Luke Bryan “Kick the Dust Up” Tour
Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Words by Jenny Davis Photo’s by 90eastphotography
The stadium at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN was “burning up” with excitement or actually just burning up! The record high temperature took a toll on over 300 concert goers who were treated by medical officials for heat stroke and other heat related illnesses. But the heat didn’t stop the sell-out crowd from enjoying themselves. Luke brought along his buddies Dustin, Thomas, Randy and the FGL boys to give this country music town a night they would never forget.
Dustin Lynch started off the afternoon with a short yet very sweet set that included his singles “Cowboy and Angels” and “Where It’s At”. The crowd went wild when they saw him walking on to the stage in his big white cowboy hat and it wouldn’t be the last we would see of him.
After a quick set change, Thomas Rhett came out singing some of his top hits like “Get Me Some of That” and “Makes Me Wanna”. But the crowd came alive when he asked the the hot yet happy crowd to get those arms up doing the wave. He kept them on their feet singing a cover of “Uptown Funk”. Rhett left us wanting more with his current single “Crash and Burn”. We would be seeing him again later in the show!
All I can say about the next artist was “WOW”!!! Randy Houser came to please. With his powerful booming voice he showed us why he is one of the best voices in country music. While he sang all of our favorites such as “Boots on” and “How Country Feels”, the standout performance came when he sang an acoustic version of “Like a Cowboy”. He hit a note that echoed in the stadium and held for what seemed to be forever. Sweat dripping off his forehead showed not only was he hot from the heat but he gave this crowd a moment most of us will remember for a long time. That one note should grant him all the accolades awarded in country music. It was that amazing! Thank goodness we will get to enjoy his beautiful tones a little later.
Finally the sun was beginning to set and the stadium was shaded enough to give some of us a break from the heat. Not for long though because Florida Georgia Line was coming up to heat us back up!!!
T-Hub and BK came ready to rock singing one hit after another. Things slowed down only long enough for them to sing “Dirt” and then jumped right back in to the party with “Party People”. The stadium then began to shine with everyone’s cell phones as the guys performed “Get Your Shine On”. FGL finished their set with rousing renditions of “Sun Daze” and of course they took us along for the ride singing their big hit “Cruise”. I bet you can guess that they will be out again to get this crowd going!!!
After a great afternoon of amazing artists and music it was finally time for the headliner Luke Bryan!
Of course he came out in dramatic fashion! The stadium went dark and the music began to electrify the crowd. Finally what we had all been waiting for! The master of ceremonies appeared from the middle of the stage that extended out from the main stage nearly to mid-field. Luke started the night with his current single “Kick the Dust up” and followed that with one hit after another. After reminiscing with some of his retro songs such as “All My Friends Say”, and “Calling You Baby”, he jumped ahead to some of his later hits like “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye”, “Roller Coaster” and “Play It Again”.
It was a smorgasbord of hot country guys, when Luke set down at the piano and his buddy’s Dustin, Rhett and Randy joined him. After taking the world’s largest selfie with all of his best friends at Vandy Stadium, the “boys” showed out!!! Starting out with a little shot of Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” and then going right into Maroon 5’s “Sugar”. Again we were “wowed” by Randy Houser’s amazing voice! Goodness gracious, if you get a chance to go see him and you appreciate a beautiful, melodic tone, he is one you won’t want to miss!!
The fun wasn’t over though! Luke enjoys sharing the stage with his friends and tonight was no different! He told the audience that he asked Tyler and Brian to come out and they would figure out later what they were going to sing. Well they got started with Alabama’s crowd pleasing song “Mountain Music” and got the whole place singing along. The next sing-a-long proved to be a little harder for the young guns. I guess next time Luke wants to sing Journey’s “Faithfully” he may want to ask FGL if they know the words. That’s okay the crowd backed them up anyway!!!
After having a party on the stage it was time to settle it down a little. Just as Luke appeared at the beginning of the night, an old peer came slowly out of the middle of the stage as Luke began the highly emotional song “Drink a Beer”. It was definitely a memorable moment, making you feel as if you were sitting right there with him.
Many of tonights patrons were taking the next song “Drunk on You” literally, although I am not sure many will remember it. Taking a moment to introduce the band, he reminded us all that Nashville is a great town filled with amazing musicians.
After even more of his top hits, such as “I See You”, he continued with “Rain is a Good Thing” which included fireworks timed perfectly to fireworks!!!
But the dramatic part of the night came when his black truck appeared out of the middle of the stage surrounded by fire as he jumped on the roof of the truck getting the crowd “fired-up” and raising their hands up agreeing that we “Don’t Want This Night to End”. But all good things must come to an end.
Nearly five hours after the first sounds came roaring out of Vanderbilt Stadium, Luke closed the show with “Country Girl”(Shake It for Me”) and that’s exactly what all the females and even some of the males did!
It was an afternoon AND evening filled with amazing music and loads of talent from beginning to end. If you get a chance to see any of these great performers you will NOT be disappointed. Thank you Luke for bringing your show and your friends to see us here in Music City! We will see you next time!
