You gotta start somewhere, right?
Most professional athletes started in little league as kids and worked their way to the top through college sports in minor leagues. Actors got their start in drama club, community theatre, or bit parts in commercials. Some of the biggest names in business started as small-time entrepreneurs hustling from one product or service to the next.
I attended the Old Dominion concert last week with my daughter, Riley, and her friends at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. It was a tremendous show and a memorable night. We started in our ticketed seats in the upper bowl of the arena, and through some connections and good karma, enjoyed the last hour of the show from the floor right near the stage.
Old Dominion is a band from Nashville who has been around since 2007. The band has released five studio albums and reached #1 with singles seven times in their career. The first was “Break Up With Him” and their most recent chart-topper was “One Man Band.”
Old Dominion has served as warm-up bands for headliners such as Alabama and Kenny Chesney in the past but on this tour, they are the top name on the marquee. They have earned the coveted spot that brings fans to the arena wearing their shirts, holding signs, and signing every word of every song.
As the arena started to slowly fill up, the warm-up act took the stage.
Priscilla Block is a 28-year-old rising star from Raleigh, North Carolina. She’s been an active performer since 2017 but this recent opportunity to open shows for Old Dominion (and featured act Chase Rice) could be just the spotlight she needs to work her way to headliner someday.
Block came on stage wearing tight-fitting Daisy Duke cutoff jeans, a low-cut blouse, and a blue Solo Cup that probably wasn’t filled with lemonade. What she did bring on stage beside her Solo cup was a tremendous amount of energy, confidence, and competence.
She quickly gained fans with her sense of humor and her transparency. She knew she wasn’t why people were in the arena but she never acted like she and her band didn’t belong. She owned the stage for the 30 minutes she was out there. She told stories between songs and let the audience get to know her.
She wasn’t shy to point out what everyone saw under her outfit. She’s even written a song about her potential weakness “Thick Thighs” and sang it proudly, even encouraging the audience to sing along.
“I can’t be the only one who likes
Thick Thighs, Priscilla Block
Extra fries over exercise
And never eat the produce that I buy
So why even try
You can’t spell ‘Diet’ without ‘Die’
I’ve been eatin’ carbs since ’95
And I heard thick thighs save lives.”
She also played one of her current hits that I didn’t know she sang. It’s those moments when people like me say, “Oh, I know this song!” that start turning warm-up acts into featured acts on their way to becoming a headliner.
She didn’t drop the microphone at the end of her set, but she certainly could have. Priscilla Block did what rising stars need to do in any profession; She showed up early and stayed late.
She certainly earned some fans that night…including me.
It’s a great lesson for all of us, regardless of where we are in our careers; We need to bring our best every time we get an opportunity to perform in front of a live audience. We need to believe in ourselves. We need to trust that those hours, weeks, months, and years of practice are ready to be on the big stage.
Let’s go out there and play for the people who show up, not for the ones who don’t.
We’ve gotta step up and grab the mic before we can ever be in a position to drop it.