The Santa Barbara Bowl basks in the Brothers Osborne

Brothers Osborne’s performance at the Santa Barbara Bowl on May 31st left fans wishing they would “Stay A Little Longer”. Country music fans gathered into the Bowl that Friday night to see winners of the 2022 GRAMMY for ‘Best Country Duo/Group Performance’ for their song “Younger Me” — John and TJ Osborne.

The show was part of their Might as Well Be Us Tour, with Madeline Edwards along on this stop. 

Madeline Edwards (a country-soul-gospel singer born in Santa Barbara, yet raised in Texas) returned to her hometown to play on a stage she dreamed of performing on as a kid. The “Mama, Dolly, Jesus” singer caught the attention of the Bowl with her strong powerful voice. Amid her setlist were well-known songs like “Hold My Horses” and “The Wolves” — the two I was looking forward to most! With her country career just taking off, it will be exciting to see where “The Road” will take her. 

It was then showtime for John and TJ Osborne, appearing onstage above the drum kit. As the band kicked off into “Might As Well Be Me”, as the Brothers Osborne made their way to the front, prompting the crowd to grow louder. “Nobody’s Nobody”, a big fan hit, was second up on the setlist, quickly followed by “Shoot Me Straight”. With 10 years of country music under their belt, fans got to hear many of their favorite Brothers Osborne tracks, such as “Trouble”, “I Don’t Remember Me (Before You)”, “Not for Everyone”, and “Ain’t My Fault”. Also, the one I was very stoked to make it into the setlist, the song “Weed, Whiskey and Willie”! Brothers Osborne also covered Tom Petty‘s “I Won’t Back Down” and Bob Marley’s “3 Little Birds”, the latter mixed into their hit song “Rum”.  With many colored stage lights for each song and changing backdrops, it made for a great visual show… especially when a giant middle finger appeared for a moment. As the show came to an end with “Younger Me”, the band came forward to take a final bow and leave Santa Barbara Bowl attendees with yet another memorable show.  

Photography by Tre Torres

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