Written Susie Salva
Multi-Grammy recipients and reigning CMA and ACM holders of Vocal Group of the Year are proud to release “OWN the Night,” DVD/Blu-Ray and Digital Video on Eagle Rock Entertainment. Filmed on June 12th 2012 the concert features the Nashville based band Lady Antebellum — Hilary Scott, Charles Kelley, and Dave Haywood documents footage of the tour in Little Rock, Arkansas and includes seven bonus tracks on DVD/Blu-Ray and Digital Video.
Lady A have been headlining a tour traveling across US, Canada, Europe and Australia, where the Grammy winning trio was welcomed by over one million fans in 11 countries and three continents and had sold out top markets like Los Angeles, Chicago, two nights in New York City, Toronto, London. three nights at Sydney’s Opera House and even had a chance to open to a sold out show at London’s Hard Rock Calling for one of their idols Bruce Springsteen.
Before taking the show overseas Lady Antebellum celebrated the final weekend of the North American leg by documenting the show from Little Rock, AR. Within this DVD are great performances the trio put together sketched out on a paper plate while out on tour in the summer 2011 and evolved into one of the bands proudest accomplishments. Among the performances are documentary excerpts depicting their lives as songwriters, musicians, and close friends.
Kicking off “OWN the Night” DVD Lady A are not shy of showing off their vocal warming techniques backstage of the Little Rock venue before sliding into “We Owned the Night “ singing to a sold-out audience set up in the round. Behind the band were 3 screens showcasing the band members and backing band as the audience floated easily into singing along with the track. The fans pumped their fists in the air as they sang along with “Stars Tonight,” as Hilary, Charles and Dave seemed to be blown away by the enthusiasm of the crowd on this 2012 performance. Charles interacts with the crowd, “Let me hear every single person. Who’s going to help me sing tonight?” He is continually blown away by the crowds rousing response to their Country Crossover music.
After that intro the DVD featured a documentary aspect behind the stages as the band gives insight into the making of a Grammy winning trio. They begin talking about their humble beginnings riding around in a Jeep Cherokee and as the fans grew in size they would have to buy bigger transportation to hold all of their equipment. “Love Don’t Live Here,” Kelley explains how things with the trio 6-years back couldn’t have imagined having the crowd singing their songs back to them.
In 2012 their were imagining that they realized their dreams. Dave Haywood chimes in about his quest for excellence in finding the perfect red tone for his piano. This 90 minute performance included #1 hits, “I Run to You,” “We Owned the Night,” “American Honey,”“Just a Kiss,””Our Kind of Love,” and of course, the greatest selling country single of all time, “Need You Now.”
“Just A Kiss,” explores the idea of waiting for that perfecting person to walk into your life and not wanting it screw up the relationship. When disaster struck in Henrywille Lady A stepped up to the plate by being able to put a smile on someone’s face and performing at a High School Prom by helping the community to come together so they could give back to people so desperately in need.
Shifting gears Kelley encourages the crowd to life up their cellphones and lighters as they danced around as they sang “Dancing Away With My Heart,” and next he had the audience singing along with the cut. Kelley is in constant awe of how responsive their fans are and keep the music sounding fresh. Then the DVD flashes on the backstage as the group views the huge set design and find themselves overwhelmed with the final result. Hillary Scott pipes up backstage explaining how it now takes 80 people to get the set up and she says, “It’s so incredible all these people coming out to help us from where we first started out in a mini-bus to now touring with 14 buses…everything was leading to this. You see people’s faces and that’s what makes it worth it.”
Prior to show time the trio have a few things to warm them up like for Kelley playing golf, Ping Pong, a Tiki bar and then they just jam together and singing backstage in the green room. Kelley says he has no formal training so “I sing our songs,” Then they huddle together hands in the air as they get fired-up for the show. Scott picked up a young girl from the audience Q&A session and had her sing “American Honey,” where she sang sweetly.
Another high light for the band was their night at the Staples center in Los Angeles where Ryan Tedder of One Republic came down and played his hit “Good Life,” a great guy and great singer the trio all agreed and was humbled to have him singing with them. It was a special night as everybody in the room rocked it out. The band is constantly writing music on their bus, backstage or wherever on the road. Constantly coming up with new material some may be thrown out and others turn into hits. They travel with R2/D2 a computer used to record and write new material…demo a song, work everyday and get immediate feedback. It’s very productive and they accumulate new songs daily. “Our songs are released like little babies when we put them out there everyone agrees to like it and then the songs were are sure about becomes a hit,” says Scott.
“I Run to You,” was sung without the backing band explaining that love is the only truth and that’s why “I Run to You.” The friendship between these three allows them to be comfortable in their own skins who grow closer as the years go by. Kelley said, “It’s a blessing and we hope we leave our mark along the way.”
Video montage flashed behind the band as they sang their monster hit, “Need You Now,” as Kelley gracefully thanked Little Rock fans telling them that they would love to see them again. “Thanks for being great sports.”
Bonus Features — Lady A and Ryan Tedder sing “Good Life,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Loves Looking Good On You,” where sweet smiles light up the room. “Love this Pain,” flames spurt out in the background as they tear off the roof with their version Sting/Police tunes. Darius Rucker joined the trio as well as Thompson Square, singing along with “Black Water,” CCR mega 70’s hit.
At the end of the DVD is a Q&A panel with Lady Antebellum — as they explain that it took them a lot of work and being at the right place at the right time as explanation for their success. Lady Antebellum is currently nominated for “Vocal Group of the Year,” and “Album of the Year,” for OWN The Night,” at the 46th Annual CMA Awards. OWN the Night debuted at the No. one position on Billboards Top 200 and has spawned two one hits “We Owned the Night,” and “Just A Kiss,” The trio sold over 11 million albums across the globe, scored seven GRAMMY Awards and tallied six No. one hits.
