Will Hoge with Haley Cole at Kessler Theater, Dallas
DALLAS – What happens when a singer-songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee mixes a little country with a little rock & roll? On Friday night in Dallas, Texas the Kessler theatre allowed an intimate audience to experience the magic that is Will Hoge.
Opener, Hayley Cole impressively showed off her incredible gritty voice with her 45-minute set. Switching back and forth between joking with the crowd and pouring her heart out, Cole lit up the stage. Playing a number of songs from her latest album Illusion and backed up by her 4-piece band, Cole expressed every piece of her heart on the stage.
Will Hoge stepped onto the stage with a guitar in hand to launch right into the ode to his beloved hometown with “Growing Up Around Here”. He wasted no time diving straight into his impressive 25 song set list, while switching out guitars after each song with a few stories in between. Rocker driven “Guitar or a Gun” was next followed by another rock themed “Better Off Now That You’re Gone”.
Dressed in grey jeans, a plaid shirt, and cowboy boots, he left the guitar behind for an electrifying vocal performance of “When I Get My Wings”, which was very clearly a crowd favorite. To show off his brilliant, raspy vocal range, with guitar back in hand, Hoge stepped away from the microhpone to the very front of the stage to emotionally belt “Little Bitty Dreams” solo. As Hoge, switched back and forth between rockers and ballads, the enjoyment in the room never faded, while also telling stories of his wife and two boys. Next up was the very popular Chevrolet commercial theme “Strong”. Throughout the entire set Hoge made jokes about people buying all of his merchandise so that if they didn’t like him, they wouldn’t have to hear him again. Clearly, that was not the case with this crowd. The dream driven “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” was the sing along song for the evening.
As Hoge continued on with his set, he paused to chatter a bit. “I always leave room in the set list for requests. I heard someone yell this out earlier, so I’m gonna play it right now.” With that, he launched into another fast growing new single “They Don’t Make Em Like They Used To”. The man that has been called the Springsteen of Country, played for a solid 2 hours before he said goodnight to the crowd. It took no time for, “Will Hoge! Will Hoge!” to begin echoing through the room as the crowd waited for the man of the night to return to the stage. Returning not even a minute later, he began his encore with his last single “Middle Of America”.
Intertwining old songs, with new songs, he sailed through the next 7 encore songs. Thanking the crowd for such a special night in Texas, he poured his heart and soul into his final song appropriately titled “This Highways Home”. As the ending of the song came, Hoge band members surrounded him on each side around the microphone to join him in singing a few lines of the Hank Williams classic “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”. If you enjoy a refreshing new sound, or just want to see an artist that thoroughly enjoys playing music, Will Hoge is the person you want to see.
Article by: Abbey Mosely
Photos by: Kristelle Maguire