“I bet there is some Watermelon Wine by now,” electric bass player from Diamond Rio, Dana Williams, said to the audience as fans tried to beat the heat at the Hope Watermelon Festival Concert.
Temperatures were in the 90’s just before sundown at the CMC Steel Stage Saturday night.
Dedicated Hope fans still piled in to see the show and had the honor of singing Happy Birthday to band member Gene Johnson who celebrated his birthday on stage in Hope.
Rio performed several medleys for fans saying that when they leave out certain songs that fans have let them know they were not going for that at all.
“We’ve been doing this a while and we have so many hits it’s hard to get them all in,” lead vocalist Marty Roe said to the audience.
The band picked the right place to talk about loving “God” and” Country”. A cry of staunch support rang out as the band asked the question, “Do we have any lovers of God and Country out there?”
“We are believers,” Roe said. After receiving confirmation and approval, Rio sang “In God we Still Trust.”
The band said they had produced a gospel CD and a Christmas CD. They asked the crowd to attend an upcoming cruise with them.
“Come with us on that big ol’ boat,” Williams said.
Then they went on joking with the audience, “if fans didn’t know that it was the 43rd watermelon festival then they should know it, “he said.
Williams later caught the audience by surprise by announcing he had taken a picture of the crowd and posted it on Diamond Rio’s Facebook page.
“So, go to our Facebook page and tag yourself,” Williams said. Fans didn’t wait long to do it. Check it out on Facebook along with comments about what a great show took place. Hope wasn’t disappointed Diamond Rio.
