For 27-year-old Christopher Clowers, of North Chattanooga, Charlie Daniels isn’t just a musical legend: He’s something more personal.
To Mr. Clowers, the 73-year-old performer represents the heart and soul of country, is a “true Southern gentleman” and a teller of tales that resonate with generations of fans.
“He’s really the epitome of Southern,” Mr. Clowers said Saturday night, a few hours before Charlie Daniels took the Coca-Cola Stage. “He reminds me of my grandfather, the way he’ll tell a story and the way he’ll have you on the edge of your seat, even if you’ve heard it a thousand times.”
A sweltering and stormy Riverbend festival wrapped up Saturday night with the Grammy-award winning Southern rock icon headlining, followed by fireworks bursting over the Tennessee River.
Playing a mix of down-home classics as well as some new material, the Charlie Daniels Band led off with “Redneck Fiddlin’ Man.”
Known for his No. 1 hit from 1979, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” Mr. Daniels has a musical career that spans five decades. He’s dabbled in the rock, country, pop and Christian music genres, and in 2007 released an album of duets sung with artists including Dolly Parton and Brad Paisley.
“He’s red, white and blue,” said longtime fan Phyliss Grasham, of Chattanooga, who was stretched out on a blanket front-and-center before the main stage three hours before the band started. “He’s what Riverbend is all about to us.”
Volatile weather all week often brought storms that quelled the daytime heat and humidity before evening performances, said Tammy Sitton, director of marketing with Friends of the Festival.
On a couple of nights, particularly for Sheryl Crow’s performance on opening night, crowd turnout may have been among the biggest in Riverbend’s 29-year history, she said. Organizers still are determining how many attended the festival.
Athens, Tenn., residents Robert and Mary Murphy said they bought their Riverbend pins solely to see Mr. Daniels. They couldn’t believe it when they discovered his Riverbend show happened to be scheduled for their wedding day.
The couple drove to Chattanooga on Saturday straight from their wedding ceremony at an Athens church, they said.
“We cleaned up the church and came here,” Mr. Murphy said with a grin. “There’s nothing like Charlie Daniels.”
For other festivalgoers, the band was incidental, and fireworks were the main draw. Dawn Witt, 35, showed up five hours early to score a riverfront seat for the fireworks show.
“I’m a fireworks fan. I’m a kid at heart,” she said.
Also on Saturday night, 17-year-old Jarrett Carland, of Asheville, N.C., got backstage to meet Mr. Daniels, whose music was an inspiration during his recovery from an August 2009 car accident. His family played “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” repeatedly to try to help wake him from a four-month coma, festival organizers said.