The Band Perry played sweet, but short, set

Just shy of a year after performing on a free stage at the Iowa State Fair, family act The Band Perry returned to play the Grandstand on Tuesday night. Siblings Kimberly, Neil and Reid Perry performed for an enthusiastic crowd of just under 5,000.

“It’s so fun to be back, the Iowa State Fair was our very favorite date last year,” lead vocalist Kimberly Perry told the crowd early on in the set. “I have a feeling this is going to be a great night for country music.”

How great a night a night for country probably depended on what you consider country. The Band Perry falls into the crossover, radio friendly, pop country category that contains Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood and other recent stars. A song like “Postcard From Paris” is a long way from “Okie from Muskogee,” but it can still evoke a big response from a receptive audience.

And the crowd in the Grandstand was very receptive. The band played almost every song from its self-titled 2010 debut, and the crowd clapped and sang along in all the right places. Kimberly Perry only got as far as the opening line of “If I Die Young” before the entire audience stepped in to sing the rest of the first verse. It was an impressive response from the crowd. The Band Perry was good, but their audience might have a future in music as well. Touring might be a bit difficult for a group of 5,000.

With only one album under their belts, the Perry siblings relied on an assortment of covers to pad out the set. A bit of Tom Petty’s “Free Falling” was inserted into the song “Independence.” The siblings played a medley of their “favorite American songs,” with short segments of “American Pie,” “Jack & Diane” and “Me and Bobby McGee.” Sure, the medley of American songs ended with “Fat Bottom Girls” by the British act Queen, but by that point the crowd was worked up enough that the geography didn’t really matter.

The words of an Iowa songwriter even got a bit of stage time Tuesday. The Band Perry kicked off its encore with a bit of “We Are Young” by the fun. That band’s singer-songwriter, Nate Ruess, was born in Iowa City.

The Band Perry gave fans a taste of music to come with the new song “It Burns You.” It was a solid song, but not as catchy as the singles off “The Band Perry.

Florida singer Easton Corbin opened up the show, playing a 45 minute set of mostly laid back tunes. Corbin has had two number one hits “Roll With It” and “A Little More Country Than That,” which drew big reactions from the crowd. The high point was a cover of Alabama’s “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band),” which probably got more feet stomping than any other song by the two bands.

The show was sweet, but short. At an hour and 15 minutes The Band Perry didn’t wear out their welcome, but the appreciative crowd seemed like it could have used another half hour of performance time. The Band Perry’s set showed the downside of hitting it big too soon. Sometimes fame outpaces productivity.

Check out photos from the show here.