Mark Khayat's Fuel Arena Debuts With A Bang As Country Music's Legendary Duo, Big & Rich (Featuring Cowboy Troy) Rock Lake County!

 Austin’s long-time Impressario Mark Khayat, knew he was on to something special when he decided to take Austin’s Fuel Room to the next level by converting the Libertyville Fairgrounds into The Fuel Arena, during their opening concert, featuring Country Legends, Big & Rich.
 Khayat, who admitted that The Fuel Arena is his first voyage into larger venue shows, could not hide his enthusiasm as Big Kenny, John Rich and the great Cowboy Troy took over The Fuel Arena and never looked back.
 Khayat, who was covert about how he landed these country music legends, promised more of the same after their successful debut at Fuel Arena.
 The concert opened with hard-hitting country beats containing several rockin’ guitars and the sweet harmonies of Big Kenny & John Rich filling the auditorium.
 The concert was essentially one wild party featuring a wonderful blend of unpredictable sets that included their brand new single: “Look At You,” as well as many of their classic cuts that had the thousands filling Fuel arena on their feet the entire time.
 When Big & Rich are in the house, no one is sitting idle and watching: Fans were either dancing, singing to all the lyrics or both.
 From the first note to the last, Big Kenny and John Rich mesmerized their audience with rollicking versions of chart toppers like their quintessential “Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy.”
 Their bandmates included a cornacopia of great players and of course Big & Rich incorporated fun surprises, like asking all the military servicemen and servicewomen to come up on the stage during a rousing tribute-pure Big & Rich to honor our Veterans-a nice touch and a classy offering from two great guys who genuinely tout: “Love Everybody.” A congruent message that shines through their in their music.
 The energy in the Fuel Room was super-charged, while Big & Rich rocked through several sets of great music, alternating between audience participation on “I Play Chicken With The Train,” (Featuring Cowboy Troy/More on him shortly), to heart wrenching ballads like "Holy Water."
  Speaking of Cowboy Troy, who calmly stood by at the ready, backstage occasionally adding another layer of flavor with his background vocals (unbeknownst to the audience in attendence), once Big & Rich invited him onto the stage, it was as if someone had ignited the crowd with a surge of musical electricity: Cowboy Troy exploded onto the stage and wowed the audience with a combination of his powerful voice, catchy hick-hop rap and the one aspect no audience could possibly ignore: His uncanny dance moves on stage! The 6 ft. 5 Hick-Hopper took over the stage to their loyal audience’s delight and blew the roof off of the Fuel Room.
 Big & Rich continued to rock the house while Cowboy Troy burned it down! At the conclusion of their final encore, the band went into the much anticipated, crowd favorite “Rollin” from Big & Rich’s chart-topping classic “Horse Of A Different Color” and with Cowboy Troy at the helm, their loyal fan base (which was already eating out of their hands), were now out of their minds in pure ecstasy once Troy went into his famous rap.
 If the goal was to “leave em’ wanting more,” mission accomplished. Smart move on Big & Rich’s part by blending Cowboy Troy into the musical mix-especially live, where Troy can “own” an audience.
 If I were to add one item to my Big & Rich experience, my suggestion would be that they bring Cowboy Troy onto the stage earlier and more often, especially since he’s such a huge crowd favorite.
 For Mark Khayat and the crew at The Fuel Arena: Big thumbs up on a great evening of entertainment, with many more exciting surprises and live concert dates ahead. Stay tuned. 

For more information or to reserve tickets for Fuel Arena's or Fuel Rooms next show, go to: www.austinsaloon.com or call: 847-549-1972