Back-to-back Reckless Kelly shows made for an amazing weekend here in North Carolina…

The Austin based Reckless Kelly has been turning out hits and entertaining crowds for over twenty years. They’ve traveled to North Carolina before and over time built a following across not only the United States but overseas as well.

With two stops this time around on their east coast tour, those who had been witness to their live performances were excited and ready but the newcomers were also fun to watch.

Beginning the Music In the Mill series of shows for 2018, Reckless Kelly kicked off an exciting lineup, jam packed with talent. Following the Trongone Band, who played in support on Friday night, Reckless Kelly took the stage and immediately began to dole out hit after hit.

An intimate atmosphere allowed for the audience to connect with the band from the start. At one point, in a memorable moment for drummer Jay Nazz, his father joined the band on stage taking lead away from Willy Braun and bringing the crowd along for a ride to ‘Kansas City,’ a cover with more than 300 versions and Friday night’s was special.

In good fun, Willy Braun followed with crowd favorite, ‘Seven Nights in Eire‘ to win back the fans who had supported Nazz’s father momentairily taking over. An encore of ‘Moment in the Sun‘ and ‘Passin’ Through‘ ended the first show in Hickory.

Saturday, a packed Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh greeted Reckless Kelly and North Carolina’s own Corey Hunt Band. Lined up down the street prior to doors opening, the show drew a crowd from across the state and both bands were ready.

Hunt opened with about an hour-long set featuring some popular songs like ‘Song About Saturday Night‘, ‘Uwharrie River‘ and ‘Wild Heart Gypsy‘. Backed by a full band, Hart even added in some audience participation reminiscent of American Aquarium‘s, ‘I Hope He Breaks Your Heart‘ by B.J. Barham, who regularly rocks his hometown Lincoln Theatre stage.

When Reckless Kelly took over, everyone filled the pit but a full balcony and only limited standing room remained. The audience fed off the band and vice versa as Cody Braun led the audience in one before throwing it back to their roots. Celebrating a 20th anniversary of “Millican”, their first album, an amazing live version of ‘Hey Say May – Guacamole‘ filled the middle of the set.

After an 18-song set, the band exited but was almost immediately brought back by a crowd chant of, “Reck-less Kelly” bomp bomp bomp, numerous times over. The guys obliged and a three-song finale concluded their performance with ‘Ragged as the Road‘ and another ‘Moment in the Sun‘.

An amazing weekend of shows with one of the best bands in this particular genre of music who have been putting out quality songs and spreading their sound with relentless touring for over two decades.

As mentioned, Reckless Kelly is no stranger to North Carolina but we’re already looking forward to a return!