With new music and other surprises added to the show, Granger Smith delivers another high energy show to his diehard fans in Fort Wayne, IN.
With torrential rain storms hitting Fort Wayne throughout the day on Thursday, Granger Smith witnesses his fans being soaked as they begin to line up early in front of The Clyde Theatre waiting for the doors to open for the evening’s show. To return the gesture and show his appreciation, Granger backs the show up an extra half an hour to allow for all his fans the opportunity to enter inside and not miss a minute of the show.
With the theatre in darkness, the video screens at the back of the stage light up to play Granger’s newest video “Parked Out By The Lake.” As the video concludes, the stage lights up and Granger appears on stage singing his current single “Holler.” Granger walks out to the platform placed off of center stage that allows him to reach further into the crowd. With the song’s video playing in the background, Granger introduces Earl Dibbles Jr. on the screen to the crowd who sings his part of the song.
With the crowd all excited and worked up, Granger continues with “You’re In It” before he marches into his anthem of “Country Boy Love” and his version of the Tom Petty cover of “Free Fallin’.”
In 2015, Granger signed with Broken Bow Records. His first album with them Remington, gave him his first #1 single with “Backroad Song.” The new album album and song also broadened the range for listeners as more radio stations picked him up and put him in rotation. It also expanded his internet following also as more people became familiar with his music.
Known for his “YEE YEE” call, Granger describes it as to “live life to the fullest. That is what we get to do tonight. We get to be here, we are allowed to be here. Now we have men and women overseas fighting and giving their lives for us to be able to be here tonight.” A few months back, Granger wrote a documentary about that. He wrote a song to go with the documentary called “They Were There” and dedicates it to the military. At the conclusion of the song, the crowd pumps their hands and fists in the air and chant “USA.”
Speaking and looking out into the crowd, he makes a comment that although he is from Texas he feels like he knows many people in the crowd. For those he doesn’t know, he thinks that they would be friends also. Just by looking at the crowd he claims that “we” all understand one another. With the band playing in the background he then puts them to the test by singing “I want to love you on a Ford truck bench seat.” He then repeats it with adding Dodge and Toyota, before admitting “that’s not me, cuz everybody knows that in Fort Wayne there is a GM truck plant.” As the crowd cheers on, Granger calls out “I want to love you on a GM “Silverado Bench Seat.”” When the song concludes, Granger thanks the crowd for accepting that as his national debut single in 2013.
Granger is joined by his two guitarists on the center stage platform extending out into the crowd, as they sit on stools with acoustic guitars for an acoustic version “Remington.” Continuing on, Granger plays “We Do It In A Field” that was fan requested during his earlier meet and greet.
For each month of 2019, Granger is going to introduce a new song and video to his fans via internet. While still sitting on the stage berth, they play “Heaven Bound Balloons” from the month of April.
Granger and his band get the crowd pumped back up again with “City Boy Stuck” and “Happens Like That” before spraying the crowd with a water bottle in Garth Brooks’ cover, “Ain’t Going Down (‘Til The Sun Comes Up).”
With an American flag waving on the back video screens, Granger once more shows off his patriotic side by waving an American flag high overhead in the song “Merica.”
Taking a trip through the crowd, Granger shakes people’s hands while stopping for photos and autographs on his way to a small stage at the back of the room in front of the soundboard. From there he sings and waves a back flag that says, “Don’t Tread On Me” while streams of fog shoot up from the stage.
As Granger makes his way back to the main stage, he and the band finish off the set with “If The Boot Fits.” The fans react to this song by taking a boot off and holding it high overhead. If your lucky enough to be close to the stage, at times Granger has taken the time to autograph boots. Granger exits off stage at the end of the song while the crowd chants for more.
At most shows with other singing artists, you would normally get an encore at this point in the show. At a Granger Smith, show you are introduced to another performer, his alter-ego personality Earl Dibble Jr.. Earl is an internet video accident from 2011 that put he and Granger Smith on the way to becoming a national performing artist. As Granger would use different names and personalities to help spread his music across the internet, Earl was the one that caught everyone’s attention. Earl is known for his bib-overalls with boots pulled up over them, a white tank top and a trucker cap.
As Earl emerges on stage, the crowd immediately goes crazy as they sing along with Earl to “Country Boy Song.” Half way through the song, Earl finds a little helper to assist him on stage. He brings up a young boy who is dressed as a mini-me to Earl with matching overalls, white tank top and trucker hat. At the conclusion of the song, Earl smashes two full beer cans together, spraying those in the first few rows of the audience. He then grabs a mouthful of Red Man chewing tobacco before signing the tobacco pouch and throwing it into the crowd. He then proceeds to lift his tank top up to autograph the tank before removing it and throwing it into the crowd also.
Standing at the center of the stage, Earl shouts out “YEE YEE” and makes the YEE YEE gesture, by putting both hands together. He then exits off stage wrapping up another high energy, fun packed evening for he and Granger, inside The Clyde Theatre in Fort Wayne, IN.
Opening the show earlier in the evening is Sam Grow. Sam released his newest album Love And Whiskey on May 3rd. During his performance, Sam introduces some of the new music from the album that includes the debut single “History” and “Boots.” The latter is a song dedicated to his father and other working men and women who work hard everyday for a living and for what they have.
Sam also includes the song “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd to his set. The song is a favorite from his childhood but dedicates it to all the men and women of the uniform who put their lives in harms way everyday. On a personal level, he sings this song in memory of of his best friend who heard the song and didn’t make it back home from overseas.
For those that were fortunate to be able to attend the show were fully entertained throughout the evening. Although they were wet and cold when they first entered into The Clyde Theatre, by time the show was over they were completely dried and warmed up to satisfaction.
If you are interested in catching up on the latest news or a performance by Granger Smith and Earl Dibbles Jr or Sam Grow, or even a show at the newest, state of the art music event center in Fort Wayne, then follow along to them by clicking on the links below.
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Granger Smith
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Earl Dibbles Jr.
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Sam Grow
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The Clyde Theatre
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Granger Smith setlist:
- Parked Out By The Lake (Video) 2. Holler 3. You’re In It 4. Country Boy Love 5. Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty cover) 6. Backroad Song 7. They Were There 8. Stutter 9. Silverado Bench Seat 10. I’m In A Hurry (And Don’t Know Why) (Alabama cover) 11. When The Good Guys Win 12. Remington (Acoustic) 13. We Do It In The Field (Acoustic) 14. Heaven Bound Balloons (Acoustic) 15. City Boy Stuck 16. Happens Like That 17. Ain’t Going Down (‘Til The Sun Comes Up) (Garth Brooks cover) 18. Merica 19. Don’t Tread On Me 20. If The Boots Fit 21. Country Boy Song (Earl Dibbles Jr.)