Alan Jackson concert logs record attendance

Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by LAURA BUCK Country music star Alan Jackson performs at the Bayside Toyota Pavilion in St. Leonard. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

At least for a few hours, the current economic recession appeared out of sight, out of mind when the St. Leonard Volunteer Fire Department broke records with its Alan Jackson concert Sunday night.

While fellow country singer Kellie Pickler opened the concert, held at the Bayside Toyota Pavilion in St. Leonard, it was Jackson for whom much of the crowd screamed loudest.

"We've done the math and they tell us that this is the biggest crowd in Calvert County concert history and you all are a part of it," said former radio personality John Hunt, who gave an introduction prior to the performances.

According to Roberta Baker, the chairwoman of the SLVFD fundraising committee, the crowd was "just shy of 6,000 people," many of whom donned cowboy hats, their favorite Baltimore Ravens or Washington Redskins jerseys and enjoyed the night in spite of chilly temperatures.

"I'm here for A.J.," Lee Shoemaker of Huntingtown said, adding that he was a fan of Pickler as well.

"She used to serve my cousins at SONIC [American Drive In] in Charlotte [N.C.]," Shoemaker said of the singer, who got her start during the fifth season of "American Idol."

Shoemaker also said that he thought the setting for the concert made it all the more appropriate for its main headliner.

"I think Alan Jackson appreciates being in a venue like this because he likes being among the people," he said, adding that he appreciates Jackson's traditional country approach.

April Bowles of Hollywood, Md., agreed, saying she appreciated the "old fashioned country" style of Jackson's music.

Bowles said she was also no stranger to Bayside Toyota Pavilion, having seen country singers Travis Tritt and Jason Aldean perform at the venue.

"It's close to home," Bowles said.

Ashley Downs and Jake Mattingly of Leonardtown said that while "Hell, yeah," they were fans of country music, the concert was close to their hearts for another reason.

"We're here to support the fire department of St. Leonard," said Mattingly, a volunteer firefighter in Leonardtown, who said that Jackson is among his top favorite artists.

"That is why we love Alan Jackson," he said as Jackson belted out "Gone Country."

Pickler herself told the crowd that she preferred the St. Leonard performance as opposed to Saturday night's concert at Columbia's Merriweather Post Pavilion. Her reasoning, however, was somewhat different.

"We're getting off to a much better start than we were last night," said Pickler, who then revealed that her fly was undone for the first half of her performance Saturday night.

lbuck@somdnews.com

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• Jackson and Pickler headline latest St. Leonard concert