Lady A Suffers Awkward Glitch During CMA Fest Set
Lady A suffered a blooper during their Sunday night set at CMA Fest and had to restart a song. The awkward moment went down at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, as the trio, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, showed off their upcoming single, "Summer State of Mind." The song was the sixth track of the night, just after their 2021 cut "What a Song Can Do." After hyping up the new single, the band launched into it, and everything seemed fine. However, after just a minute or so into the track, Charles Kelley paused the show, citing "technical difficulties."
The trio, which also includes Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood, and their backing band reset as Kelley urged the crowd to bring even more energy as they restarted the single, which will officially release on June 21. Despite the confusing moment, the band then performed "Summer State of Mind" again without issue.
It's unclear exactly what happened to cause the glitch. According to Setlist.fm users, this was only the second time the group performed the song live, following a June 10 performance at Breese Stevens Field in Madison, Wisconsin. That fact makes it more likely there was some sort of missed cue or a sound mixing issue. Additionally, ABC cameras were filming portions of the set for the upcoming CMA Fest TV special, which will air on Aug. 3. It's possible there was either an error on the TV production crew's end or the band members wanted to ensure they pulled off a perfect rendition of the upcoming promotional single for television.
The pause did not throw off Lady A's set. Immediately after "Summer State of Mind," the group welcomed singer-songwriter Breland to the stage as a surprise guest. The country stars united to sing Lady A's "Need You Now," capping off the 26-year-old-singer's huge CMA Fest weekend. After the joyous collaboration, the trio went on to close out the set with "You Look Good" and "Champagne Night."
To finish out the final night of CMA Fest, Elle King, Parker McCollum, Russell Dickerson, Old Dominion and Dierks Bentley followed Lady A. Ashley McBryde, Jake Scott and Billy Ray Cyrus also made surprise appearances. CMA Fest will return to Nashville June 8-11, 2023.