Tyler Farr brought his tradition style of country music — and “Turn Down for What” — to MemAud as part of the Performing Arts and Concert Series on Friday night.
Tyler Farr wanted to “get down” with the crowd, but he couldn’t do that with half the audience still sitting during the third song of the night.
“Y’all better get off y’alls' asses,” Farr shouted to the crowd during his performance of “Whiskey in My Water.”
Tyler Farr and opening act Clayton Anderson came to Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on Friday for a night of country music. The performance, which was a part of the Performing Arts and Concert Series, had a crowd of nearly 1,600 people, according to Andrew Holzaepfel, senior associate director of the Campus Involvement Center.
When audience members were on their feet, Farr continued playing songs from his latest album Suffer in Peace. After singing “Damn Good Friends,” Farr received cheers, shouts and whistles from audience members.
“I’m not taking my damn pants off,” Farr told the crowd.
Farr returned to talking about music and explained how he wanted to keep the night sounding country and stay away from pop-driven tunes. The next song, “Suffer in Peace,” he said, was a song specifically for country fans in the audience.
As he transitioned to the song “Better in Boots,” some audience members held their boots high in the air for Farr to see.
Farr didn’t stop stomping around the stage all night long, and during “Chicks, Trucks and Beer” jumped down into the audience. He circled around the floor of MemAud while shaking hands, hugging fans and dancing as he sang. After climbing back on stage, he received a few more whistles from the crowd.
“I am not taking off my damn pants,” Farr said again.
After singing “Folsom Prison Blues,” Farr began singing “Ain’t Even Drinkin’ ” and pulled a woman, who said her name was Juliana, on stage. He explained that the song wasn’t about drinking and asked her to get the crowd going again.
“Get your hands in the air,” she shouted to the crowd.
The audience shrieked when Farr strummed the first line of “A Guy Walks into a Bar” then people began to sway their beer cans and illuminated phones in the air.
The audience roared when the auditorium became black, and Farr exited the stage. Then the instrumentals of Iggy Azaela’s “Fancy” began to play. Farr returned and took a break from the country music with “Turn Down for What” by DJ Snake and Lil Jon.
Farr closed the show with his first No.1 hit “Redneck Crazy” then took off his ball cap, bowed and thanked the crowd.
Lauren Rutherford, a freshman studying human biology, said she enjoyed how the show felt sincere.
“It’s awesome to see him having so much fun because I was also having a lot of fun,” Rutherford said. “The energy level was awesome.”
Nikki Fudale, a freshman studying early childhood development, said Farr sounded just like he did on his album.
“He has so much passion for what he does, and you could really see that,” she said.
Fudale added that it was interesting to see Farr switch genres — such as his cover of “Turn Down for What” — and still sound great.
Prior to Farr coming on stage, Clayton Anderson performed a few original songs, stomped around stage and captured the attention of a few audience members.
“He blew us kisses,” Kassie Cremeans, a sophomore at Hocking College studying criminal justice, said.
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