Suffering a bit of an illness, Trent Tomlinson holds nothing back as he entertains the crowd at 8 Seconds Saloon in Indianapolis on Friday evening. 

Trent Tomlinson returns to the stage of the 8 Seconds Saloon as part of the Bud Light “Hank It Up” Concert Series by Indy’s own Country 97.1 HANK FM.  Between the venue and the support of the local radio station, they together have made Indianapolis and the 8 Seconds Saloon a favourite amongst artists and fans alike to visit for a show while being in the mid-west portion of the country.

After battling a 102-degree fever and no voice with bronchitis earlier in the day, nothing was going to stop Trent Tomlinson from performing at 8 Seconds Saloon on Friday evening.  Midst the evening’s performance, Trent many times thanks the crowd and apologizes to them for his feeling ill and his voice as he takes breaks to keep himself hydrated.

On Friday evening, Trent performs songs from his two studio albums “Country Is My Rock” from 2006, “That’s What’s Working Right Now” from 2016, an EP “A Guy Like Me” from 2010 along with other songs written by Trent and covers included. 

Trent opens the show by jumping off the drum riser and pacing back and forth from side to side the stage pumping the fans up front with his high paced up-tempo hit “The Next Time.”  

Keeping the pace up, Trent grabs his guitar and jams out with his two guitarists that join him at the front of the stage for “Country Is My Rock.” 

Continuing on, Trent dedicates his breakout debut single “Drunker Than Me” to “the girls who think they can drink more then I can.”

Welcoming the crowd and informing them of his sickness, Trent talks of his love for Indianapolis and the fans of 8 Seconds Saloon.  “I didn’t want to cancel the show on you guys, so please bear with me” as he grabs another drink from “The Bottle.”

“When you go through a bad divorce, most go to the gym to work out or go to the tanner but I didn’t.  I washed my truck for the first time in 3 years and I drove it over to get the rest of my stuff.  She saw it all washed up, her first thought was I was going on a date and I was.  As I started to leave I could see her crying in my rear view mirror.  I thought to myself that you should put it in four wheel drive and put the hammer down and cover it in…”Dust.”

Keeping the crowd up and dancing in place, Trent shares the microphone with his lead guitarist for the cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s classic “Pride And Joy.” 

As a gifted songwriter, Trent has written many songs that include “Missing Missouri” for Sara Evans, “Why Can’t I Leave Her Alone” by George Strait and Parmalee’s “Close Your Eyes.”

Trent talks about his latest hit single that he has penned for another artist.  He claims he received a phone call from a buddy about two years ago to see if he would fly to Mexico to write a song for a guy who doesn’t yet have a record deal.  Telling Trent that he needs two up-tempo songs to possibly score a record deal and that he is pretty good, they write a few songs that are ok.  Trent tells that he had just lost his father four months prior and during the time in Mexico he would talk to his mother each and every day.  Each day she would say “Trent…in case you didn’t know, I love you.”  It was her way of saying that we don’t know how much time we have so we should let the ones we have know how much we love them, every chance we get.  So he pulled the artist aside and told him the story and explained that they didn’t have to write a song about losing a loved one but about the inability to say I Love You.  The song is “In Case You Didn’t Know” and has become a #1 hit single for Brett Young and also the number one wedding song of 2017.

Trent continues on next by changing directions on women with “Angels Like Her” as he sings that “the higher she took me, the further I fell” and “she came straight from heaven, but I know the Devil did too.”  

As the band leaves the stage, Trent with his acoustic guitar tells of his buddy getting his house broken into.  Catching the thief in the living room, he kept the guy there at gunpoint until the police arrived.  He also kicked the guy’s ass before they got there.  The thief was arrested but filed assault charges against him for beating him for breaking into his house.  Having to get a lawyer to fight it, it pissed Trent off and caused him to write the song “Preach On.”

When the band returns to the stage, Trent introduces them before he walks off stage as his lead guitarist and best friend Colt sings “I Feel Like I’m Dying” with solos from each of the band members. 

Returning to the stage, Trent goes in search for the girl who “Just Might Have Her Radio On.”

Taking a step away from the microphone to catch his breath and a drink, the bass player seeks out for more screams and support from the crowd.  Trent steps back up to the mic and claims to have chased his fever away.  He then confesses “I’m a man of my convictions, I don’t like backwoods country or bro-country.  I like real country music and if you don’t like this next song then you can kiss my country ass.”  The crowd cheered as he started playing the opening licks to Johnny Cash’s cover of “Folsom Prison.”

“My daddy was a good man.  In our town, he was a great man.  In the eyes of others in town, he fought with alcohol.  For years, I was torn about how I felt about him….I loved this man, I hated this man.  One day I thought about heaven and hell.  How could heaven be good to me if I couldn’t see my daddy.  So I wrote this next song.”  Trent performed “One Wing In The Fire” with a solo spotlight shining on him while the rest of the stage went black during this emotional song that seen the crowd silent and attentive to show respect to Trent and his father.

Telling the crowd he only has little more voice left in him, he asks them if they would help him out and he would continue on.  With some help from Colt, Trent adds “Country Boy Can Survive” from Hank Jr.

“I was sitting on my bus in BFE Wisconsin and my tour manager said, “There’s a guy out here that want’s to talk to you.”  I asked who is it and he said: “I don’t know, he’s just a big son of a bitch.”  I was trying to figure out if I knew him or his girlfriend.  I had a fifth of whiskey in me so I went to the door on the bus and he stepped in.  He was a big guy and the bus leaned to the one side, it was Colt Ford.  He said “great show, but country is changing so maybe you should think about adding some rap to your songs.”  I don’t know, I am not a rap artist but I will try it out for you tonight and see if you like it in the beginning of this song.”  The crowd approves as he opens “Hey Batter Batter” with a bit of rap to the beginning.  During the song, Trent pulls a gentleman up on stage with him to help assist him with the vocals.  As the song concludes, Trent and the band exit off stage while the crowd chants for an encore.

Trent and his band return once again to the stage for an encore, as they finish the show with the Prince cover of “Purple Rain.”

Trent thanks the crowd once again for coming and wishes them a Merry Christmas before almost having to be carried off stage from his no holds barred performance while making sure to leave it all on stage for his fans. 

For those who made the trek to the legendary 8 Seconds Saloon this evening for this performance, got more out of Trent Tomlinson and his “sick” performance than any present you could find under the Christmas tree.

Opening for Trent here in Indianapolis is the country band Night Owl from Columbus, IN.  The Night Owl band consists of; Matt Lee on lead vocals and bass, Tim Dooley on lead guitar, harmonica and mandolin, Brett Denney on rhythm guitar and backup vocals along with Steve Pardue on drums.  The band originated on Halloween night in 2015. 

With a mixture of old and new country with some southern rock, Night Owl performs cover tunes like “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde” from Travis Tritt to “Working Man Blues” by Merle Haggard to “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn” by rock band Poison.  Included in their musical set was originals “Somewhere In The Night” and their current single being pumped out of Nashville “Cool Gentle Wind.”

Winning a Battle Of The Bands competition, Night Owl earned their spot to open the show for Trent Tomlinson here at 8 Seconds Saloon.  With the crowd’s participation and approval, it is a pretty good guess that Night Owl will be back performing on the saloon’s stage again in the future.  

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Trent Tomlinson
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Night Owl
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8 Seconds Saloon
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Event Date: 22-DEC-2017