Travis Tritt, the final act of the weekend event, was ready to play. “We are gonna have a blast tonight”, he said, before tearing through a high-energy set featuring most of his hits.
And then it was done. The curtain closed on this 20th anniversary edition of the Country Stampede.
While the Sunday crowd was a little smaller than it was Friday and Saturday, Tritt came to entertain. From the opening notes of “Put Some Drive In Your Country” to the final strains of “T-R-O-U-B-L-E”, the 25 year music veteran kept the crowd on their feet and singing along to all his hits. He also paused numerous times to say “Thank You” to the men and women in uniform who serve or have served their country. With Sunday being Military Appreciation Day at the Stampede, his comments were met with roars of approval from the crowd. Tritt spent four years as Chairman and Spokesperson for Disabled American Veterans; when he says he supports the military…he means it.
The Kristina Craig Band, Angeleena Presley, Blackjack Billy, and country duo Love & Theft were also part of the Sunday line-up, which wrapped up the four-day event. After temperatures in the mid-nineties on the opening day Thursday, and an overnight rain shower Thursday night, overall the weather for the weekend turned out to be very pleasant.
Attention now turns to the 21st Annual Country Stampede, which will take place June 23rd-26th, 2016 here in Manhattan. Tickets are already on sale, and the complete line-up will be announced later this year. Many fans took advantage of early-bird pricing at this years’ festival, with weekend VIP tickets going for less than $500 each and four-day general admission for as low as just $99.