Travis Tritt headlines Countryfest 2002

SARATOGA SPRINGS – On Saturday, they came to celebrate America.

This year's edition of WGNA's Countryfest featured an all-day carnival, a half-dozen musical acts and more than 17,500 country music worshippers at the Saratoga Equine Sports Center.

Area group Vivid kicked off. the festivities in the early-morning hours with a pre-concert party in the parking lot.
"It was awesome,'' Vivid's lead singer, Bev Luse, said later in the day. ''We've played for 20,000 before, on Prospect Mountain for Americade, but this was the best,'' she said before heading out for a club date later in the evening.

The afternoon brought performances from Australian native Keith Urban, who was followed by Collin Raye.
The Arkansas-born multi-platinum artist brought the crowd to its feet with his exaltations - ''Saratoga Springs, youuuu roooock!'' - and a raucous rendition of ''Brown Sugar'' before bidding the crowd farewell. ''Enjoy yourselves. Be kind to each other. God bless the U.S.A.'' while fans in the distant grandstand watched the musicians perform on one of the giant video screens as the sound of guitars echoed and whipped around the track.

On the perimeter of the infield, concertgoers stood 20 deep outside the ''Rain Room'' - where for $1, patrons got to go inside a small green tent and get hosed down with cool water. Others mingled around the food tents for fried dough, subs, hamburgers and - as one sign read - ''Damn Good Beef Jerky.''

There was rock climbing and jumping games, where lines of children waited for their chance to bounce off the interior sides of a huge inflatable blue dog. A T-shirt with one of the stars' faces on it set fans back about $30, while a cowboy hat cost $10. Bandannas ranged between $3 and $5, and one table featured a varied selection of pointy, double-ended ''horns,'' the largest pair of which was labeled $69.95.

Aaron Tippin vaulted up the stage steps as the Pledge of Allegiance was being read, to the final line ''with liberty and justice for all,'' and launched into his song ''Stand for Something'' while the crowd waved red, white and blue flags of all shapes and sizes.
Tippin finished out his set with crowd-pleasing cover versions of ''Taking Care of Business'' and ''Take This Job and Shove It.''

Then it was left to headliner Travis Tritt.
Four cameras fed the images to the giant screens, as Tritt took the stage,
dressed in black and backed by his similarly attired six-piece band. Tritt thanked his fans and strummed his sunburst-colored Les Paul guitar.
''I made myself a promise when I was just a kid,'' he sang. ''I'd mix rock 'n' roll and country, sugar, and that's just what I did.''
A sea of black and white cowboy hats bobbed up and down to the music. The women threw roses, and the men saluted by raising their arms.
The multiple-Grammy Award winner spent most of the 1980s paying his musical dues on the ''honky tonk circuit.'' Today, he has sold 18 million albums.

Tritt sang his hits, striking a particularly appealing tone in a pedal-steel backed cover version of The Eagles' ''Take It Easy.''
He strummed his guitar, jumped up and down and inspired the sun-drenched faithful.
When he sang ''I'm gonna be somebody someday'' to the thousands stretched as wide and far as the eye could see, many in attendance would have said that he already is.

words and pictures by Thomas Dimopoulos
published in The Saratogian, July, 2002.