Look At These Photographs And Relive Cattle Country Festival
Sometimes you just gotta try something new, right? That’s why I decided to travel down to Gonzales, Texas for the Cattle Country Fest.
The annual three-day event celebrates country music (with a few bonus genres), camping and Texas culture. Set on a sprawling 400-acre ranch along the Guadalupe River, the 2025 event took place April 10 though 12, though I ended up only attending one day of the festival.
Chase Rice
I went mainly because my bestie’s husband was playing as he’s in Chase Rice’s band. Shout out to Jeremy Roberson! It was an awesome set with Chase playing covers of George Strait and Lynyrd Skynyrd plus his biggest hits like, “Eyes on You” and “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.” It was his newest music, though, that we enjoyed most. In 2024, Rice left his record label and decided to go at it solo, giving him the freedom to make the music he really wants to make. We chatted with him about that before the show.
People are really genuinely diving into these more real, deeper true story albums, which is the number one thing I want. If I never play one of my hits again, I’ll be fine with that because we’re putting out albums and that’s what I want people to listen to.
- Chase Rice
In addition to loving Chase’s set, we had a lot of fun throughout the day meeting people from all over Texas, chatting with vendors like ZYN and Feel Good and really experiencing that cowboy culture.
Nickelback
While almost everyone was there to see Nickelback, we were more excited for the late night show from Ghostland (more on that later). As the masses made there way over to watch Chad Kroeger and the boys, we tried to get up front to the VIP section. That was a solid no go. So, we hung in the back until things cleared out and Ghostland Observatory started the final performance of the night on an adjacent stage.
Ghostland Observatory
I’ve never seen such a small set for a Ghostland show. There must’ve been only a handful of people who are even in the know about the band. Pretty sure most of the late night crowd thought they were just regular old DJs. That was made evident to me by the guy next to me who told his girlfriend, “These guys suck.” He then proceeded to shout at the band “Play some Pit Bull!”
Anyway, it was worth the wait to see the band in such an intimate setting. As they finished up and we headed for the exit, we thought for sure we’d have an easier time leaving as over 90% of the crowd left after Nickelback. Boy, were we wrong. In the hour we were jumping around to electronic beats, everyone else was stalled in the parking lot. Apparently, no car had moved since Nickelback ended.
We then proceeded to sit in our car for an hour and a half and we were not prepared. Clearly, we should’ve packed the car with water, snacks and anything else to entertain us. Since our phones were on SOS, we could do nothing but sit in the dusty exhaust filled air and wait. We finally drove off the ranch at 2 a.m. VIP parking kind of bit us in the ass because we were the last ones out.
So there you go. An insider look at our Cattle Country experience. Overall, it was a fun day that felt a bit OG and I’m always a fan of that. By that, I mean that the fest was chill, unpretentious, maybe a bit unorganized and filled with good vibes – just like the way things USED to be in Austin. Bonus points for the lack of posers.
I wish I could have returned for the final day with Midland and Parker McCollum, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that I’m too old to support my lifestyle. I’m still icing my ankles two days later. IYKYK.
The post Look At These Photographs And Relive Cattle Country Festival appeared first on Spill the ATX Gossip.
