Josh Turner celebrates 20 years of “Long Black Train” with delightful show at Secrest Auditorium

By Dave Parsons

It’s hard to imagine that it has been two decades since country star Josh Turner first topped the country music charts, but that is the case as the “Long Black Train 20^th Anniversary Tour” rolled into Secrest Auditorium in Zanesville, Ohio on Friday, October 27, 2023.

The last of the Anniversary tour dates coincide with the release of a Greatest Hits package, and Turner treated the Zanesville crowd to two of those hits, “Hometown Girl” and “Firecracker” to start the show.  Dressed in jeans and fa lannel shirt, Turner’s band members took turns stepping to center stage for their solos and interacting with Turner before returning to their home spot on stage.

Turner joked about his merchandise table, “which is right outside the doors in the lobby, we thought that was a good place for it,” more than once throughout the evening subtly calling attention that most of the songs he was playing were available on the CDs on that table.  A rollicking Hank Williams, Jr. song from a duet/covers album and a cut from another CD led the band to form an old-style bluegrass semi-circle, around Turner as they went through several old gospel songs, available on the Gospel CD.

The irony of winding up this segment with “I Saw The Light” is Turner performed covers from Hank Williams, Jr. AND Hank Williams, Sr.  In a world where country music has changed from night to day in the last 20 years, Josh Turner is still as country to his roots as he was when he first came on the scene.

There were no huge backdrops or stage props, but just good solid country music in the 90-minute set.  Turner weaved his way through cuts from the rest of his catalog saving the biggest hits for the end with “Time Is Love”, “Why Don’t We Just Dance”, and ending with “Your Man”.

The standing ovation from the crowd called Turner back out for the expected encore of the tour’s namesake.  The stage lights started blinking red only, and the sound of a train approaching rattled the speakers, before Turner obliged the crowd with an extended offering of “Long Black Train”, before sending the near-capacity crowd into the chilly Ohio night singing the song to themselves on the way back to their cars.

Josh Turner Setlist:

1          Hometown Girl

2          Firecracker

3          Deep South

4          Left Hand Man

5          Country State Of Mind

6          Never Had A Reason

7          Me and God

8          I Pray My Way Out Of Trouble

9          I Saw The Light

10        All Over Me

11        Would You Go With Me?

12        Backwoods Boy

13        Everything Is Fine

14        Time Is Love

15        Why Don’t We Just Dance

16        Your Man

Encore:

17        Long Black Train