CONCERT RECAP: Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Fest Goes On The Road Again and Makes a Pit Stop in Dallas

Hitting the road for the fifth time, Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Festival continues to be one of the best summer shows money can buy for country music fans.

I got to go to the fest last year as a fan and had a great time even though it was pretty warm, to put it lightly. I got to the amphitheater late and missed performances from Particle Kid, Allison Russell, and most all of Steve Earle but was able to catch full sets from Charley Crockett, Brothers Osborne, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, and Willie Nelson to shut down the evening. This year, I would’ve attended as a fan regardless but on a whim, sent in an application for a photo pass and it somehow got approved. I told myself that I wouldn’t get there late this time and would see everyone on the lineup, however, my brother’s baseball schedule and Dallas traffic had other plans and I ended up missing Particle Kid and Brittney Spencer’s sets as I got to the Dos Equis Pavillion, checked in, and got my credentials and tickets all squared away. I was pretty bummed to miss Spencer as she sounded great from the parking lot and concourse as I walked in. She’s playing ACL Fest this October though and I’ll make it a point to not miss her set there.

The first full set I was able to see was Lubbock natives and torch bearers for our country scene, Flatland Cavalry.

While the band’s set was shortened due to festival time constraints, they still got a 75-minute time slot so I can’t complain much. The band was firing on all cylinders and frontman Cleto Cordero mentioned multiple times throughout the set just how appreciative he and the band were for the opportunity to be on this tour and opening these shows. While it did feel strange to see the band performing in daylight and felt even stranger to only get to shoot three songs from the soundboard area, I still think the band won over a ton of people with their set. Especially with Cleto’s solo and acoustic performance of If We Said Goodbye and the final one-two punch of A Life Where We Work Out and Traveler’s Song. I look forward to seeing the band again this October in College Station and hopefully can shoot them from the pit next time around.

Following a set change and a trip back to the media holding room, it was time to go back to the soundboard to shoot the first three songs for a band I’ve been wanting to shoot ever since I got into this concert photography thing, Whiskey Myers.

At this very moment in the year 2023, I don’t think there is a single modern Southern Rock band on the planet better than Whiskey Myers. Hailing from Palestine, Texas, the band have been steady on the grind since 2008 and are finally getting the respect they’ve deserved for a while. They’ve been on a killer run of albums starting with 2011’s Firewater and it hasn’t stopped yet. The last addition to the mantle was last year’s Tornillo which is an absolute beast of a project and these songs are incredible live, especially since the band has now added a horn section and three backup singers which provide such a bigger and thicker sound. Feet’s, Bad Medicine, and especially The Wolf all sound so good and rock so much harder live with these additions. I’ll be completely honest, I didn’t really care for The Wolf when it was a single but getting to hear it live completely changed my tune on it. I’ve said this a million times but it never gets less true. There is nothing better than a no-frills rock and roll show like the ones Whiskey Myers plays night after night. Just blaring guitars, killer singing, and a killer rhythm section to boot.

When the lineup first got announced for this year’s fest, I saw the band’s name on the poster and told myself, “That’s wild, this is a venue they could headline on their own.” The crowd that showed up for their set confirmed that belief. For most of the day, people spent sets sitting down, mingling, and clapping once a song was over but the second Whiskey Myers went on, there wasn’t a single butt in a seat on the lower level. Everyone was standing, active, and rocking out as the band just shredded for their entire 90-minute set. While the setlist did end up cutting songs I would’ve loved to hear like Dogwood and Early Morning Shakes, their absence wasn’t too sorely missed as the band closed the evening and capped off their set. This might ruffle feathers, it already did when I told a group chat of friends this, but I don’t think you’ll see a better rock and roll show in 2023 than Whiskey Myers.

Willie Nelson took the stage a little bit before 10 PM to close the night out. While I don’t think his performance was better than last year, I think Whiskey Myers put the crowd in a party mood. Last year’s set felt like I was seeing Willie Nelson with a movie theater crowd, this year it felt like he was playing the coolest party on the planet. People were singing loud and were super engaged, a few couples even took to the alley between sections to two-step and country dance. I had a now buddy point this out when I was at Two Step Inn this April that at Willie’s shows, you sort of go to just pay your respects to his legend status and I think that’s a good way to put it. Of course, it’s not like people are staring at him like he’s in a museum, though there was a lady in the row in front of us that was bawling her eyes out when he entered the stage. He’s still giving it all he has with whatever he has left in the tank and people love it. This might sound dark but Willie won’t be doing this for much longer and I don’t think the shows will get any better than they are now but he knows what the people want. He plays the hits, he smiles, cracks jokes, and tells stories, and most importantly, he has a great time out there. His set always sends people home happy and you can’t ask for much more than that at his age.