Review: Old Crow Medicine Show rocks Penn's Peak

Old Crow Medicine Show performs live in Central Park,
New York City.

          A road trip of sorts led a couple of friends and I up to scenic Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania to catch an Old Crow Medicine Show at Penn’s Peak. It was my first Old Crow Medicine Show (and first show at Penn’s Peak) and hopefully, it will not be my last. The amazing venue is modeled after a spacious barn, featuring tall, vaulted ceilings and beautiful wood paneling. After a delicious meal at Roadies, the restaurant attached to the venue (a legitimately pleasant surprise- tasty cheesesteaks and French fries), we made our way into the venue an hour before show-time and were able to grab a front row spot in the mostly general admission area. The show started promptly at 8:00 PM, with Chuck Mead & His Grassy Knoll Boys fulfilling the opening band duties. The group is a talented quartet of musicians, and proved to keep the concert-goer’s attention until their allotted time came to a close. (On a side-note: I met Mead after the show and he is a really nice guy.) OCMS came out to raucous cheers an hour after Chuck Mead took the stage- who knew a bluegrass concert could be so high energy? The band is in top form, and it showed on Thursday night. Front man Ketch Secor and his six-man band seemed to be right in their element, playing natural string band tunes in a rural, mountain town setting. Old Crow- Ketch Secor, Critter Fuqua, Kevin Hayes, Morgan Jahnig, Gill Landry, Chance McCoy and Cory Younts, all multi-instrumentalists and vocalists, traded lead duties throughout the night, and swapped out various instruments between members and technical workers. The band kept an incredible level of energy throughout the night, jamming between songs and giving mini-history lessons on Pennsylvania during the two-hour set, which impressed many fans who screamed/ sung every lyric to the band’s 26-song performance. Secor and company made sure to fit their signature song “Wagon Wheel” into their set, which prompted the largest sing-a-long of the night, as well as an extremely faithful cover of Dire Straits’ “The Walk of Life” in the five song encore, performed with Chuck Mead and his band. Each musician displayed their endurance and talent to make a truly memorable experience. The venue was clean and welcoming, and a couple of us were able to meet Gill Landry, the dobro player for OCMS, after the concert, who was extremely approachable and down to earth. A full setlist is below.

Carry Me Back

Alabama High Test

Take ‘Em Away

Caroline

Bootlegger’s Boy/ White Face

New Virginia Creeper

Mississippi Saturday Night

Mary’s Kitchen

Humdinger

Big Sciota/ Gonna Raise a Ruckus Tonight

See See Rider

Mean Enough

Country Gal

Methamphetamine

James River Blues

River of Jordan

Fall on My Knees/ Tear It Down

I Hear Them All

We’re All in This Together

Wagon Wheel

Cocaine Habit

Encore:

Hard to Love

Brave Boys

Cherokee Boogie

Walk of Live

The Mighty Quinn

~TJM