Originally published at Midnight Magazine.

After performances from Nightly and Valley, the crowd at The Ryman was primed and ready for The Band Camino’s (stylized The Band CAMINO) comeback. Originally from Memphis and now based in Nashville, TN, The Band Camino considered this a hometown show.

Not only was this show the band’s first headlining gig post-pandemic. It was their biggest headlining performance of all-time, selling out in only 10 minutes. They used the fan-packed event as an opportunity to debut their new self-titled album a full week before its release.

The Band Camino came out strong, playing six fan favorites, including “What I Want,” “Fool of Myself” and a rendition of “Hush Hush” that can only be described as slapping. With the audience fully committed to having the time of their lives at this point, The Band Camino pivoted to the new tracks. Following “Underneath My Skin, “EVERYBODYDIES” kindled a particular fire as an anthem celebrating life and accepting the inevitable in the face of all that we’ve experienced in the last 18 months.

After an enthusiastic performance of “Roses,” Jeffrey Jordan made mention of Bonnaroo, expressing his condolences over its cancellation. To the suprise of everyone in the room, Jordan then announced the band would be performing at The Basement East the following weekend to make up for the missed festival. Even more good news to those in attendance: Tickets to the show at The Basement East were made available first to those at The Ryman. Not surprisingly, the show sold out in minutes.

After three more new tracks, including “Help Me Get Over You” (which will most definitely rip your heart out), the band settled back into their earlier repertoire. By the first strum of “Know Me,” the crowd was hugging and screaming, clearly thrilled that this track made the 21-song setlist.

A highlight for me personally (and probably many in the crowd) came when the band played “Haunted” — an underrated track in my opinion and that of the band’s. This moment in the show solidified the fact that this is what these men were made to do. And they fully believe it.

Typical in concert etiquette, the band should have exited the stage after playing “1 Last Cigarette.” But something got lost in translation. All but drummer Andrew Isbell forgot to take their leave. In a refreshing moment of humor and authenticity, Jordan called out the absurdity of the forced encore. They didn’t make us clap for it, but they did play three more songs: “California,” “Know It All” and “Daphne Blue.”

The show didn’t get out until after 11 p.m., but if you ask anyone in The Ryman that night, they’d say they’d do it all over again.