Big & Rich brought their country music tour, Xtreme Music: The Tour, to Thunder Valley Casino and Resort Friday night. Playing to a full house, the crew was engaging and extremely entertaining. Playing with Big & Rich were, of course, Big Kenny and John Rich, with special guests Gretchen Wilson and Cowboy Troy.

This kicked off a weekend full of concerts out at Thunder Valley Casino with Ramon Ayala playing Saturday, and KC & The Sunshine Band on Sunday.

Opening the concert was local heroes, Road 88 – you just gotta love the name. The band was named Best Local Band in Sacramento by KCRA’s A-list. Having been together for only a couple of years they already have hit the charts in Europe with their original song “Not Gonna Happen.” Expect to see some big things from these guys and gals in the near future.

Lead singer Rachel Steele sounded awesome as did the rest of the crew consisting of Scott Prentice (Lead vocals and rhythm guitar), David Phelps (lead vocals and guitar), Sherry Eidhammer (Vocals), Joe Anderson (Drums), and Joe Irwin (Bass).

Talk about working a crowd. People were standing their entire set and people who were just milling around waiting for Big & Rich started filing in to watch and listen as they performed. When they left the stage it was obvious the audience wanted more, as did I.

Just make sure you get out and see them before they skyrocket to fame (if they haven’t already)!

As the stage lit up in a dazzling array of bright lights, color beams, and strobes, Big Kenny and John Rich came out with their latest hit single “Fake I.D.”

The Muzik Mafia, as they like to refer to themselves, share an eight-piece band on a custom stage that includes a fully functional bar as the centerpiece. The music never stopped as Big & Rich, Gretchen, and Cowboy Troy performed hit after hit – the convenience of having one band do it all.

I know they were going for that local bar feel, but this reminded me more of a circus with all the different colored lights going off and the rotation of artists throughout the night. John Rich started out in a red shirt and when Cowboy Troy showed up he also had a red shirt, adding to the circus feel. That’s not to say it was a bad thing, it was simply great.

It was a nice touch when, after thanking all the military personnel in the crowd, including past, present and future, they brought a couple of individuals who are currently serving in the military up onstage. Major Sargent Surita A. Rorie and Technical Sargent Eric Grant had Gretchen playing bartender and telling her guests to belly-up to the bar for a shot of their favorite drink as a toast to their dedication and commitment. Not sure, but I think they both went for the Jack Daniels.

Probably the funniest part of the show was when John Rich was telling the audience about his adventures in town. Turns out he took a ride in one of Thunder Valley’s limousines and ended up at our local Wal-Mart. He became fascinated with a jar of Cheese Balls. Funny thing is, I knew exactly what he was talking about since I was there earlier that day too. They are really large cheese balls in a very large clear plastic jar. Wal-Mart has them in stock for Halloween. I didn’t buy them, because god forbid, if I were to bring anything in our house with artificial anything in it. I guess Rich doesn’t have that problem at his house since he bought at least one and brought it with him onstage. He had all the band members sign the jar and then tossed it to one lucky fan.

It was a really fun night out at Thunder Valley Casino and Resort – as usual.

Next up for Thunder Valley this weekend is Ramon Ayala!

Big & Rich Set-list:Fake ID Here For the Party Comin to Your City Wild West I Got Your Country Right Here Home Wrecker Angel From Montgomery Lost in This Moment Banner 8th of November Love Train Work Hard, Play Harder Hot Blooded Chicken With a Train All Jacked Up Save a Horse, Ride a CowboyEncore Redneck Woman Ballad of Big and Rich
Road 88 Set List:Little White Church Swingin’ Drive (Road 88) Not Gonna Happen (Road 88) Irreplaceable The Fever

Randy Miramontez - Downtown Sacramento - Bay Area Concerts