Stone Horses at the Frederick Fairgrounds in Frederick, MD

We were excited to finally attend a live show again, especially a Stone Horses show. It brought fans from across the state together albeit socially distanced.

Drive-in shows give you a very different experience from your usual live music concert. The personal connection isn’t as close as usual, but the passion is definitely still there for the band. Stone Horses had so much energy and put on an amazing show. Fronted by John Allen (vocals), with members Ted Merrill (guitar), Rick Reynolds (bass), and Jason Heiser (drums), they were joined by Todd Ögren, keyboardist of Rival Sons. Even in 30-degree weather, the band was still as lively as ever. 

As the band made their way to center stage, their opening track began, and all the cheers and hollers began. The band opened up with “Rattlesnake” which was a great hit with the crowd. The track began with Rick Reynolds and his beefy bass riff.  The addition of having Todd Ögren on keys was energizing. You could hear the subtle changes in the music. During their break between “Flirting With The Devil” and “Good Ol’ Days,” which is one song that will be talked about a little more, a fan came up to the barricade in front of their car to shout at Jason Heiser. Jason then gave a huge smile and waved a shaka sign at the fan. There is so much love for the band, as they are a staple in the Baltimore music scene. 

It was definitely a little weird being at a drive-in show. Instead of seeing people pushing their way to the front, they all had their designated spots and their eight feet of social distance. Most were in their cars anyway, because of the weather, but there were a few at the front who got out of their cars to headbang and show love to the bands performing. Those in the back were all bundled up in their cars, watching from the screens on the sides of the stage. The atmosphere was contrasting to the “normal” music and concert scene. Even if Stone Horses was the opening act for Blackberry Smoke, there were so many people in attendance who knew their songs word for word and were very pumped up to see them. 

There was so much movement on the stage, each band member, except for Jason the drummer, of course, took turns on the ego box showing off all their talents. After the trend of live-streaming shows, Stone Horses was fast to jump to it. Playing in a production warehouse and with the same exact energy of playing a packed club, they even pretended that the live stream crowd was there in person. They also held a giveaway for signed guitars. The band absolutely did not miss a beat at all, you could not tell that was their first show together in three months since their last stream show. Ted’s solos were very edgy and had a very blues rock type of feel to them, it definitely ties in the rest of the band to the songs. 

The last two songs they performed, “Good Ol’ Days” and “Reckless Ways,” are their two biggest hits. Everyone rose to their feet, in their respective distanced spots, and cheered, sang, and clapped along. “Reckless Ways” was their debut song, and everyone who knows Stone Horses knows the highly recognizable track.  After their last chord was strung, we were caught off guard that their set was over. We didn’t want their show to end, and needed more. 

After they cleared the stage, the cold kicked in again. Members of the audience danced and kept moving to keep warm. We chatted with John about how he kept warm in this weather. The answer is having a heated green room, gloves, and jackets. We all unquestionably cannot wait until they have another show. Stone Horses are very photogenic and always have great energy when they perform.