an email. “I’m from a small town. I live and breathe small town and I think that is what songs like ‘Take a Back Road’ and ‘These Are My People’ are about.”
The concert, part of the Ohio Performing Arts and Concert Series, sold 1,495 tickets, easily covering the contract fee paid to bring the acts to Athens.
“(He’s) definitely (a good choice to bring to OU),” said Sara Harp, a graduate student studying college student personnel. “He’s a big enough name in the country world that plenty of people will want to come see him.”
Harp said that she enjoyed the concert and the high level of interaction that Atkins had with the audience. At one point, he tossed a microphone into the crowd to allow members of the audience to sing his No. 1 track “If You’re Going Through Hell.”
“When artists engage the audience like that it makes for a better show,” Holzaepfel said. “That’s why community members and students come out to see live music — it’s the ‘live’ aspect to it … I was pleased with the evening, it was a lot of fun for me. I hope that people who came had as much fun as I did.”
eb104010@ohiou.edu
