BY TER STAFF

Live music is officially back in the Good Land, as Country Thunder returned to Twin Lakes, WI for another 4-day weekend of stellar country music performances.

But if you expected Country Thunder to ease fans into the action, you were mistaken, because the music festival hit the ground running with a huge headlining performance from “Cowboys and Angels” singer, Dustin Lynch.

The Tennessee native brought all of his hits to the farm on Thursday night, giving most fans their first real taste of live music since the COVID-19 pandemic. Lynch showed no signed of rust though, while delivering a memorable performance for his Midwest fans.

Check out our photos from Dustin Lynch’s headlining performance at Country Thunder Wisconsin:

Photos by Dan Garcia

BY TER STAFF

Chicago’s Windy City Smokeout kept its streak of top notch headlining performers on Saturday night for Day 3 of the 4-day country music festival, with a great performance by Nashville recording artist Dierks Bentley.

Unfortunately for fans who planned on staying dry for the festival, mother nature’s streak did not live on throughout the extended weekend. A little rain wasn’t going to stop the music however, as the show went on and fans enjoyed a day of great performances, rain or shine.

After singer Riley Green warmed up the sold-out crowd, the “What Was I Thinkin” singer made his return to stage in front of his Second City fans and gave Chicago a preview of his upcoming “Beers On Me” tour, which kicks off later this year. Fittingly, early in his performance, Bentley even invited a fan on stage to shotgun a beer, and the energy never fell throughout his entire set.

Check out our photos from Dierks Bentley’s stormy show for his Windy City Smokeout fans:

Photos by Dan Garcia

BY TER STAFF

Darius Rucker rocked his Windy City Smokeout fans like a wagon wheel on Friday night after his highly anticipated return to stage. Performing a number of his country music hits, a few covers, and even some of his Hootie & The Blowfish singles, the “Hold My Hand” recording artist delivered a show that Chicago will not soon forget.

From start to finish, you would never have guessed that this was one of Rucker’s only performances in the last year and a half. The Hootie & The Blowfish lead turned country star didn’t miss a beat on Friday and proved why he was one of the stand out names on the festival’s stacked lineup, blowing the crowd away with performances of “Alright”, “Hold My Hand” and of course his rendition of Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel”.

Check out our favorite photos from Rucker’s headlining performance:

Photos by Dan Garcia

BY TER STAFF

Live music has returned to the Second City, as Chicago’s premiere country music festival, the Windy City Smokeout, kicked off on Thursday night with Illinois’ own, Brett Eldredge.

Celebrating the festival’s 9th year and 2nd year taking place at the lots of the United Center, the same site that hosted mass vaccination clinics throughout the spring is now host to Chicago’s first music festival of 2021. Needless to say, fans couldn’t be more excited.

The Windy City Smokeout is expected to host more than 15,000 fans throughout the extended weekend, with headlining performances from A-list country stars like Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley and Jon Pardi, as well as big performances from Morgan Evans, Ryan Hurd, the Randy Rogers Band and many more. If the music alone wasn’t enough for you, the festival will also feature some of the best BBQ from the local and national pitmasters.

The moment that fans had been waiting for, for over a year, night 1 of the festival was a can’t miss evening as Brett Eldredge blessed Chicago with it’s biggest performance since March of 2020, also marking our return to live music coverage since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Check out our favorite photos from the “Don’t Ya” singers memorable performance:

Photos by Dan Garcia