Rascal Flatts return to the Iowa State Fair for 25th anniversary tour

Country trio Rascal Flatts marked their third stop at the Iowa State Fair with high expectations, but ultimately fell a little short.

The country band, comprised of Gary LeVox on lead vocals, Jay DeMarcus on bass guitar, and Joe Don Rooney on lead guitar, are emerging from a hiatus with a string of 2025 shows a part of the “Life is a Highway Tour,” celebrating 25 years at the Grandstand.

In 2020, the trio announced their disbandment after 20 years, followed by a tour. However, the tour was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The four-time Grammy nominated group officially disbanded in 2021, but perhaps they couldn’t resist celebrating their silver anniversary and releasing a new album in tandem. 

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Rascal Flatts delivers nostalgia but struggles to find balance

As the lights dimmed, Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys are Back in Town” served as the band’s walk-on song, opening the evening with “Here’s to You,” a song from 2004, mixed in with the main chorus of a classic rock song to finish. 

“Twenty-five years of Rascal Flats. Can you believe it?” said LeVox. “I mean, back in the old days, if you wanted to listen to our music, you had to have this thing called a cassette player. We then got CDs, which made things a little better. Now, you can stream everything and do everything right on your phone…I mean, 25 years ago, so many things have changed, but I’ll tell you something that has not changed. We still have the greatest fans on the face of the entire planet.” 

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Perhaps a bit of an exaggeration of the past 25 years, but the band gave fans a tour of the best hits from over the years, seemingly in no particular order. Instead of building up to the peaks, the band airlifted the audience to the top of the mountain, unsure of where to go next. 

Playing hit after hit, like “Yours If You Want It,” “Fast Cars and Freedom,” and “Stand,” back to back. The instant track identification was lacking from the crowd, with booming bass drums and a stacked ensemble of strings, it was near impossible to hear LeVox, who had to compete with the band to be heard by the audience.

Hearing the vocalist over the band is an essential part of any concert, with the lead singer serving as the grand marshal leading the audience in song and energy, in this case for a nearly hour-and-a-half set.

When LeVox would point the microphone at the audience to sing arguably the most well-known parts of songs, it was like sending a person to the stage at a karaoke bar and not knowing the song at all.

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LeVox maintains the same vocal ability as he did 25 years ago, with one of the most distinguishable voices in modern country music. During the slower songs like “My Wish,” a now popular father-daughter dance song at weddings, “Bless the Broken Road,” and “What Hurts the Most,” LeVox seamlessly hit every note, and so did the crowd. 

When hitting the notes in songs like “Banjo,” “Why Wait,” and “I Like the Sound of That,” the impressive vocal parts on the studio releases, which outshine musicianship, were only auxiliary to the bombastic nature of the guitar, drums, and keys.

While it could be the Grandstand that affected the live mix, the amplified-to-eleven guitars and thundering drums made it seem like Rascal Flatts is throwing their hat in the ring for a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination, rather than honoring their Grand Ole Opry member status.

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With musicianship on full display and the ensemble full of clearly skilled artists, collectively the band struggled to find balance after a six-year break in touring and four years on hiatus from making music together. The arrangements were more fierce but struggled with creating thick and broad dynamics.

The band treated the audience to a new release, “I Dare You,” a country pop song and collaboration with The Jonas Brothers. Artistically, the band is keeping up creatively, with a catchy song that sticks out. “I Dare You,” the only new track on Rascal Flats’ latest album “Life Is a Highway: Refueled Duets.” The album, released in June, is the trio’s first studio album in eight years, and features nine re-recordings of their hits with nine other artists.

On stage, the band delivered a charismatic show, having fun and shredding their guitars, which especially shone during the evening’s encore, which, of course, concluded with “Life Is A Highway,” a cover that the trio reinvented and still makes for a perfect summer song. 

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Neal McCoy warms up the crowd with 90s hits and charm to match

Opening up the evening was Neal McCoy promptly at 8 p.m., opening similarly to Rascal Flats with a mashup of his song, “The City Put the Country Back in Me” and “The Boys are Back in Town”, giving the rock n roll song more country flair.

In classic blue jeans, a patterned western wear shirt, and a cowboy hat, McCoy reached popularity in the 90s through the early 2000s. The opening set, serving as a refresher for some audience members and an introduction for others.

Performing songs like “The Shake,” “No Doubt About It,” “Wink,” and “Billy’s Got His Beer Goggles On,” McCoy easily won the audience over. When he asked the audience to shake, he shook, not afraid to have fun, sharing stories of his life and career, and even cracking jokes.

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“All of our hits are from the last century,” McCoy said.

In songs like “They’re Playin’ Our Song,” McCoy’s robust baritone voice was smooth. As a self-proclaimed “old guy,” the backing ensemble behind him played symphonically to the fast-paced songs and was with McCoy at every turn, even when he replaced a bar of lyrics with the chorus of Lil Jon’s “Get Low.”

Swaggering on the stage, to songs of his own and to a medley of rock n roll songs like Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock & Roll,” and Brownsville Station’s “Smokin’ in the Boys Room,” McCoy commanded the stage and basked in the attention, proving his seasoned pro status.

Keeping the audience on their toes for the 45-minute set, he ended on a sincere note. With a high-energy set, McCoy opted to slow it down for the last song of the evening. Not a standard practice, but it did not feel out of place.

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Dedicating “I’m your Biggest Fan” to active military service members and their families, veterans, and first responders, a likely dedication from the musician who has done 17 United Service Organizations (USO) tours.   

“We just kind of get out here and do what we do and hopefully entertain you somewhere in there,” McCoy. “This is our way of thanking you for all the years.”

Next up at the Iowa State Fair Grandstand is American rock-and-roll tribute band Hairball.

Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Rascal Flatts Iowa State Fair Grandstand Concert