The Band Perry open 2012

The Band Perry open 2012 Country USA music festival

Country USA opened its gates on Tuesday afternoon for the 17th annual country music festival, running through June 23. The Oshkosh, Wisc. event takes place at Ford Festival Field and represents five days of performances by world class country artists. Performances over the next three days will include Sugarland (tonight), Brad Paisley (Friday) and Keith Urban on Saturday.
Fans were happy despite the heat wave--the rains and mud that plagued the 2011 festival were nowhere to be seen. Instead, they battled the 90-degree weather with carnival rides, beer, good music and a welcomed breeze.

View slideshow: The Band Perry / Thompson Square - 2012 Country USA

Tuesday's lineup introduced Thompson Square to Oshkosh. Signed in 2010 and already awarded the Academy of Country Music's "Top Vocal Duo" in 2012, the husband and wife pair of Keifer and Shawna Thompson were the perfect choice to open for headliners The Band Perry . Both artists are fairly new to the scene but have already garnered numerous awards and Billboard chart topping singles.
Thompson Square made the most of their 60-minute set, giving the crowd a mix of their hits with plenty of discourse from Keifer and Shawna between songs. The pair shared vocal duties and performed "I Got You," "Getaway Car," current hit "Glass" and the song that started it all, "Let's Fight."
They frequently joked with one another and performed a series of medleys while introducing their band, with each member showcasing their talent behind one of their inspirations. Songs ranged from Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" to Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice Baby" to Merle Haggard's "Okie from Moskogee."
Before closing out their set, Keifer asked the crowd, "Anybody's butt tired? You need to rest that butt." Fans finally left their chairs and stood up. He thanked the fans for their recent CMT award and they finished with their platinum single, "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not."
The Band Perry have been moving up the country ranks, recently opening for Brad Paisley's "Virtual Reality Tour ." The musical siblings, Kimberly Perry on vocals with brothers Reid (bass guitar) and Neil (mandolin) performed without much fanfare. Missing were the lasers and effects. Instead, they performed with a few backing video screens to show off their down-home country roots.
Kimberly led the crowd, frequently clapping her hands above her head and shooting smiles to various fans in the crowd. They opened with "Sugar Sugar," "Hip to My Heart" and "Miss You Being Gone." The siblings were constantly in motion and played off of Kimberly's energy.
Most of the crowd were aware of The Band Perry's music by now, and sang along to the majority of the songs. However, cover tunes "Free Fallin'" and their unique, country twist to Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" might have brought the loudest sing-a-long.
Still performing on their self-titled, 2010 debut, they were able to perform all but three tracks from that album. "Lasso," "Walk Me Down the Middle," and "Quittin' You" were the only missing tracks. Though a few of the fans probably would have preferred the deeper cuts, most were very content with their cover medley that included American classics "Jack and Diane," "Me & Bobby McGee," and "American Pie."
They closed the set with their multi-platinum, smash-hit "If I Die Young." Those who waited out a lengthy break were treated to an encore of fun.'s "We Are Young" and The Beatles' "With a Little Help." Before leaving the stage for good, they finally performed "You Lie" to bring the opening night of Country USA to a successful finish. Individual day tickets are still available for Thursday through Saturday's performances.