The 2015 CMA Awards were held at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee–and it’s the 49th annual CMAs, so we guess they saved all the country greats for the 50th anniversary. Damn, this is one screwy country awards show.
We weren’t surprised to see William Shatner pop up in the opening, because he does that all the time. But there’s also some bizarre imagery going on in the Bridgestone tonight. We aren’t too surprised to see Florida-Georgia Line disgracing country music with the night’s first man bun, but we weren’t ready for some other sights. Justin Timberlake actually held his own against Chris Stapleton, and we guess John Mellencamp showed up to do a song with Keith Urban so they could talk about dating movie stars afterwards.
Pairing the likes of an awkward Patrick Stump and the rest of Fall Out Boy with Thomas Rhett didn’t really work, though. It would help if Rhett seemed like a country artist. Also, we sure feel sorry for any country fan who sat down and had to deal with the sight of Sam Hunt.
It’s was, however, kind of cool to see Kenny Chesney playing on a set that looked like a mix of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and the Okefenokee Swamp. We’re not sure Kiefer Sutherland ended up as a presenter, though. We’ve talked music with him. Kiefer has better taste than that–but there’s probably an open bar backstage. We bet Kiefer liked the big flag behind Hank Jr. and Eric Church, though, and it was a big deal when host Brad Paisley brought out all the mascots for his new song honoring college football.
Fortunately, the red carpet has offered up some real beauties–with Carrie Underwood showing that she’s back in shape after birthing a baby, plus some more daring gals who represent the best of bringing modern touches to country. We don’t even mind Jewel being country as long as she wears the right kind of outfit.
Bonus points to Kacey Musgraves for adding some nicely surreal moments with her live performance. And while we won’t bore you with pics of Mark Herndon, but we’re glad the original drummer from the band Alabama is there. He got a raw deal from his old band, but isn’t letting that keep him from socializing. We’d hate for him to miss any of these fine moments…
2015 CMA Awards: Best Photos from Country Music Awards
