CMTT was lucky enough to score tickets to see Jake Owen’s triumphant return to Joe’s Bar in Chicago last night.  The show was part of US 99′s “Eight Shows at Joe’s” series to launch upcoming Country CD’s this Spring.  Jake Owen was the first of the eight to perform.  After attending this show, the other seven have a lot to live up to in order to top Owen’s show.

Owen took the stage promptly at 9 p.m. and played for two hours and 20 minutes.  His show is high energy and provides something for those with a variety of musical tastes. Owen played all of his hits, played many cuts of his new CD release, Easy Does It, added Purple Rain by Prince and even a bit of rap that had to be one of the funniest things (In a good way) that I have ever seen at a country show.  At one point during his set a cut from Easy Does It, titled “Cherry on Top” and ladies you haven’t seen anything until you see this guy eat a martini glass of cherries and he even shared them with some lucky females in the audience.  Jake signed many CD’s, pictures, hats and shirts during  and after his performance.

Owen thanked the audience for his recent win as ACM New Male Vocalist of the Year (congrats from CMTT) and I predict this artist is headed to big arena’s in the very near future.  In my opinion he has Country Superstar written all over his new shiny boots.  At one point in the show, Owen had to remove his new boots because they hurt his feet, he then began to dance around in his socks for a while and finally just decided to play the remainder of the show barefoot  No one complained and he received big cheers from the audience when he said he finally understood what us ladies go through in heels.

While many focus on Owen’s physical appearance it is truly his powerful voice, emotional lyrics and showmanship on stage trumps all of that in spades.  Stay tuned to CMTT for our exclusive interview with Jake Owen last week at the Tin Roof in Nashville.

FYI:  When going to see a concert at Joe’s Bar, DO NOT park in the nearby strip mall parking lot. They do tow and it costs $170 for towing. Also, I strongly urge you to leave any camera’s that look like camcorders at home.  While my camera is a camcorder it also takes awesome still shots and is the camera I chose to use last night and my memory card was confiscated.  It ruined the remainder of my show (no fault of Jake’s) but it did put a damper on the evening.

Have something you think we should know? Email me at Bobbiejo@countrymusictattletale.com