April 25, 2003 CMT

Even before they walk on-stage, entertainers can usually sense the mood of an audience. Of course, it's not that difficult to gauge the mood when you're playing to thousands of college students celebrating spring break on the sands of Daytona Beach, Fla.

Rascal Flatts' concerts routinely take on a party atmosphere, but they took it to a higher level during their recent performance at Daytona Beach. The concert provided the trio with their second CMT concert special, Rascal Flatts: Melt on the Beach. The show draws its name from the trio's latest album, Melt.

The band members - Jay DeMarcus, Gary LeVox and Joe Don Rooney - knew exactly what awaited them at the concert taping. After all, they've spent time in Daytona Beach during spring break.

"I spent a lot of time there in high school," LeVox adds, "my sophomore, junior and senior years. I went down there for those ose years - '86, '87' '88 spring break. I don't remember much of it. It was typical high school stuff. You go out there and lose your mind for a week, go broke and have to find a Western Union to get money sent back to you from your folks."

DeMarcus says, "We were real in touch with what they [the audience] were about when they got there for a show."

Fans will have to watch the special to find out more about the hot tubs that were operating during the concert, but the show also includes some musical surprises. Rascal Flatts played their hits, but they also delved into some classic rock nuggets from the '70s.

Rooney explains, "We did 'Foreplay/Long Time' by Boston, into Edgar Winter's 'Free Ride' and back into the Boston thing. It's kind of a little medley of two songs that just rocked. It was a lot of fun. The crowd went nuts. It was wonderful."

High Five Entertainment, based in Nashville, is a leading producer of music specials and live events, series, award shows and documentaries for network ad cable television outlets. The company has created programming for a variety of artists and events including Lilith Fair, Farm Aid, George Benson, Garth Brooks, The Dove Awards, Celine Dion, Sarah McLachlan, Jim Brickman, Reba McEntire, The TNN/CMT Country Weekly Music Awards, the 2002 Reebok Human Rights Awards, and the Emmy Award-winning Broadway hit BLAST.