Saturday night at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton Luke Combs brought his world tour and rocked it like I have never seen before. Luke did not come alone as he had Riley Green, Lainey Wilson, Flatland Cavalry and Brent Cobb.
Due to a slight mix up with where the passes ended up I wasn’t able catch Brent’s performance, and couldn’t get down in time to photograph Flatland Cavalry.
Flatland was good and entertaining as the sold out crowd was still filing into the stadium and the pit area in front of the stage grew. This admittedly was the first I had heard of them but they are an act I plan to look for into and keep an eye out for.
Next up was the rising mega star that is Lainey Wilson, whom some may recognize from the hit show Yellowstone. Lainey caused many to pile into the stage area and commanded it with her high energy and actions. The star would play her new single “Watermelon Moonshine,” performed “Wait in the Truck” solo which she was the feature artist on with Hardy. Along side many of her songs which would be wrapped up her set with her hit chart topping hit “Heart Like A Truck.” It is safe to say Lainey has an amazingly bright future and the exposure from this tour with Luke will only strap a rocket to back of the “Bell Bottom Country” artist. For anyone in attendance that didn’t know the 31 year old from Baskin, Louisiana sure do now.
4th of the 5 acts was nonother than Riley Green, whom our listeners may recognize his song “Half of Me” he did with Thomas Rhett and his debut single that most will remember him for “There Was This Girl.” The band for “The Duckman” came out with high energy as the he hit the stage for his set and using a duck call before tossing it into the crowd as a souvenir for a lucky fan. Riley wasn’t as high energy as his bandmates but still commanded the crowd. Riley is someone I was not as familiar with compared to Lainey or the main event but it was great to experience him in a live setting and took me back to hearing “There Was This Girl” to close out his set but this was not the last we would see of Mr. Green.
Taking the stage was the man himself the Luke Combs who was met to thunderous applause from the sold out crowd with them singing along to every one of the 26 songs (including encore) he performed. Luke would kick it off by literally punting a beer before playing “Loving on You.” Hearing Luke live gives you a true appreciation for his songs. When you hear Combs play some of those ballad like “Even Though I’m Leaving” you can hear the emotions in his voice and hear how deep and personal his songs can be to him. He would be joined on stage by Riley Green to substitute for Eric Church for their song “Does To Me,” while Lainey would join Combs for “Outrunnin’ Your Memory.” The bigger the song the more the crowd react and sing along with the songs especially “Beer Never Broke My Heart” which was the last song before the encore songs, which was number 23 on the night. For an encore Combs would play 3 songs “Better Together,” “The Kind of Love We Make” before having Riley, Lainey and Cleto Cordero of Flatland Cavalry for “Brand New Man” a Brooks & Dunn song Combs was featured on.
This was a concert that would’ve blown the roof off of the stadium if it had one. Combs and Wilson were the definite stand outs for the night but that is no surprise. Combs during the show would go to even do a gender reveal. Combs would perform for about 2 hours in total and it did not feel like 2 hours at all as the night flew by as the sold out crowd was mesmerized by the talents of Combs. This was a concert that you had to be at, and many are kicking themselves they couldn’t be there. This was my first stadium concert and the experience and performances made it top my concert list that may not be extensive but I’m sure this topped it for many. Safe to say Combs is more than welcome to play Commonwealth anytime he wants after this night.
Check out pictures from the show. I could only take during the first 3 songs, I wish I could’ve taken pictures all night especially with Lainey and Riley performing with him.
– Everett
