Stagecoach 2013: Toby Keith and Hank Williams Jr. entertain festival audience with covers and hits

Stagecoach 2013: Toby Keith and Hank Williams Jr. entertain festival audience with covers and hits

Keith covers George Jones while Williams Jr. covers his father and more
By Wes Woods II
Posted:   04/27/2013 01:19:56 AM PDT
Updated:   04/27/2013 02:51:40 PM PDT

Complete coverage: Stagecoach country music festival | Photos: Stagecoach – Day 2

INDIO – Country music superstars Toby Keith and Hank Williams Jr. each entertained their respective audiences Friday night at the Stagecoach country music festival with a mix of hits and covers of artists like deceased legend George Jones or Hank Williams Sr..

Main headliner Keith performed Jones’ “She Thinks I Still Care” and “Daddy Come Home” while Williams Jr. performed “Your Cheating Heart” by his father.

As headliner, Keith said of Jones, who passed away Friday at age 81: “Godspeed George Jones. God bless George Jones. I’m going to try to do a couple of George Jones songs to show what real country music sounds like.” Earlier in the show, Keith added that Jones “was approachable, a great singer and he is the face of country music.”

Williams Jr., besides covering his father, also covered “Walk This Way” and he rapped the song like the 1986 Run-DMC version as well as Jerry Reed’s “East Bound and Down” from the 1977 film “Smokey and the Bandit” and “I Walk The Line” by Johnny Cash.

The artists played their own hits as well as Keith tore through “Red Solo Cup,” “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “Beer for My Horses” and his set ender with Trace Adkins “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).” The song is Keith’s but Adkins, who performed on the same stage earlier in the night, joined him.

Williams Jr. performed songs like “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight,” and “Keep The Change” with the lyrics “I’ll keep my freedom / I’ll keep my guns” drawing a loud cheer. He also performed 1980’s “Woman I’ve Never Had” with lines including the Friday fan favorite of “I like to ride my horse and shoot my gun.”

Both mane stage sets sounded great musically while Keith’s used flames and an extensive video on stage before his performance about Clancy’s Tavern. Williams Jr.’s stage set-up was basic but the singer would change hats every couple of songs and played the fiddle to loud applause.

wes.woods@inlandnewspapers.com