Clueless Boston Music Critic Belittles Zach Bryan’s Gillette Stadium Performance, Clearly Knows Nothing About Zach’s Music

Haters gonna hate, I guess. I'm not setting out to write a piece saying Zach Bryan is perfect, does no wrong, and can't have an off night, but after reading the piece that Boston.com music critic Marc Hirsh wrote I feel obligated to defend Zach, though I know he doesn't need me too. I understand Zach's music isn't for everyone, that's obvious. Music is subjective and I agree with the premise that stadiums are bad venues for concerts, but take one honest read of the article titled " Review & setlist: Zach Bryan can't quite fill the space at Gillette " and you'll see a few things that flat out don't make sense or aren't rooted in fact. Let's start with this line: "But at Wednesday’s sold-out Gillette Stadium concert (he returns on July 17), he sacrificed the rustic trappings of Nashville gold for rock impact" Last time I checked, Zach has never called Nashville home and he certainly hasn't been embraced by the industry that runs it. Even the record deal he signed was with Warner Records (based out of LA) and none of his albums have been recorded in Music City. His first two, Deann and Elizabeth , were done makeshift in a Florida AirBnb and a barn in his Washington backyard. American Heartbreak was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City and his latest self-titled record was done at MilkBoy Studios in Philadelphia. All but one of his EPs were recorded outside of Nashville (the one being Studio A Recordings , featuring only two re-recordings of older songs done specifically for use in Yellowstone ) and certainly the "rustic" charm that his music conveys was originated as far away from the corporate scene as possible. So yeah, not a hot start for the criticism. The writer continued, saying the music wasn't mixed well and the volume was too high, which may be true but that wouldn't be on Zach himself, although he should be in control of who's working the sound panels. The next paragraph is where we run into another questionable take. "Bryan also pushed too hard himself, so jazzed at playing such a large stage — about the extent of the personality he showed — that he seemed to lose control of his voice. He yelped, he hollered and, in “Nine Ball,” “Dawns” and plenty of other songs, he forced a loud, contrived growl to convey excitement. At best, Bryan’s vocals were conversational and offhand, but that tipped over into tunelessness on his current hit “Pink Skies." At this point I'm beginning to think this guy has never listened to a Zach Bryan recording, let alone a live performance. Yes, Zach yells. He grunts and growls and screams. That's the point. Sure, it's not what some vocal coach who's never been on stage would recommend but that's what separates Zach from the bland pool of rule followers that clog up the mainstream music scene. It's not perfect, not every note is perfect, in fact some of them are far from it. But it's real, it's raw, and it's exactly what made millions of people fall in love with the music. Also, I'm sure Zach was fired up to play such a huge venue but he's not unfamiliar with giant crowds. The guy has been a stadium act for over a year now and has played some of the most iconic places to crowds even larger than the 70,000 or so that filed into Gillette. The writer then chided Zach for working "Boston" into song lyrics, something many if not most artists do, and said the band lost energy when it started downpouring, something those in attendance beg to differ with. Again, I wasn't there, but I did see Zach in the pouring rain at Greenville Country Music Fest and let me tell you those boys funnel that energy and kick it up a notch to make the wet experience worth it. https://twitter.com/lexiajo_/status/1806208241065488641 He argued that Zach for was not overly excited when he brought a fan up to play "Heading South" but from the below clip it looks like he was just giving the guy his time to shine instead of getting in the way. I thought that would be cool but not for the highbrow folks among us I guess: https://twitter.com/ChildishLumbino/status/1806275982195573238 Finally, he trashed the "Revival" encore... "And when the encore came and the whole band crammed shirtless (except for Bryan, repping for the Celtics) onto a small satellite stage for the minor-key hootenanny of “Revival,” the tightness and constant motion fired things up for a short while. But then the song kept going for nearly 15 minutes, cycling through tick-ticking bass burbles and banjo and fiddle breakdowns before returning back to zero, over and over, Bryan and his boys pushing and pushing through the rain like an inefficient machine, putting more energy into it than they were capable of getting out of it." Brother, if you don't understand Zach's encores than maybe you shouldn't be tasked with writing about the concert. That's the epitome of why fans love the guy and scream along, begging for it to continue even when it runs over the 10, even 15 and 20 minute mark. You know, on second thought I think this review is actual perfect. It proves yet again that so often these "experts" have their own agenda or want to look down on something just because it became to popular or they didn't discover them first. And you know what? That's just fine with us. We'll keep on listening to the good music and laughing at those that poo-poo it because it's them that are missing out. Maybe Zach Bryan didn't have a great show at Gillette last night. It's possible. But more likely, this writer is projecting something of his own, or something of his own ideals, onto a Zach Bryan concert, scolding it for not being the "right way" while willfully blind to the essence of why fans love him. I'll see you at a Zach Bryan show soon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq0K1_avAIs