Buckeye Country Superfest took place Saturday at Ohio Stadium. Doors opened at 2 p.m., with fans slowly filing their way into the ‘Shoe to see their favorite country artists perform.
Temperatures were high as the sun beamed down on the tens of thousands of people gathered in the stadium. Cooling stations, free water refills and a light breeze helped make the extreme heat bearable.
I don’t dislike country music but I don’t actively listen to it and had no prior knowledge of these artists before attending. While the fest was tailored towards country fans, each artists’ set was a pleasant blend of country and other genres, such as rock and pop, which made me enjoy it much more.
Continue reading for a comprehensive review on Saturday’s performers.
Vincent Mason
Mason, a 23 year old musician out of Atlanta, released his first hit in February, racking in over 17 million streams, according to his record label. The young, up-and-coming country artist performed for thousands of people Saturday. Though the stadium was mostly empty during his 3 p.m. performance — It’d be another few hours before a majority of the seats were filled — Mason delivered a solid performance.
His position was unfavorable considering he was not supposed to be performing — Conner Smith, the original performer, dropped out after he was involved in a car accident in early June that resulted in the death of an elderly woman in Nashville, according to the Dispatch — so he was underrepresented in the fest’s marketing and merch.
Despite this, Mason’s smooth, traditional country voice, that definitely makes him sound older than 23, worked the crowd the best that it could. With only one established hit, it’s almost guaranteed that people aren’t going to be screaming every lyric to every song.
However, after the first few chords of “American Kids” by Kenny Chesney, Mason was able to unite the crowd with a well-known and well-loved country hit, even if it wasn’t his own. He wore an Ohio State jersey throughout his performance—a common theme among the rest of the sets.
Mason’s band was great, but at times I felt as though the instrumentals drowned out his voice. Additionally, he lacked stage presence, opting to stand in place for the majority of his set. It would have been nice to see him use more of the stage and attempt to interact more with the audience.
Overall: 3/5
Dasha
Dasha knows exactly who she is as an artist. With a hilarious opening voiceover of people figuring out how to pronounce her name — it’s pronounced dash-uh — and her backdrop reading “Welcome to Dashville,” she’s solidified herself as someone to keep an eye out for.
Her song, “Austin (Boots Stop Workin’)” went viral on TikTok in 2024, launching Dasha into stardom. It’s clear that she knows that song got her to where she is, but she’s also made it clear that she won’t let that one hit define her as an artist.
She used all of the stage space that she could, walking down each of the three rows on stage and interacting with the fans at the ends of them. Dasha’s performance took place at 4 p.m., still with a somewhat dead and empty crowd. However, she possessed that stage presence that Mason lacked. She was upbeat, jumping around and having a good time on stage.
Music makes people feel, and to see an artist performing a song that they are evidently passionate about and proud of takes the performance to a whole other level.
She was kind in addressing the crowd and shared the backstory for her newest song, “Oh, Anna,” which she premiered at CMA Fest earlier this month. Dasha talked about how after her career took off, she found herself saying yes to everything — burning her out and sending her into a depression. She stated that she felt like a “shell of a human.”
The song was an ode to herself, as her legal name is Anna. The lyrics were simplistic yet relatable, making it easy for listeners to resonate with the song’s message, myself included.
Props to Dasha’s band as well. They were all dressed in Gen-Z fashioned country wear with big belt buckles and cow-print shirts. The band absolutely killed it. One band member shredded the violin on several tracks and another played a banjo. It felt traditional in some ways and modern in others.
She closed her set off with her aforementioned hit, “Austin (Boots Stop Workin’),” throwing on an Ohio State National Champions jersey and rocking around the stage before saying her goodbyes.
Overall: 3.5/5
Treaty Oak Revival
Treaty Oak Revival was a crowd-favorite. There were plenty of people wearing their merch — it was a great audience to people-watch, as you could tell which artist a person was mainly there for — and when they came on stage, people were screaming the lines to their songs.
Their music was an interesting blend of country and rock. The Texas-based band was the only band performing, alongside a lineup of five solo artists. With six members on stage, there was a lot to look at.
Based on the band name, it could be assumed that the band would lean more into folk, but that could not be further from the truth. Sam Canty, the band’s lead singer, embodied the voice of country while being the personification of rock.
The band members played on beautifully designed guitars and pounded on drums that did not match the music coming out of them. They referred to it as “hardcore rock and roll,” but somehow it was still country.
The music itself was just OK. Nothing stood out about their performance. “Missed Call” and “Have a Nice Day” were pretty good and the energy from the stadium was there, but there was nothing overtly exciting or thrilling about their performance.
It wasn’t bad by any means, but it was one of the weaker performances of the night.
Overall: 3/5
Megan Moroney
The energy shift when Megan Moroney came on was insane. Even with little knowledge of Moroney’s music, her fans could be spotted from a mile away. Hoards of teenage girls dressed in their white cowboy boots with blue accents, themed after Moroney’s latest album, “Am I Okay?”
Moroney was reminiscent of a country Sabrina Carpenter and definitely more family-friendly. She opened her set with “Indifferent” off her new album.
“We need to make [the song] punch really hard, because this is going to be crazy at a live show,” Moroney said in an Apple Music interview.
She would be right. “Indifferent” proved to be a strong opening song, setting an overall tone for the set to follow. Follow-along lyrics were incorporated into her visual effects, with words flashing as numbers on an alarm clock and on a slot machine. Moroney’s vocals were meant for the stage.
She had different guitars tailored to her albums, each matching the overall theme and color palette of that era. Moroney strummed a silver bedazzled acoustic guitar with her name displayed clearly on its neck, along with a “Lucky” themed green guitar for her debut album, and a blue “Am I Okay?” guitar.
Moroney effortlessly won over the crowd. People you wouldn’t expect to resonate with her music were singing and swaying while girls and their friends were screaming and dancing along, putting their hearts into every word they sang.
For her final song, Moroney followed suit with the other artists and sported a Buckeyes button-down, the back reading “1870,” which is when the university first opened.
Moroney has that special touch to performing that is hard to find nowadays. Her ability to unite a crowd that otherwise wouldn’t listen to her “girly” country-pop songs is admirable. She put on an enjoyable show and her energy seamlessly transitioned into the next act.
Overall: 4.5/5
Jelly Roll
If there is one musician out there that deserves all of the success they’ve achieved, it’s Jelly Roll.
He’s established himself as a humble and kind artist. The amount of gratitude he expressed through his performance shows his genuine care for his fan base. He went off-script several times throughout his 1 hour, 15 minute set which made the crowd go wild. A woman in the front row held up a crocheted doll of Jelly Roll with a sign that said his music “saved her life” and that she was now 28 months sober.
In response, he took the doll and dedicated “Winning Streak” — a song about the first day of sobriety — to her, singing it directly to her and moving the crowd to tears. At times throughout the night, you could partially hear his voice crack as he got emotional during songs.
He expressed his connection to Columbus, which he said he considers a second home, next to Nashville. Jelly Roll reminisced on playing several music venues in the Columbus area, including Skully’s Music Diner and Newport Music Hall.
The most baffling thing of the night was when Jelly Roll said he wanted to do something crazy — and he did just that. Kevin James, an established comedian and actor with notable movies like “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” and “Grown Ups,” rolled out and joined Jelly Roll to perform “Need a Favor” before heading off stage. It was an unpredictable cameo, and oddly the perfect choice for his set.
He also performed a blend of karaoke tracks after talking about his daughter and his varied music taste. Each song was wildly different from the other — “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, “How You Remind Me” by Nickelback, “Party Up (Up In Here)” by DMX, “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus and finally, “Young, Wild & Free” by Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa, featuring Bruno Mars.
His voice was smooth and raspy, possessing the same grit of a country singer but versatile enough that he could emulate the genre of each song he sang. With each transition, the crowd went wild.
Jelly Roll tore the house down not just with his incredible talent and ingenuity, but with his personality and mission. Some of his songs had a large focus on religion, but even the non-religious audience members could resonate with the message of his music. He ended his set with “Save Me,” one of his biggest hits, and it was the best note to end off on.
Jelly Roll’s performance was a tough act to follow.
Overall: 5/5
Kane Brown
Kane Brown ended the night with a pyrotechnic-filled, visually appealing set and a great performance. Not a song went by without firecrackers shooting into the sky or flames erupting on stage.
He brought Jelly Roll back to the stage to perform “Haunted,” a collaboration between the two released in January. He also brought out his wife, Katelyn Brown, to perform their song “Thank God,” before giving her a kiss as she walked offstage.
He performed “Heaven” on the piano, slowing down the love ballad and opening the floor to couples who held each other and swayed along to the song. The camera panned to several couples sharing a special moment together.
He also played “Bury Me in Georgia,” accompanied by an impressive guitar riff by a member of his band that had the crowd on their feet.
Brown undeniably had the coolest visuals of the night, using some sort of haze effect on the side screens and at one point, it appeared as though lightning outlined his figure. He was lit up by blue and red lights that further emphasized the visual effects of his act, along with some lasers.
While lasers and an absurd amount of pyrotechnics are common at concerts, they were refreshing to see since the daylight acts were unable to incorporate them.
However, Brown was hit with the unfortunate reality of being the final act, as thousands of people made their way to the exits midway through his set, hoping to beat the traffic.
Their loss, though. He ended the night out with a bang and his hit song, “Miles on It.” As the music played Brown out and he made his way off stage, red and gold fireworks erupted above the Block O.
Overall: 4/5
