I swear to God, there’s nothing rowdier than gals who like country music. The guys get stoked, but not like the girls. The girls and the gays get worked up.

The free concert at the Bottleneck was a treat for the community, pairing local musicians from all sorts of backgrounds (half this lineup was made of metalheads from other bands) together with drag performers for a night of country music. Each band was assigned an artist, but the songs had to be from the 90’s.

Drugs and Attics brought a punk take on Alan Jackson, Troy Jordan and the Rantallions tackled George Strait, Maria the Mexican brought a romantic vibe to Faith Hill, and Unfit Wives were a natural fit for The Chicks. Drag Queens MsAmanda Love and Jeni Tonic took on the iconic Shania Twain.

By the time Unfit Wives got to “Goodbye Earl,” the crowd was foaming at the mouth and stomping along so relentlessly, the Wives had to quickly adjust their pre-rehearsed tempo to match the audience’s unruly demand for the barn burner. You should have head the ladies in that crowd when they eagerly screamed “EARL HAD TO DIE!!” They were rabid. It didn’t help that the band’s mandolin player started the song by asking everybody if they had “a piece of shit man” in their lives. These women were out for blood.

This was an all ages event, so scanning the audience felt like seeing all the people described in the secretary’s rant in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” You had the sportos, the motorheads, bloods, dweebies… all singing along rowdily to the country hits, while children danced onstage with the drag queens. It was very Lawrence.

You can see photos from the night below: