It’s July in Dallas and summer is here to stay, but that didn’t seem to deter the country music fans who stuck out the heat and humidity throughout the nine-hour Outlaw Music Festival at Dos Equis Pavilion. This year’s offering included Colter Wall, Hayes Carll, Steve Earle & The Dukes, Casey Donahew, Alison Krauss, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats and Willie Nelson & Family.

Since the event was held on a weekday, July 3rd, the crowds slowly filtered in as folks left work anxious to start their Independence Day celebrations, so the early acts didn’t receive the fan love had it taken place on a weekend. Undeterred, both Steve Earle and Casey Donahew had exhilarating performances, but it wasn’t until Alison Krauss took the stage that the crowd really started to pay attention.

While almost everyone else played in front of the standard Outlaw Music Festival signage, Krauss and her band performed in front of a mock backstage, a fake brick wall complete with glowing windows and vaudeville posters. The 27-time Grammy Award winner turned the cavernous space into an intimate blues hall with merely her soulful voice and tender lyrics. Krauss enthralled the crowd with ‘Down to the River to Pray,’ ‘Didn’t Leave Nobody but the Baby,’ and ‘Gentle on My Mind’ among others.

After a quick stage change Nathaniel Ratliff and The Night Sweats set began and the venue erupted with cheers. The band jammed on the horn riff from their latest album’s opening track, ‘Shoe Boot,’ before Rateliff emerged, clad in dark denim, a black vest, and his signature unbuttoned shirt. Rateliff’s powerful voice cut through the big band’s wall of sound like a knife. The band bounced between songs from their self-titled debut album and ‘Tearing At The Seams,’ giving the NRNS fans the grooves that they came for. Highlights of the evening were certainly ‘I Need Never Get Old,’ ‘S.O.B.’ and ‘Tearing at the Seams.’

To cap off the night, the one and only Willie Nelson, the true outlaw of the Outlaw Music Festival, came on stage, playing in front of – what else – a giant Texas flag. The crowd immediately leapt to their feet shouting, “We love you, Willie.” After shaking off the rust on his opener, “Whiskey River,” Nelson performed song after song, calling out to the crowd on his most popular lyrics and skillfully plucking away on ‘Trigger,’ his trusted guitar. The set blazed through country history and beloved icons – playing a bit of Hank Williams, ‘Hey Good Lookin,’ and ‘Move It on Over,’ and some Waylon Jennings, ‘Good Hearted Woman,’ with the energy and momentum of a locomotive. You don’t expect an 86-year-old to electrify a crowd to life on a work night after a marathon day of music, but that’s exactly what happened.