Friday, September 26, 2025
It was a busy day that started with a missed alarm, a botched trip to school, watching my daughter pass her driver’s test, and a surf-and-turf burrito from one of my favorite local spots, Victor’s Tacos.
I was slightly disgruntled when I pulled up to the parking attendant to pay for my parking.
I’ve been going to The Bluestone for years now and never considered the $10 fee to park as anything but a minor inconvenience; however, the gentleman informed me they had raised the price to $20 to park in the lot.
I’m cheap as hell, so I parked a little ways down on Broad Street and hoofed it back.
The line to get in was long—longer than I’ve ever seen at The Bluestone. It took about half an hour to get through the line and security.
I approached Will Call, then did my rounds, trying to find the best available view.
The place was packed to the gills. Had to be a capacity crowd; which a quick internet search tells me is about 1,000 people.
I found my spot in the balcony, where I could see the stage; and, a large man pulled off his cowboy boot and pulled multiple little bottles of Fireball from within, passing them around.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had heard of the opening band. Fox N’ Vead, a band from North Carolina, caught my attention with their single “High Agenda.”
They played a rocking set, with a jammin’ cover of “Folsom Prison Blues” and nice homages to Jimi Hendrix with the opening riff of “Voodoo Chile” and Metallica with “Don’t Tread on Me,” before getting into their original songs.
The standout for me was their drummer, who had rockstar energy as he drummed his heart out—a real-life Animal from the Muppets; especially during his little solo before their cover of Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen.”
They closed the show with a cover of “Hurricane,” by Band of Heathens.
One of my favorite things about seeing bands without huge catalogs of music is hearing what covers they play to fill their sets.
Fox N’ Vead brought some serious heat, and their originals were just as good. It was a stellar set, and the crowd fed off their energy and gave it right back to them.
Then, it was time for Ole 60.
This Kentucky band, whose first full album Smokestack Town is due out Oct. 3 (after two successful EPs), came out and wasted little time rocking our damn heads off.
I had heard a few of their songs and absolutely loved “Smoke And A Light,” because I’m a downright sucker for songs about how infidelity makes you feel.
The band came out strong with “Dust to Dust,” “Memphis,” and “Walls,” which were all great.
They played a superb cover of Alice in Chains’ “Nutshell” (I could write a whole opinion piece about that being a country song) and even managed to make “Yellow” enjoyable for me—and I hate Coldplay and that damn song.
They closed with “Smoke And A Light,” and it was a moving experience. The angst, anger, and sadness of the song exuded in the lead singer’s voice, not to mention the 1,000 or so people singing along.
The Bluestone is still a church, but the gospel it preaches is music. And it’s always an experience.
One of the best shows I’ve seen this year.
I fully expect the next time I see these bands to be paying more and seeing them in a larger venue with even more people.
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