This past Sunday night, Mobile, AL-based six-piece The Red Clay Strays made their Madison Square Garden debut with a sold-out two-and-a-half-hour extravaganza, featuring special guests and recorded for an upcoming live album by legendary producer Dave Cobb. This marks the second live album for the band, following 2025’s Live At The Ryman.
A large fraction of concertgoers, many of them coupled up, were likely between the ages of 45-60, as the Strays invite a multi-generational audience due to their fresh take on American roots music with a direct path to the mid-late 60’s. An attendee on the Long Island railroad earlier that afternoon curiously cocked her eyebrow at me and asked, “How would YOU describe them?,” to which I replied, “They’re like Elvis playing with a full band in the late-60’s.” She concurred with this, and lead singer Brandon Coleman lives up to the hype as a modern-day vocal powerhouse with the temperament and stylistic aesthetic of an old-school crooner.
First up on the bill was Brent Cobb, back at MSG for the fourth time, allotted for the first 30-minutes of the marathon show. Once again, he delivered a boastful and bluesy set comprised of tunes such as “Southern Star,” “Bar, Guitar, and a Honky Tonk Crowd,” and signature tune “Richland.” The Strays’ crowd was far more receptive to him than the Ty Myers’ Pier 17 crowd from earlier this summer, repeatedly acknowledging the musicality of him and his backing band, The Fixin's.
The Revivalists were up next, playing a full hour of fan favorites like “Kid,” “Soulfight,” and “It Was A Sin,” and selections off their latest album Get It Honest. It was not long before they were playing to a room nearly at full capacity.
They would close with a rousing cover of Tom Petty’s “American Girl” and their inescapable smash hit “Wish I Knew You.” Released in 2016 on their Men Amongst Mountains album, the tune is certainly a relic of its time and an undeniable crowd pleaser (especially for those who have not put a face to a song) but, in this writer’s opinion, did not translate well onstage.
Despite this, songs like “It Was A Sin,” “All My Friends,” and “Soulfight,” the last of which could be considered the highlight of the set due to memorable bass, trumpet, and saxophone solos, certainly allowed the band to stake their claim. With nearly two decades in the game, The Revivalists would not let the young whipper snappers of the Strays take all the shine without a fight.
Out on tour in support of their latest album Grateful, the Red Clay Strays performed the project in its entirety, scattering its 11 tracks across their 25-song set beginning promptly at 9:00 p.m. Two were repeated as a part of their “unconventional” encore, following Cobb’s appeal for redoes of several of the show’s opening moments. Additionally, four tracks off their debut full-length, 2022’s Moment of Truth and seven from 2024’s Made For These Moments were played.
Appropriately opening the show with Grateful’s lead track “Demons In Your Choir,” the Strays ensured the soul of the music would be felt from the jump. They’d keep it rolling with the gritty “Stone’s Throw” and the Sam Cooke-like “Walking Away,” the latter one of the more impactful studio-to-live translations from Grateful.
Within just five songs, they would welcome special guest Zach Top to the stage for his first of two appearances of the evening. Top, yet another contemporary act bridging the gap between generations of country listeners, received a massive ovation from the crowd and proved to be a wonderful asset to “Don’t Wanna Know,” a Grateful focus track recently unveiled on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Throughout the evening, the Strays repeatedly took the time to reiterate that they are not a political band, nor are they making “political music.” Instead, they choose to create music highlighting mental health awareness on “Devil In My Ear” and “Drowning,” cultural unity on “People Hatin’” and stories of personal healing on “Sunshine.” These tunes were placed just about midway through the set, which, unfortunately, did cause this chunk to drag ever so slightly, but, in a time that even just the concept of a hit song can be interpreted as being a sort of rallying cry for a particular political party, the Strays did their due diligence in expressing that they want no part of that conversation. As a unit, they coexist with differing political and religious beliefs, and feverishly invite listeners across the cultural spectrum to join in transit.
Closing out the main set was a well-curated stretch including “Wondering Why,” “Drowning,” “Grateful,” and “On My Knees.” With the camera panned to the crowd, “Wondering Why” proved to be the emotional center point of the evening, as the tune has proven to be a durable, enduring staple for the band, and one that fans of all ages and backgrounds connect to.
Returning to the stage for an encore in response to an arena-led chant of “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes (slightly confusing given the context of the show in question, but still fun), the band would go onto perform for an additional 25 minutes. They’d reenlist with Grateful’s “Fool’s Gold” and yet another signature in “Wanna Be Loved” off MFTM, then would proceed with their “unconventional encore.”
At the request of Dave Cobb, “Demons In Your Choir” was repeated, and Coleman called for Zach Top to return to the stage for round two of “Don’t Wanna Know.” The former, even as much of the crowd began to thin out in order to catch their trains back to Long Island or New Jersey (a typical occurrence for MSG shows), felt significantly bolstered from its original rendition earlier in the evening.
Flying by the seat of their pants, Coleman and Top whipped out a stirring cover of the Kris Kristofferson classic “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” also at the behest of Cobb. They’d close the evening with a near-10-minute rendition of MFTM’s “No One Else Like Me” with Top, Revivalist lead singer David Shaw, and Brent Cobb. Coleman himself would leave the stage around six minutes in, leaving the rest of the band and their guests to jam their way out of a genuinely euphoric MSG moment.
Catch The Red Clay Strays on tour through mid-November:
August 15, 2026 — Des Moines, IA — Iowa State Fair
August 16, 2026 — Sioux Falls, SD — Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
August 18, 2026 — Grand Forks, ND — Alerus Center
August 19, 2026 — Bismarck, ND — Bismarck Event Center
August 21, 2026 — Bozeman, MT — Brick Breeden Fieldhouse
August 22, 2026 — Missoula, MT — Adams Center
August 26, 2026 — Spokane, WA — Numerica Veterans Arena
August 27, 2026 — Seattle, WA — Climate Pledge Arena
August 29, 2026 — Portland, OR — Moda Center
August 30, 2026 — Vancouver, BC — Rogers Arena
September 2, 2026 — West Valley City, UT — Maverik Center
September 4, 2026 — Stateline, NV — Lake Tahoe Amphitheatre at Caesars Republic
September 6, 2026 — Aspen, CO — Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience
September 11, 2026 — Sacramento, CA — Golden 1 Center
September 12, 2026 — Ontario, CA — Toyota Arena
September 16, 2026 — San Diego, CA — Pechanga Arena San Diego
September 17, 2026 — Glendale, AZ — Desert Diamond Arena
September 19, 2026 — Pryor, OK — Born & Raised Music Festival
September 20, 2026 — San Antonio, TX — Frost Bank Center
September 26, 2026 — Louisville, KY — Bourbon & Beyond
September 30, 2026 — Toronto, ON — RBC Amphitheatre
October 1, 2026 — Pittsburgh, PA — PPG Paints Arena
October 3, 2026 — Grand Rapids, MI — Van Andel Arena
October 7, 2026 — Fort Worth, TX — Dickies Arena
October 14, 2026 — Orlando, FL — Kia Center
October 15, 2026 — Savannah, GA — Enmarket Arena
October 17, 2026 — Charleston, SC — Credit One Stadium
October 18, 2026 — Greenville, SC — Bon Secours Wellness Arena
October 22, 2026 — Nashville, TN — Bridgestone Arena
October 23, 2026 — Nashville, TN — Bridgestone Arena
October 28, 2026 — Knoxville, TN — Food City Center
October 31, 2026 — Birmingham, AL — Legacy Arena
November 5, 2026 — Baton Rouge, LA — Raising Cane’s River Center
November 6, 2026 — Bossier City, LA — Brookshire Grocery Arena
November 8, 2026 — Jonesboro, AR — First National Bank Arena
November 13, 2026 — Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena
