A Red-letter day
More than 10,000 attend Shelton’s free block party celebrating opening of Tishomingo venue
Thousands of people accepted the invitation to “paint the town red with Blake Shelton & friends” Saturday night in the country music superstar’s adopted hometown.
An estimated audience of more than 10,000 country music fans and community supporters crowded onto Main Street to celebrate the grand opening of Ole Red Tishomingo, Shelton’s new restaurant, music venue, retail space and bar. Small-town community spirit mixed with big-time star power for a fun, down-home cocktail of a night, which got a splash of California pizzazz thanks to an unscheduled cameo by Gwen Stefani.
To mark the launch of his new lifestyle brand and planned chain of venues, Shelton co-hosted a free outdoor concert modeled after a Grand Ole Opry show. Ole Red Tishomingo is operated by Tennessee-based Ryman Hospitality Properties, which also owns and operates the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, and 650 AM WSM’s Bill Cody co-hosted the “Blake & Friends” concert alongside Shelton.
But it was the audience that turned the event into a literal block party: The crowd ranged for nearly two blocks beyond the massive temporary stage erected at Main and Kemp, just a few feet from Ole Red Tishomingo’s front door. The celebration brought out concertgoers of all ages: Several older attendees sat in lawn chairs and watched the big screen set up under the stoplight at Main and Neshoba; young couples swayed together during the love songs; and parents with small children perched on their shoulders were silhouetted in the marquee lights of The Indie Cinema, about a block and a half away from the stage.
“I knew y’all wouldn’t let me down tonight,” said Shelton, who occasionally seemed stunned not only by the size of the crowd gathered in Tishomingo but also by the oddity of hosting such a star-studded event on a small-town Saturday night.
The two-hour event, which was streamed live on Facebook, where it has been viewed 230,000 times, opened with an hourlong showcase for Grand Ole Opry members Jeannie Seely, John Conlee and Ronnie Milsap, as well as up-and-coming country singer RaeLynn. A Team Blake standout from Season 2 of the hit NBC singing show “The Voice,” RaeLynn brought plenty of youthful sass with her gold hit “God Made Girls” and the title track of her debut album “WildHorse.”
But it was the veteran performers who proved most at home in the familiar Opry format, even on the unfamiliar streets of the Johnston County seat. Seely not only performed her 1966 Grammywinning hit “Don’t Touch Me” but also introduced the feisty kiss-off “Who Needs You,” from her new album “Written in Song.” Conlee’s distinctive voice proved as warm and supple as ever on “Miss Emily’s Picture,” and he donned a pair of rose-colored glasses to croon his signature hit, then gifted the lenses to Shelton.
Shelton chivalrously helped lead Milsap to his keyboard, where the Country Music Hall of Famer, dressed in a black shirt lavishly embroidered with roses and decorated with rhinestones that could literally be seen a block away, played his classic hits “Smokey Mountain Rain” and “Stranger in My House.” Milsap also covered Hank Williams’ “Your Cheating Heart” and told stories about encounters with Ray Charles and Elvis Presley.
“How cool is it that we have our own Tishomingo Opry all the sudden?” Shelton said.
Mayor Tom Lokey and City Manager Travis Stroud presented Ole Red Tishomingo’s proprietor with a key to the city, so that “when you come home late … you can get in,” Lokey said with a laugh.
“There’s certain nights I’ll need that,” Shelton replied, vowing to hang up the decorative red key inside Ole Red.
The crowd whooped wildly as Shelton strapped on his guitar to perform the last half of the free show. His set started, appropriately enough, with the barroom homage “Neon Light” and continued with his chart-toppers “Honey Bee,” “Hillbilly Bone,” “Boys ‘Round Here,” and back-to-back ballads “I’ll Name the Dogs,” his new single, and “Austin,” his first single.
Naturally, Shelton’s fan favorite story-song “Ol’ Red,” for which his new nightspot is named, garnered even louder howls of approval than usual.
The fans gave a warmly enthusiastic smalltown Oklahoma welcome to Stefani, Shelton’s girlfriend and fellow “The Voice” personality, who took the stage with him to sing their ballad “Go Ahead and Break My Heart.” Even Shelton had to admit that having a SoCal pop star crooning in downtown Tishomingo on a Saturday night was “freaky.”
For an encore, the Ada native offered up his cover of the ultimate block party song, “Footloose,” as well as the fitting ballads “God Gave Me You” and “Home.” During the latter, he encouraged the people packing Main Street to hold up their lighted cellphones for a photo that he wanted to put on the wall in Ole Red.
It should be a mighty fine shot.