Chris Lucas of LOCASH walked out onto The Rave stage Saturday night in a trucker hat, while his bandmate Preston Brust had a white cowboy hat with a feather. And they were both wearing sneakers, a very different fashion combination looking at the rest of their attire – classic country ripped jeans and layered shirts – for a very different type of country act. 

With more than a half an hour between opening act Renee Blair leaving the stage and LOCASH finally coming out, the show at The Rave was off to a slow start. However, things picked up immediately once LOCASH started jamming out to their songs and country rocking.

Lucas and Brust are from Baltimore, Maryland and Kokomo, Indiana. They released two albums, one EP and multiple singles so far in their short career – a pretty significant amount of music, yet the band still played lots of cover songs. I wished they played more of their originals when they have more than enough to choose from.

Brust drank out of a solo cup on stage, which gave the concert a house party feel and matched the first two songs’ theme of drinking and raising hell on a Friday night. (Even if it was a Saturday.) LOCASH got the crowd to belt out "hey hey" on the regular, which helped excite everyone singing along to every word.

"I Know Somebody" – which the band said changed their lives – was only third on the setlist but pumped the crowd up for the rest of the show. It is one of my favorites by this band, and it was great hearing it live because of the energy the band put out.

Then come something completely new: "Feels like a Party," which the duo co-wrote with Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line. LOCASH excitedly announced the newness of the song and got everyone’s hands up in the air. The drummer was also very energetic – even when his long, sweaty purple bangs kept getting in his eyes. He seemed a little annoyed at that; I wanted to go on stage with a bobby pin to help. But his hair didn’t stop him from smiling and going absolutely wild on his drum set, bringing fire to the tunes.

"Tush" was one of the night's first covers, giving the audience some classic rock vibes. The genres the band played spanned from country to rock to pop and some areas in between. "Closer" – yes, that "Closer" – was the most unexpected cover performed just because of how different it is from all the other songs the band played before that. It still got the crowd excited, and I didn’t hesitate to sing along. But it just felt too out of place.

"The Fighters" was a nice tribute to the service men and women in our country, as LOCASH dedicated the song to our troops, fire fighters, teachers, policemen and women, and others. It was also a good break from the upbeat, rock songs of earlier, getting the audience to sway back and forth peacefully.

After yet another cover, LOCASH got set to perform "Best Seat in the House," but not before the line of the night: "We’re in Milwaukee, man, c’mon why not?" Later on, the two said they don’t come to Milwaukee enough. Judging by the crowd reaction, it'd seem we’d love to have you back, LOCASH.

"I Want it That Way," yet another cover, played similar to "Closer." I was surprised that the country duo wanted to play another pop song. It’s not because country artists haven’t done that before, because they definitely have, but I’m not sure pop music worked super well with the night's setlist.

"Friends in Low Places" is perhaps the easiest country cover to do, as I’ve seen it covered at a few country concerts now, but it's always a crowd favorite. However, it gets old very fast. I was ready to be done hearing the song after a bit, but the band played through three more choruses or so after that.

"I Love this Life" was of course a great song to (almost) end the concert with, as the second to last set. The band put a twist in the song right in the middle, with the "wo-o-o-o-o-oh"s from American Authors’ "Best Day of My Life." I thought LOCASH was going to transition into another cover, but they continued with "I Love this Life" until the end, jumping around on stage and having a great time.

I think the band should’ve played that song as the encore instead of Journey’s "Don’t Stop Believing," yet another cover. The covers worked for audience engagement – people were practically screaming out the lyrics to "Don’t Stop Believing" – but they aren’t unique to the band. I hope to see LOCASH again in the future – and maybe, with time, they will release more music and feel more comfortable singing their originals.

Setlist

"Don’t Get Better Than That"
"Cold Beer Kind of Night"
"I Know Somebody"
"You Gonna Fly"
"Feels Like a Party"
"Ring on Every Finger"
"Truck Yeah"
"Tush" (ZZ Top cover)
"Closer" (The Chainsmokers cover)
"Tush (ZZ Top cover - reprise)
"The Fighters"
"Dust on the Bottle" (David Murphy cover)
"Best Seat in the House"
"I Want it That Way" (Backstreet Boys cover)
"Here I Go Again" (Whitesnake cover)
"Friends in Low Places" (Garth Brooks cover)
"I Love this Life"

Encore

"Don’t Stop Believing" (Journey cover)