Johnny Cash may be long gone, but on Oct. 13, Cash’d Out, the self-proclaimed “next best thing,” performed at The Dome along with opening bands like Leeds, Vecar, The Councilmen and Jennifer Juarez.
Made up of Douglas G. Benson (vocals and guitar), Kevin Manuel (guitar), Sean Glithero (bass) and Andy Robillard (drums), Cash’d Out has been performing as a Johnny Cash tribute band since 2004.
The first thing I noticed upon entering was that the venue was set up in a way I have never seen before.
There were ten round tables in a semi-circle in front of the stage, a bit odd for a concert, but I guess since many of the attendees were older the venue decided to give them the option to sit. Why they couldn’t have just sat in the seating alongside the wall is beyond me.
I had been under the impression that the whole concert was a Johnny Cash tribute show, so I was a bit confused when band after band played their own songs, with few exceptions. This misconception was cleared up when Cash’d Out finally played.
Not to say that the other bands weren’t great, they were all very talented, but Cash’d Out was definitely the star of the show.
It might have just been the clothes and the hair, but there was a resemblance between Benson and Cash in his early days.
The band did each Cash song justice and the upright bass was a nice touch and probably my favorite thing to watch. They offered to let the audience request songs, but the audience seemed content with the given set list.?
The band played Cash-fan favorites like “Cocaine Blues,” “I Got Stripes,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” and “Get Rhythm.”
The concert seemed to never end and it was obvious everyone involved was having fun.
Many people even joined at the front of the stage to dance along with the songs. It may be too late to see the real “Man in Black,” but Cash’d Out definitely lived up to their tagline.
I can only imagine that it was not much different from a real Johnny Cash concert.