Live music is finally starting up in North Carolina, and the quaint town of New Bern, North Carolina hosted an outdoor country concert on March 12th at the Maola on the Riverside venue. This venue was the perfect location to offer a socially distanced space for concert-goers under the open air, and the Neuse River was the perfect backdrop for the night. Tickets for this event were limited, and staff checked every person at the door for symptoms and temperatures, ensuring a safe event for all in attendance.
Local legend, Lorraine Jordan and her Country Band opened the night up. The bluegrass band started respectfully with the National Anthem and played their set with old country classic covers, as well as original songs. Their set was about an hour-long, and the entire time, the crowd was smiling and engaged and enjoying the show.
Jo Dee Messina walked on stage at 7:30 to a rush of excited fans ranging from little kids to “old folks.” The “Heads Carolina, Tails California” singer definitely flipped the coin right when she landed on Carolina. She thanked fans for hosting the band and explained how much the pandemic has affected musicians and explained that even though shows were booked, they would all cancel at the last minute, so New Bern has been the first to host the band.
All of her hits, the crowd sang every word along. She beamed with humility seeing so many people singing, and had fun with the crowd with calls to finish lyrics.
Throughout the night, Jo Dee would interact with the crowd, telling stories behind the music. For “Masquerade,” she said that it didn’t really fit any of the country albums she was working on at the time, so it’s a song that would only be heard live. And “Alright” was told to her by her production company that it would never be heard–but who got the last laugh there?
Nearing the end of her set, Jo Dee was very open about her cancer diagnosis in 2017 and explained that her backup singer was one of her best friends helping her through it and how her faith grew during that turbulent time, and how much her faith meant to her. She then sang “Goodness of God” and “Reckless Love,” and really showed how powerful her voice is with her bluesy sound and belting lyrics. The crowd joined in with her in an impromptu worship session.
After the set, Jo Dee and her band encored with “Don’t Stop Believing,” which has been the second-best version of that song I’ve heard, next to the original, of course.
This show was a much-needed outlet as the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel is almost visible, and it proved as a good model on how to bring back live music successfully. Here’s to hoping there are more this year!
Jo Dee Messina Setlist:
- Nothing I Can Do
- Heads Carolina, Tails California
- Give a Damn’s Busted
- I Wear My Life
- I’m Done
- That’s The Way
- I’m Alright
- Masquerade
- Will You Love Me
- Bring on the Rain
- Stand Beside Me
- Lesson in Leaving
- Goodness of God
- Reckless Love
- Bye Bye
- Don’t Stop Believing
