Review: US country star Cody Johnson appears at CMC Rocks Qld

After the shock cancellation of an appearance on Sunday, there were fears of a no-show from Cody Johnson at CMC Rocks QLD. But the US country star turned out in full force for his main gig and fans loved every second.

US country star Cody Johnson returned to Australia for CMC Rocks QLD. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

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From the moment Sunday’s headline act was introduced to the stage, it was clear even for those not already a fan of his music that this was gonna be a deep-Texan kinda country show.

Cody Johnson, lovingly known to fans as CoJo, taking his deepest influences from traditional country artists of years gone by, particularly George Strait and Garth Brooks, returned to Australia this weekend for CMC, the first time he’s made the journey on his own tour.

There was huge demand for a show in Queensland, with CMC fans for years begging for his presence, but as the stage blacked out and a random jumble of clips from songs mentioning the word “Texas” and bizarrely a robot voice singing cowboy, I was sceptical this was going to be a show worth watching.

“I heard it was gonna be a rowdy crowd down here tonight,” Johnson declared to the crowd moments before launching into the closest thing to a country dance anthem I can picture with Dance Her Home, and rowdy the crowd was.

Whether it was the adorable mother-daughter duo doing a little docie-do beside me, the toe-tapping oldies or the hundreds, dare I say thousands, of love (and Bundy rum and coke) drunk couples stumbling and swaying, there wasn’t a still body across the sprawling Willowbank raceway precinct.

Johnson kickstarted his career at 19, launching a family band in 2006. The fact that the now-37-year-old has since carved his own path as an international country music force is apparent by the sheer number of wildly dedicated fans, as far from Texas as imaginable.

American country music singer-songwriter Cody Johnson. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Even Johnson’s more moving numbers like “With You I Am” had a crowd moving in some kind of three-day sunburnt trance, hands in the air and entirely absorbed.

Johnson performed his way through almost two hours of his discography, even with the normal handful of guests making an early dash to beat the traffic.

Some fans could have been forgiven for carrying some resentment after Johnson’s Sunday afternoon Songwriters stage session was cancelled just 30 minutes before he was due to perform.

The songwriters stage, which ran each day, brought together major headline acts, smaller international musicians and local talent, who put their expert lyricism to excellent use writing their own songs, something Johnson is known for.

The CMC Rocks Facebook page made the announcement, citing scheduling conflicts, and kickstarted rumours that he wouldn’t be performing his headline act on Sunday night.

Johnson acknowledged the whoopsie, sharing he had “slept all day”.

“I was out roping in Singleton, and I’ll admit I stayed in my hotel and I slept all day preparing for this show,” he said.

“I had no idea when I got here there would be 30,000 country music fans.”

He acknowledged his long career, saying he had been met with criticism and doubt throughout every second.

“If you are out there tonight looking for some inspiration, I want you to look at me and know your dreams can come true,” he said.

There were torch lights held high as Johnson pleaded with all “Americans and Australians and people all around the world” to treat each other with decency and respect, as he launched into anthem Human, reflecting on how humankind should come together regardless of race, religion or politics.

He called out to the crowd, saying he needed their best participation for the entirety of the show, and the crowd did not disappoint, meeting Johnson’s every call and response, mic break and smash hit with enthusiasm and admiration.