Review: Old Crow Medicine Show rides out the storm at Red Butte

Rain clouds threatened to spoil the relaxed mood at the Old Crow Medicine Show concert at Red Butte Garden Friday night.

But nothing short of a monsoon was going to stop fans from enjoying the music of this Nashville-based string band.

Old Crow opened its 90-minute show with its 2012 hit "Carry Me Back to Virginia," dancing around the stage and having a good time.

They followed up with a number of folk and bluegrass favorites including "Alabama High Test," Mississippi Saturday Night," "Take 'Em Away," "Caroline," "Humdinger," "Mary's Kitchen" and "Wagon Wheel." The band also played various patriotic songs to honor those in the military and to celebrate the Independence Day weekend.

The show's one downfall was the excessive lighting. Colored lights glared into the audience's eyes for the vast majority of the show.

During the last song, "Tell it To Me," a light rain began and lightning lit up the sky.

But no one was deterred. When the crowd cheered for an encore, the band responded. "I think we can beat the storm," they said as they launched into a version of Tom Petty's "American Girl."

Parker Millsap, from Oklahoma, opened the show. No stranger to Salt Lake City, Millsap and his band performed at the State Room with John Fullbright in early May.

"The last time we were here, we had some of the cheapest, most delicious food I've ever had," Millsap said of a taco stand near the State Room.

Millsap's music ranged from the soul-saving "Truck Stop Gospel" — about a truck driver who hands out Bibles — to a song about nursery rhyme characters in various stages of methamphetamine addiction.

ndecriscio@sltrib.com