FLORENCE β Terri Clark is one of only three female acts on the 2017 Country Thunder lineup and on Thursday night she was determined to represent.
The guitars were real and the white cowboy hat was not just for show. She's worn a hat since she burst on the international scene in the 1990s from her native Canada.
And on Thursday night, just as the sun was setting and the early opening day crowd swelled from a few thousand to 25,000-plus, Clark reminded Arizona what it's like when girls with guitars are given a stage and an audience.
Clark, who hasn't been on an Arizona stage in a long while, hauled out all those amazing hits, songs we'd forgotten she sang and forgotten how empowering they could be. "Emotional Girl" has nothing on Clark's "Dirty Girl," but both can make the case for having "Better Things To Do" than hang around waiting on a man. She sang about girls lying, boys trying and the whole world needing a stiff drink. At that one, a group of women crushed against the catwalk raised their aluminum Bud Light bottles for an air toast.
Clark's show opened up the nighttime lineup of opening day. The duo of LoCash and headliner Chris Young, who was recently in Tucson, were in the wings as she was taking her final bow.Β
