Returning to Lubbock to play a special benefit show, Eli Young Band played a solid 75-minute set full of charisma, happiness, and hits at Cook’s Garage last Friday.
The show was a benefit concert to raise money for West Texas Hero Homes. Formed in 2010 by the West Texas Home Builders Association, the non-profit honors local heroes and their families by building them mortgage-free homes. This year’s home went to Jason Lilley, a Marine Corp vet who suffered a knee injury and had over two dozen procedures to try and repair it before getting it amputated last September. During an auction held before the headlining performance, Lilley sat on stage and gave a heartfelt speech telling the crowd and all of the donors just how grateful he was for the support and generosity of everyone who showed up.
The Eli Young Band opened their show with one of their biggest hits, Drunk Last Night, and set the energy level high from the get-go, already getting the small but extremely passionate crowd to sing along. From then on, the band was on cruise control playing a fast-paced set full of smiles from both lead singer Mike Eli and lead guitarist James Young. (Yes, I know this will blow your mind, but no one in the band is actually named Eli Young.) Early set highlights included their performance of Always the Love Songs and Where Were You, both songs that kept the opening run strong with Eli twisting and pumping his fists every time the chorus hit on the latter.
Eli is great at commanding the stage and I think that’s something that he often gets overlooked for. While the setlist lost a bit of steam in the middle, mainly due to reliance on newer material, the band fired back big time in the final stretch of the show playing hit after hit after hit. The final leg started with Dust, an uptempo country rock song with a fantastic sing-along chorus which was then immediately contrasted by their performance of Even If It Breaks Your Heart, a bit of slow burner that might be one of the best songs the band has ever recorded. It’s an inspirational song that Eli dedicated to all of the dreamers in the audience. Singing along to the “oooOOOOOH” part of the chorus was fantastic and Eli led his own sing-along at the end of the song.
After a quick encore break, the band came back on stage to perform their standard, Crazy Girl. A song that you have definitely heard if you have tuned into any country radio station in the past 10 years. The song started with Eli and bassist Jon Jones sitting at the edge of the stage serenading Mark Adams and his wife, who were sitting at a table in front of them, before launching into the song’s signature guitar intro and wrapping a bow on the evening. While I’m not as crazy over the band as I used to be, it was still super nostalgic to get to see them again and they’re still a fantastic live band. Should they return to my area, I’ll definitely be there again. And maybe next time they won’t stick a middle finger in my face and actually play Guinevere next time, how are you just gonna skip your best song…I think I should stop before I let this piss me off too much.
The show was opened by West Texas Exiles and the Cameron Sacky Band, both of whom were celebrating milestones with their sets. West Texas Exiles were celebrating the 7th or 8th live show they’ve ever played together while Cameron Sacky was celebrating their first show in Lubbock.
Despite only having a few shows under their belts, West Texas Exiles played a solid set with dueling vocalists, great stage presence, and an awesome sound too. It was somewhere in between blues and country and I really like their blend of it. The band is performing at JAB Fest next month and I’m excited to catch them again there.
Cameron Sacky Band is one of the reasons I ended up deciding to go after all after multiple friends told me, “If you’re gonna go, you’ll love Cameron Sacky.” Their set ended up being a great time and I think they’re gonna be a band to keep your eye on in the near future. While Sacky did struggle with guitar issues for most of their set, he powered through them like a pro and didn’t let them phase their performance. Definitely check them out if you haven’t already, while it was their first trip to Lubbock, I highly doubt it’ll be their last.
And a random sidenote since I don’t know how I want to end this article, I got to meet both Krista Gerlich and Mark Adams, the coaches for the women’s and men’s basketball teams, respectively. Both of them couldn’t have been nicer and more personable and I’m glad that they were kind enough to take time out of what I’m sure was a busy evening to stop and talk to me for a few minutes.
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