FLORENCE — Country Thunder seems to be themed this year.
On opening day, it was all about the newbies (Brooke Eden, Chase Bryant) and the guys who've been around just long enough to dust the newbie title (Old Dominion, Kip Moore).
On Friday, it was mostly about who could rock harder and louder. It started with opener Haley Georgia, a former hip-hop artist and "American Idol" aspirant who's now all in for country. But her flavor of country has screaming guitars and girls who rock attitude.
Then there was Cadillac 3, an unapologetic metal country act whose hour-long show was all screams, thumping drums and crazy guitar rants with country at its core but not its mission.
Cole Swindell followed not quite as loudly as the Nashville trio, nor as hard. His rocking country leans more on the country side of the dial. He sings songs about getting to see the girl and the urge of just wanting her to need him as much as he needs her.Â
As the opener for headliner Florida Georgia Line, Swindell had the task of keeping the crowd energized for the main event. He did that in spades, performing his rocking "You Ain't Worth the Whiskey" and infusing it with the bluesy chorus from Justin Timberlake's "Drink You Away." He tossed in a couple covers of Tim McGraw's "Real Good Man" and Kenny Chesney's "Don't Happen Twice." He also covered Thomas Rhett's "Get Me Some of That," but it wasn't really a cover; Swindell penned the song.
A couple of his brightest moments actually came when he broke the mold of the day and slowed things down for the midtempo ballad "Hope You Get Lonely" and the heart-wrenching "You Should Be Here."
Florida Georgia Line straddled three genres: rock, country and hip-hop.  They started their show with a string of hip-hop songs, struting down the catwalk with all the demeanor and swagger of rappers. They even brought along fellow Country Thunder artist Randy Hauser — who arrived two days early for his Sunday show — to sing "Round Here." (Hauser looked like he was caught unawares; he didn't really know the lyrics but he was a good sport, strutting down the catwalk with Hubbard.)
About halfway into an hour-long set before 27,000 fans, they returned to their more country pop songs, including bringing Swindell on stage to sing "This is How We Roll" — a song Swindell wrote — "Cruise," "Confession," "Get Your Shine On" and "It'z Just What We Do."
Newcomers Cam and Chris Janson are on Saturday's lineup, warming things up for headliner Jake Owen who recently has introduced a bit of hip-hop to his country.Â
