You could be forgiven for forgetting that it was Thursday when you looked out into the crowd during Love and Theft's main stage set at Boots & Hearts. Thousands of excited country fans gathered in the field in front of the stage to celebrate the Coors Banquet Kick Off Party - and sing along to some of the duo's biggest hits.
Eric Gunderson and Stephen Barker Liles took turns singing lead (as they do) and keeping the fans engaged throughout their set. They compliment each other perfectly in energy and solid, sweet harmonies that we could listen to all night. And with the band tight and on point, the sound from Love and Theft certainly didn't show any cracks.
Thousands of voices sang along to Whiskey On My Breath, Angel Eyes, and covers of David Lee Murphy's Dust On The Bottle, and Tom Petty's Free Falling - and they sounded great. We also saw couples dancing sweetly, friends dancing like no one was watching (we were), hands in the air, and girls on shoulders as the songs rang out through the speakers. Forget the short day, kick off party thing, this was a proper main stage festival set, by two dude that know what's up - and a band that killed it right along with them.
At one point, we were told that Eric and Stephen hadn't been to Canada in a while because of some border permission issues, but now that those are all cleared up, they were happy to be at Boots & Hearts. Here's hoping those permission issues don't happen again.
Word on the internet is that Candyland will be the lead single to a fourth album from Love and Theft, and if we didn't have to wait too long for that, we'd be happy. And if we don't have to wait too long to see them live on stage again too, we'd be even happier.
Love and Theft, Boots & Hearts 2017 Setlist
🍬 Can't Wait For The Weekend
🍬 Let's Get Drunk And Make Friends
🍬 Dust On The Bottle
🍬 Candyland
🍬 Runnin' Out Of Air
🍬 Runaway
🍬 Love Wins
🍬 Free Falling
🍬 Whiskey On My Breath
🍬 Night That You'll Never Forget
🍬 Angel Eyes
