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Daniels’ fan base comes largely from the country-music crowd, but the legendary fiddler’s style has always been more Southern rock than anything—incorporating jazz and blues into his repertoire much like ’70s contemporaries the Allman Brothers Band and Marshall Tucker Band. And even at the age of 75, Daniels and his four-man band cut loose with a set that would have fit right in at a jam-band festival, stretching out musically during “Saddle Tramp” and the instrumental “Black Ice.” Daniels put aside his fiddle and played guitar for most of the evening, and his penchant for storytelling shined in tunes such as “Legend of Wooley Swamp,” “Long-Haired Country Boy” and “(What This World Needs Is) A Few More Rednecks,” during which he sung the praises of Lynyrd Skynyrd, NASCAR, the NFL and the working man. Playing the first of two nights for a largely post-National Finals Rodeo crowd, Daniels got in the holiday spirit with “The Christmas Song,” and showed his red-state roots with “Jesus is the Light of the World” and a patriotic anthem he released this year, “Let ’Em Win or Bring ’Em Home.” Daniels saved his signature “Devil Went Down to Georgia” for the finale, leading the band in a fierce rendition that left no doubt that Johnny’s soul and that golden fiddle were safe once again.
