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Jake Owen Review 11/30/12

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I did a phone interview with Jake the night after the CMT Awards (we talked about his cheetah/leopard suit.)  I couldn’t believe that Jake called me and asked me “Is this Jacklyn?” and he actually knew about our little music and entertainment blog.  After the interview (which was one of my favorites by far!) he asked about coming to Chicago.

I didn’t think he would remember me, my website, or the interview.  Sure enough November 30 I introduced myself “Hi I’m Jacklyn I don’t know if you remember but we did a phone interview for my website” and I stuck out my hand to shake.  He looked down and back up and opened his arms, I got one of the biggest bear hugs of my life.  He replied with “Of course I loved the interview great seeing you!”  We chatted about his new baby girl, the show, the interview, and how my name is now Jack-COOL-lyn (I still don’t know the reasoning behind it but I’ll take it!)  I also talked about how great he was to his fans that I admired so much, he seemed generally thankful and appreciative when I talked to him.  He made sure I was shooting and reviewing his set and he said he’ll see us later.

This was my second time seeing Jake Owen live, the first being CMA Fest.  I did press at CMA Fest and went completely bonkers for Jake’s set.  Seeing him this time wasn’t any different, still going bonkers, except for the fact I lost my voice and danced like a fool.  He opened with The One That Got Away, I was actually singing along while shooting and dancing along while trying to navigate my way in the less than a foot wide photo corral.

Barefoot Jake sold out two nights in a row in Chicago and certainly did not disappoint, he even signed autographs for fans while singing and taking their cameras and taking pictures with them. One girl had a “I’m The One That Got Away” sign with an arrow pointing down to her, he got a kick out of that.   I haven’t seen an artist take fans cameras and take pictures with them along with autographing during his set.  I haven’t seen that in any artist in the 300+ concerts I’ve attended, I was truly even more blown away about his love for his fans.  During “You And Me” Jake brought out possibly the coolest guitar on the planet, it lit up blue!

I couldn’t believe Jake covered Van Halen, Sublime, and Mike Posner!  A country artist!  He made it his own and I have to think that they were both up to if not better than the originals.  I was in awe of his stage presence and how his voice was on pitch and how much it sounded like listening to him on my Ipod, only louder.  If you haven’t seen him, you are truly missing out, especially if you haven’t checked out his latest EP Endless Summer.

Jacklyn is the Editor In Chief of Stage Right Secrets. Jacklyn's photography and articles can also be found on The Recording Academy's GRAMMY.com GRAMMYPro, GRAMMYU, PopCrush, Taste of Country, among other outlets. Besides press Jacklyn is a "Jack of All Trades" working various jobs at local concerts and touring. JacklynKrol.com