Jon Pardi headlines at the Grizzly Rose on Friday, Dec. 12, 2014 as a part of his Up All Night Tour across the country. (Audrëy Rodriguez/CU Independent)
Only in my wildest dreams did I dream that one day I would have the opportunity to interview and attend a concert of my favorite country singer, Jon Pardi.
Well, my dream came true.
Friday night at the Grizzly Rose was the place to be seen on the dance floor, filled with genuine cowboys and cowgirls who were swinging, line dancing and singing along to Pardi’s tunes.
The concert openers began at 6:00 p.m., but it was not until around 10:50 p.m. that Pardi made his grand entrance onto the stage.
Of course the first thing everyone notices is Pardi’s dapper attire.
Pardi was looking like a true cowboy as he wore blue jeans held together with a rhinestone black belt and shiny brown cattleman boots. His shirt was black with vague light stripes, topped off, literally, with a bonafide, classic dark black cowboy hat.
“Write You a Song” was his first song of the night, which came off with energy and fervor as Pardi aggressively strummed his guitar and belted the catchy lyrics.
When it comes to favorite songs, Pardi considers all the songs on the album to be his favorite, although he says his second song of the night, “Chasin Better Days,” is his theme song.
“Chasin Better Days” is a song just about anyone can relate to as Pardi sings about “Rollin’ with the hard times that come my way,” followed by “Chasin them better days.”
This is a grand mentality to acquire, especially if Pardi ever finds himself overwhelmed and anxious about shows or let down by the haters — harsh music critics.
Though it may be a lot of work, Pardi says being on tour is very rewarding.
“I have had the opportunity to tour with some of my favorite people and have learned from the best,” he said. “Now on my own tour, I have the chance to change things up every night, play new music and play longer sets. It’s shown me who the true fans are and getting to hear them sing along to every song on the album is pretty cool.”
At one point in the show, Pardi decided to take a little rest and pour some ice-cold beers for his band members. He then raised his drink to all of his fans for being here with him tonight.
Cheers to that!
From start to finish, Pardi was very interactive with the crowd, swinging his guitar and kicking his feet in the air all while maintaining a sweet smile.
Pardi clearly knew his guitar well, and sounded crisp and filled to the brim with country twang especially when singing “Up All Night,” which peaked number 10 on the US Country charts in January 2014.
“Up All Night,” was certified Gold on March 13, 2014, and has sold 539,000 copies in the as of June 2014.
Before his first tour on his own, Pardi had had the opportunity to tour with well-known talented country artists such as Luke Bryan, Alan Jackson, Dwight Yoakam, Gary Allan, Thomas Rhett and Dierks Bentley.
“Alan Jackson, Chris Knight, George Strait are my real heroes,” Pardi said. “And the fact that I grew up on 90’s country music has heavily influenced me now.”
Deeper into the show, Pardi sang a sing-along favorite, “Trash A Hotel Room.”
The song was filled with the penetrating beat of drums and electric guitar which gave the song a head-nodding rhythm.
“Trash A Hotel Room,” reflects Pardi’s life on the road as he sings,“Let’s trash a hotel room, mess up those sheets, break a bottle or three, over a night or two, trash a hotel room.”
When songwriting, Pardi thinks in the sense of, “Titles. Starting with a melody and going fresh into it. Most of my songs are based on ideas and experiences.”
Perhaps this song is about Pardi’s experiences on his wild and crazy tour, but let’s just hope he hasn’t trashed too many hotel rooms out on the road!
Of course, traveling and touring around the United States could be tiring, but thinking of his fans and the positive aspects of touring keeps him going. Pardi says his “[f]avorite part of being on tour is seeing all of the fans show up to shows and watching that continue to grow. Seeing the fans excited about the music and having a good time pumps me up to play the show.”
Though born in Dixon, Calif., Pardi surely exposed his southern singing roots on Friday night.
Pardi fans worldwide, if you aspire to become a big time country-singer, Pardi has a little advice for y’all: “Go for it. Don’t let anything hold you back. Move to Nashville, write songs that you love and work hard.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Audrëy Rodríguez at Audrey.Rodriguez@colorado.edu.
