Last night I had the privilege of attending the Granger Smith concert via my radio station, Y95 Country. The show was held at the Gryphon Theatre, which is arguably one of the best venues I've been to in Laramie. It’s a small venue, but usually the best concerts come from smaller stages.

The Gryphon opens the balcony for Y95, and I must say that the balcony is the best seat in the house. It's nice to have the privilege to watch these shows from a spot where only a few people get to be.

The headliner was Granger Smith, known for "Don't Listen To The Radio" and "Gypsy Rain." In my opinion, they have no business calling themselves a country music band. Even in this day, when most country music is bubble gum, these guys weren’t about the music at all. It seemed to me that this band’s main concern was which girl would pay most attention to them. This is fine if you are a twenty year old co-ed, and the young girls probably loved it. However I was there to listen to country music and these guys missed the mark.

When they first came on stage, they didn't have the "country" look. From their appearance, they didn't appear to have ever been around a tractor, or a cow, or a farm, for that matter. They were talkin' the talk, but had never, from the looks of it, ever walked the walk.

They didn't do themselves any justice, either, by over yelling the phrase "Yee, Yee!"... Then they would have the buckle bunnies yell it back. This went on and on, and became very annoying before they ever sang a song.

But any true country lifer knows the real words are, "Yee, Haw!" The right hand reign of a mule team is the ‘Yee’ line, and the left hand reign of the mule team is the ‘Haw’ line. It is a directional command to the mules, and to get them to move forward, you would slap both reigns and yell, "Yee Haw!"

But let's get to the music... I have never been to a Justin Bieber concert, but these guys reminded me of the equivalent. The straw that broke the preverbal camel’s back was in the second song, when the lead singer started grabbing cell phones out of the audience and taking selfies. This is a Luke Bryant thing--and Luke is definitely country.

I walked out after this took place, but there is a spot of good news in this review.

The opening act is an up-and-coming ‘Red Dirt Country’ band called Brand 307, and they are good. If you get the chance, go see them perform. They have a few shows scheduled soon, and are working on getting more gigs. Brand 307 saved the night at the Gryphon.

To sum it up, this is just one person's opinion. For me, Granger Smith wasn't worth the ticket price, and these guys are more interested in pleasing the crowd through interactions and appearance, than they are in playing good country music.

Until next time, Yee Haw!

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