The California Mid-State Fair is back in town and brought along a great lineup of country artists. Cody Johnson along with Randall King sold out the Grandstand Arena for Day Four and the energy for this one will be hard to beat! Usually, Paso Robles this time of year has weather hovering around 100 degrees, but this year, we actually had a chilly, windy Saturday night for a change.
With the cowboys and cowgirls dressed in their finest fits (lined up early to make sure they don’t miss a moment of the night’s event), Randall King kicked the night. No stranger to the area, King has performed the Mid-State Fair few times before, so — although opening — the crowd was already packed in the venue to see him. King began with a newer song “Cheatin’ On My Honky Tonk”, before going into the second track “When My Baby’s In Boots”, which got the crowd moving around.
After, the energy took a serious shift when King took a moment to talk about the recent passing of his sister and play a song her had written for her.
Keeping things slow, he then moved onto “One Night Dance” and a song I was glad made the set called “Mirror Mirror”. Fans also go the chance to hear his newest release “I Keep Your Memory Around”. Randall King and his band were on point from start to finish, rounding out the set with big hits “Burns Like Her”, “Hey Cowgirl”, and finally “You In A Honky Tonk”.
As ecstatic CoJo Nation fans waited for the main man to take the stage, it was great to see that this night was by far Cody Johnson’s the biggest crowd to date at the fair (as he’s played here before). For those who haven’t seen a Cody Johnson show, you need to know he and his band deliver one of those shows that feed off the energy the crowd, returning that energy double time onstage for a full 90 minutes! After promptly taking the stage, CoJo kicked the night off with “That’s Texas”, “Me & My Kind”, and “Dance Her Home” — a brilliant first three.
The stage had a high rise for Cody jump off of from time to time and lot of lights with many color combos to match the mood of the songs.
Fans got to hear “How Do You Sleep At Night?”, “With You I Am”, “Dear Rodeo”, and “Nothing on You” before Johnson and the boys covered the Charlie Daniels Band song “Long Haired Country Boy”. Cody then took a moment to connect with fans to reflect on how he came to writing “Human” before he performed it and the fan-favorite “Georgia Peaches”. Next up was “The Fall”, a really big hit right now; I’m glad it made the cut on the setlist, since it wasn’t played the last time I saw Cody.
Another crowd favorite, “People In The Back”, kept the audience amped, followed by DoJo’s duet with Carrie Underwood (complete with a video of the country queen onscreen), “I’m Going To Love You”. Cody then took another moment to talk about how things are going in this country and how we, as Americans, should not be so divided in these times, performing “God Bless America” before introducing his band members and shredding a wild steel guitar solo.
Saving three of his biggest hits for the end, fans finally got real emotional for “Dirt Cheap”, “Painter”, and “Til You Can’t”. Leaving the stage with fans wanting just a little more, CoJo returned for a encore of The Chicks‘ “Traveling Soldier” before “Diamond in My Pocket” to finally complete the show. Cody Johnson has got some dates still lined up; it’s a tour I highly recommend seeing! Also, the California Mid-State Fair has got some more great shows lined up that Top Shelf Music will get to later. Hope to see you there!
Photography by Brittany App
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