WMZQ’s WinterFest ‘Takes a Back Road’ With Rodney Atkins

Posted by Lorin Drinkard / Monday, December 12th, 2011

Monday, December 12, 2011

On Saturday night, the Patriot Center hosted WMZQ’s annual country rock-a-thon -  WinterFest. With a lineup of seven artists, including big-time stars Kellie Pickler and Rodney Atkins, the night was filled with Christmas cheer and country crooning.

Kicking off the event were “My Name is Money” singer Sonia Leighand Georgia-born, truck-lovin’ artist Kip Moore. WMZQ station on-air personalities Jenni Chase, Boxer and Newman goofed it up on stage between sets by line dancing like hockey players, introducing Tommy’s Place line dancers on stage and discussing Redskins’ football.

Wisconsin-native Josh Thompson, who’s been on the “Tailgates and Tanlines” tour with Luke Bryan this year, took to the stage singing his radio hit “Beer on the Table.” Thompson recently released a new single from his sophomore album called “Comin’ Around,” which addresses big dreams in a small town. The boot-clad, plaid-wearing crowd was on their feet Saturday night, shouting along, while holding up their Bud Light drafts as Thompson crooned, “Come Friday night, my friends and I start peeling off them labels/Working hard all week puts beer on the table.”

Grammy-nominated artist David Nail performed the tearjerker, Top 10 tune “Let It Rain,” which had many audience members swaying and singing along. Nail, who released his album “The Sound of A Million Dreams” in November, followed up with his 2009 smash success “Red Light.” The four-man band played an energy-packed set as Nail picked on the guitar and his keyboardist banged out the sweet sounds of country. Three-time American Country Awards winners Thompson Square really brought the house down with their anthem of all love songs: “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not.” The real-life married couple’s adoration for each other was so evident – they sang to each other throughout their set.

With a personality just as sparkly as her black, shimmery top, Kellie Pickler shared about life with her new hubby, covered some Loretta Lynn songs and even dedicated her song “My Angel,” which is all about her love for her grandmother, to a meet-and-greet fan. Finishing off her performance, she sang the fun, toe-tapping hit “Red High Heels.”

“Take A Back Road” star Rodney Atkins was the last to perform and it was clear most fans had been awaiting his arrival. Atkins asked a young girl near the front of the stage to guess how they had traveled to Fairfax. Her answer: “On a bus?” which was quickly shouted down as people screamed, “On back roads!” Atkins’ relaxed stage presence and catchy tunes kept the audience’s attention, but what really won them over: crowd interaction. 

With his band playing the opening chords of “Cleaning This Gun,” Atkins traded his guitar for a T-shirt shooting gun and fired them off toward excited  fans and also called a young boy on stage to help him sing the father-son tune “Watching You.” During performances of ”If You’re Going Through Hell” and the night’s most anticipated song, “Take A Back  Road,” Atkins worked his charm by tossing the mike into the front section near the stage and had fans sing out the lyrics. When it came to working the crowd, and providing a listen-on-repeat rush hour traffic hit song, Atkins had it covered.

–Lorin Drinkard

 

Tags: Chick-fil-A, christmas, concert, country, country concert, David Nail, Fairfax, Kellie Pickler, Kip Moore, Lorin Drinkard, Luke Bryan, Music, Northern Virginia, Northern Virginia Magazine, nova mag, performance, Rodney Atkins, Sonia Leigh, The Game Plan, The Patriot Center, Thompson Square, weekend, winter, WinterFest, WMZQ