August 2025
The Outdoor Arena at Caesar’s Republic (formerly known as Harvey’s) brought a bit of country music to the Lake Tahoe area on Friday August 1st. Old Dominion, along with openers Blake Redferrin and Ernest brought their own versions of contemporary country rock sounds from Nashville, Tennessee.
Old Dominion brought the outdoor amphitheater’s energy to a great place with members exchanging musical instruments throughout the band’s set.
“We came here to have a good time with you. The first time we were here we opened for Kenny Chesney. Now we are here as headliners for 2 days! Thank you,” the group’s lead singer and rhythm guitarist Matthew Ramsey announced to the audience.
Over the course of their set, the members of Old Dominion put the musicianship front and center, with each trading off instruments, performing a set list that included many of the popular country songs that Old Dominion had penned for other artists. At times the entirety of the venue were up on their feet, dancing and singing along as the group played through the hits of their catalog, as well as performing a selection of some newer tunes from their brand new and as-of-yet-unreleased album Barbara. Old Dominion finished the evening with a crowd pleaser “One Man Band”. It was a wonderful concert of songs that evoked memories of the past for me, as the group has always been a part of my time spent in Nashville in the past.
The second performer, Ernest, fronted a five piece band, also directly from Nashville. Ernest’s band took to the stage with a violin and steel guitar complimenting the more traditional acoustic and bass. Amongst his set, Ernest peppered in his renditions of songs from other artists such as Hank Williams into his set list.
Opening performer Blake Redferrin, who is known simply as Redferrin onstage, came direct from Nashville and had a fresh take on modern country incorporating a hip hop beat,with a country attitude. Redferrin performed songs off of his first album titled “Old #7”.
