On Thursday, August 28, Syracuse felt like a powder keg waiting to blow. The New York State Fair raged across the street. The neon glow of rides spun under electric skies. Lynyrd Skynyrd was ready to fire off their own southern anthems just a stone’s throw away, as the headliner for the Fair.
Traffic clogged the arteries around Empower FCU Amphitheater, headlights sliced through light rain. For those with lawn seats, ponchos and umbrellas weren’t optional, they were armor. Nobody came expecting to be comfortable with this weather, they came for fire and soul.
The covered pavilion kept the stage dry, but the open lawn soaked up the storm. Fans wore rain gear like badges of honor, swaying, singing along, stomping to the beat, fully alive in the chaos. “This is worth every drop of rain!” someone yelled before the music started and it rang true.
The first bout of rain had barely settled when Whiskey Myers stormed the stage, a Southern juggernaut in jeans, carrying the weight of East Texas in every chord. They opened at 7:30 sharp with “Gasoline,” and the crowd responded like a live wire had been thrown into the room.
Cody Cannon’s gravel-cut voice—equal parts whiskey and smoke—cut through the wall of guitars and pounding drums. Every word sounded lived in, every scream earned, as if the band had dragged the audience straight into their world of hard-living, hard-won stories.
The setlist was paced like a rollercoaster. Rowdy anthems like “The Wolf” and “Frogman” collided seamlessly with deeper cuts and new tracks from upcoming album Whomp Whack Thunder, including “Time Bomb” and “Tailspin.” “Stone” brought the crowd into a reflective hush, a rare pause that spoke louder than any chant.
Musically, Whiskey Myers were untouchable. John Jeffers and Cody Tate traded guitar lines like sharpshooters, precise and fiery, while the rhythm section anchored every chaotic swirl of sound. Loud, raw, untamed, but meticulously crafted. And yet, their real power came from truth. Every lyric of heartbreak and defiance were delivered with the scars of the experience. You didn’t just hear Whiskey Myers, you felt them.
After a thirty-minute changeover, Tedeschi Trucks Band took the stage at 9:30, shifting the mood from raw fire to sprawling, soul-drenched blues. From the first note, it was clear this was a different kind of force—less a storm and more a tidal wave, controlled yet overwhelming in its sweep.
At the center of it all were Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, a married couple whose connection transcends both stage and personal life. Watching them perform together is like watching two rivers converge: distinct currents that collide effortlessly, creating something greater than the sum of its parts.
Derek, a slide guitar virtuoso and heir to the Allman Brothers legacy, exudes precision and poise. Every note he bends, every phrase he slides along the fretboard is calculated but feels inevitable. It’s like he’s pulling the music out of the ether itself. Susan, by contrast, is raw, earthy and unrestrained—her voice is steeped in passion. Sometimes tender and haunting, sometimes searing and relentless.
Together, they are a study in balance: his meticulous technique weaving seamlessly with her free-form emotionality, guiding a 12-piece ensemble that could easily descend into chaos but instead moves as a single, breathing organism.
Opening with “Crazy Cryin’,” the band immediately set a standard of intensity and precision. Susan’s vocals soared over Derek’s fluid slide lines, intertwined with the rich layers of horns, keys and percussion. The interplay between husband and wife is magnetic.
He responds to the subtle shifts in her phrasing, she leans into the pauses in his solos. It’s in those moments, the audience feels the intimacy of their partnership as keenly as the virtuosity of their music. “Keep On Growing” showcased this synergy perfectly: Derek’s guitar danced around the corners of Susan’s voice, punctuating her delivery, while the rest of the band built tension and release with hypnotic fluidity.
Throughout the night, TTB demonstrated their ability to alternate between sprawling jams and delicate, intimate passages. Derek’s solos bent reality, stretching time, while Susan’s crescendos carried the emotional weight of every note. But beyond technical wizardry there’s a warmth, a humanity, in the way they lead this ensemble. Every musician on stage shines, yet nothing feels self-indulgent. Their cohesion is undeniable. A reflection of both years of performing together and the trust inherent in a marriage lived in music.
The night’s climax arrived with their jubilant cover of The Beatles’ “With a Little Help from My Friends.” The entire pavilion became part of the music, clapping, singing and swaying, united in the joy that only a band like this can summon.
Watching Derek and Susan exchange glances during the song, smiles breaking through the intensity of their performance, it’s impossible not to see the love, respect and musical telepathy that drives everything TTB does.
This wasn’t just two bands back-to-back, it was the DNA sequencing of Southern music in motion. Whiskey Myers brought fire, defiance and raw, unpolished energy.
Tedeschi Trucks Band brought the history and soul. Southern rock and blues aren’t genres—they’re a pulse, a lineage felt in every chord and riff.
By the final chord, the storm outside didn’t matter. The crowd had been baptized in sound, immersed in a night that reminded everyone that Southern music still knows how to roar. Whiskey Myers and Tedeschi Trucks Band didn’t perform, they delivered the experience. Unfiltered, unrelenting and undeniably alive. This night proved that the heart of rock, country and blues still beats ferocious and unbroken.
Whiskey Myers Setlist: Gasoline, Frogman, Bury My Bones, Time Bomb, Die Rockin’, Broken Window Seranade, Tailspin, Feet’s, The Wolf, Trailer We Call Home, Glitter Ain’t Gold, Midnight Woman, John Wayne, Bitch, Stone, Going Down Slow (Alabama State Troopers cover)
Tedeschi Trucks Setlist: Crazy Cryin’, Do I Look Worried, I Got You, Until You Remember, Gin House Blues (Bessie Smith cover) Keep On Growing (Derek and the Dominos cover), Bound for Glory, I Walk on Guilded Splinters (Dr. John cover) Just Won’t Burn (Susan Tedeschi song), Made Up Mind, I Want More, Beck’s Bolero (Jeff Beck cover) With a Little Help From My Friends (The Beatles cover)
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