Hell Yeah!
The ladies were “All Jacked Up” when Gretchen Wilson made her rowdy and rockin’ AC debut last Saturday night (July 7) at Caesars. Her stage background was — what else — a trailer façade with Christmas lights around the windows.
Wilson began the night with the mid-tempo love-gone-wrong song “Homewrecker,” then immediately moved on to “a drinking song,” the high energy “I Pour.” From there Wilson poured out a rousing 20-song mix that included a good chunk of her new album One of the Boys and the hits from her previous two albums, I’m Here For the Party and All Jacked Up.
From the new album, there was the fine title track “One of the Boys,” the tender plea of “Come to Bed” the country rock snarl of “Place in the Whiskey” and the song scheduled to be the next single, another roadhouse rocker, “You Can’t Stay Here.”
Also expect the delightfully tongue-in-cheek “There Goes the Neighborhood” to become a Gretchen Wilson radio hit down the road.
Other songs in her foot-stompin’ set included “One Bud Wiser,” “Politically Uncorrect,” “California Girls,” “Here For the Party” and “All Jacked Up.” She even did a couple of covers, Heart’s “Barracuda” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Call Me The Breeze.” And let's not forget to mention —to quote a Wilson song — "the ball-bustin' band" that backed the singer, an 8-piece group of versatile musicians led by lead guitarist Mark Oakley and a wild and crazy drummer.
The ladies were bursting out of their seats when Wilson finished up the night with “Redneck Woman” as soccer moms, suburban housewives and office workers screamed out “Hell Yeah!”