Sugarland’s sweet sound draws huge crowd

ROANOKE RAPIDS – The Valley rocked Saturday night as the popular country duo Sugarland and their  “Love on the Inside” tour brought a record-setting crowd to Carolina Crossroads and its outdoor amphitheater.

Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush also brought one of the most elaborate stage setups  ever seen on the Carolina Crossroads stage and it’s a good thing they did because that is probably the only way folks in the far, back grass seats could even see them.

The stage backdrop was a huge video screen that made it seem as though there were two versions of the show, one for the folks in the far back and the other for those in the front. Not that those seats were actually used very often.

Gone were the familiar giant video screens that usually flanked the stage in past shows, but Sugarland’s much larger screen was also much brighter, richer and almost truly lifelike. The scenes on-screen changed from simple background color to sunsets and moons when it wasn’t featuring the actual performers.

The show began with the popular Atlanta country and rock act, the Zac Brown Band, which started promptly at 6 p.m. and moved quickly through Ashton Shepherd, almost as if they were being rushed on and off the stage.

Popular American Idol finalist and new country music star Kellie Pickler took the stage as people were still lined up at what appeared to be the first real traffic jam at the Crossroads entrance gates. Before most even knew she had performed, Pickler was finished and the stage was being set for Sugarland.

The result was that many in the huge crowd never saw any of the opening acts as Sugarland took the stage much earlier than most fans expected. As folks socialized and meandered around the complex, the first soft chords of Sugarland’s hit “Love” began coming from the darkened stage.

Once the lights came up and the video backdrop lit up, fans were scrambling to get close to the stage. That was a problem for several fans from Virginia. “We really couldn’t see or hear much of anything,” said Jerry and Tew Wendell, from Great Bridge, Va., who were experiencing the amphitheater for the first time. Unfortunately they were at the very back of the huge field.

“Most of what we could hear were the fans singing along with the songs they knew,” said Jerry. Up front was a completely different story. “We thought it was awesome!” said Cindy Albrecht, from Virginia Beach, who came to town to see the show with a friend. They said they loved the show, the amphitheater and the Hilton Garden Inn.

Sugarland fans were not disappointed as the duo took them through most of their hits that included “Settlin,” “We Run,” “Baby Girl” and “Steve Earle.” There were also covers of R.E.M.’s “Nightswimming” and a B-52’s hit that brought Kellie Pickler back out on stage with them.

After all was said and done, the weekend had to be a huge success for Carolina Crossroads.