March 2025
Chris Janson knows how to put on a show! It was impossible to watch the country rocker’s performance inside Reno’s Grand Sierra Casino on the Grand Theatre stage and not be struck by this thought.
It may have hit you when he jumped on the piano for a soulful rendition of Billy Joel’s song “Piano Man” which came after he had sat in on the drums for an extended percussive solo during “Good Vibes” and wailed on guitar and harmonica for his charting songs, or when he brought his son onstage to join him for “The Reel Bass Pro” – he joked that he put the song early in his set because his son wanted to head to bed earlier on this night – or when he had the whole room on their feet with both hands in the air, simultaneously leading a deafening singalong while expressing his sincere appreciation that those in the room allowed him to continue recording and touring, or even talking about his first childhood exposure to seeing a guitar player and how he later took lessons from that player before eventually getting him to perform with him nightly as a permanent member of Janson’s band.
While Janson might not be above a few cliches or pandering – saying that he doesn’t think US service veterans get enough respect and that following last year’s presidential election, he expects the next four years to be a great four years – the redneck rocker’s sheer energy and talent emanated from the stage.
Rollicking through a string of radio hits – “Fix a Drink”, “Drunk Girl”, and “Done”, Janson fed off of his interactions with the audience. He mentioned some stories of the previous night at a casino poker table, and introduced a few new songs, describing how a break with his record label has given him the freedom to write the songs he wants to write and “not what a record label told me to do.” The result being a slowed down honky-tonk bar ballad reminiscent of Hank Williams. He also took the opportunity to perform a song written and recorded with Jamey Johnson that hasn’t yet hit streaming services, but encouraged the audience to pull out their phones and record it here.
Finally, the singer emphasized that you never know what you’re going to get at one of his shows, and reached deep into his catalog to pull out “Say About Me” and really show off the band’s rock chops while Janson strutted across the Grand Theatre’s stage.
With a minimal stage set up and no opening act, Chris Janson relied on talent and energy to put on a show, and with a performance that kept the crowd on their feet for most of the night, Janson’s Reno stop did not disappoint. After about 90 minutes, the house lights came back on and Janson had left the room to catch its collective breath.
