Rodney Atkins

by Curtis D. Tucker

Rodney Atkins came to Enid on Saturday night and performed at the new Enid Event Center. His special last minute opening act was Rose Falcon reportedly Rodney's fiance. I was one of two photographers that went into the "Pit" to take up close photos of the concert.

I have to say that for not being a huge country and western music fan this concert was very enjoyable. Rose put on a great performance and talked to the audience like she was in her own hometown. She has been one of Country Weekly’s ‘Ones to Watch in 2013’, and also named to CMT’s Next Women of Country.

Rose Falcon, is from Nashville, TN and signed with Show Dog- Universal Music in 2011, where she released 19th Avenue- the EP. In January 2013, she released her new five-song EP, 19th Avenue (Volume 2), which features the song “If Love Had A Heart”.

At intermission I went back and watched as Rose signed autographs and talked to her fans. She was very friendly with a great smile and took numerous photos posing with anyone that asked.

When Rodney Atkins hit the stage the crowd of over 2,000 jumped to their feet and the music was non stop until the end. Watching Rodney and taking photos of his band felt much more like being at a rock concert. Rodney wears a baseball cap rather than the more traditional cowboy hat and his music is more middle of the road than classic country.

The band could have been a classic 70's band and would have fit right in with groups like REO, Boston and Kansas. At one point during the show, the guitar players went back and forth playing many rock classics from the Who, Kansas, Boston and many others.

Rodney thrilled the crowd as many got out of their seats and tried to get as close to him as they could. Security kept the crowd back but did not damper the enthusiasm. Rodney played to the audience including them in several of his songs even allowing them to sing a few versus by themselves.

Atkins has sold over four million singles in the past five years. His six number one hits include, “Watching You”, “These are My People”, platinum song “Farmer’s Daughter”, from his first three albums, as well as the title song “Take a Back Road” from his newest album, Take a Back Road.

This was a great score for Enid and the Enid Event Center. All of the comments I've heard afterward were very positive and most everyone there loved the concert. Kudos to Global Spectrum for continuing to bring more acts to downtown Enid.

Rose Falcon