CLEVELAND, Ohio — If there’s a bigger country artist out there, don’t tell Morgan Wallen, who last night rocked his first of two sold-out “I’m The Problem Tour” dates at Huntington Bank Field.
There’s just something special to see an artist at the height of their powers, seemingly surfing the zeitgeist through top-selling and resonating material that is equaled by a touring prowess demanding a stadium audience.
Proof of the concept was the fact that half of Wallen’s 26-song, roughly two-hour set included material from his latest platinum effort, the 37-track “I’m The Problem.”
This artist only knows big, with all 37 songs off the new album charting on the Billboard Hot 100. More impressively, his rabid audience — at roughly 56,000 strong — knew every word.
There were no bathroom break songs to be found on a hot Friday summer night where the majority of folks needed a few.
This just in: Wallen is in rare air, which was evident during his televised walk-up to the stage.
Joined by Kid Rock, the country singer — dressed in a white hat, red-white-and-blue t-shirt, jeans and cowboy boots — took a brief moment to dive into the Cleveland Browns quarterback competition by giving a Shedeur Sanders watch flex as he walked through the same tunnels the players use.
By the time he arrived on stage, kicking into the pyrotechnic-fueled “Ain’t That Some,” the spirited audience — donning interactive wristbands displaying numerous colors all night, à la Taylor Swift and Coldplay — was in a frenzy.
“My name is Morgan Wallen and I appreciate you,” he said.
“I can already tell you guys are a good time.”
It was fitting the stadium is located in the shadow of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, considering the platinum artist turned in a whole lot of rocking and rolling — albeit with a pop sheen and Music City twist.
Such was the case on the mid-tempo “Kick Myself,” the poppish “Love Somebody” and crowd-favorite “20 Cigarettes.” The latter offered a brief musical digression with its slide-guitar bluesy saunter.
Fans old and new were at the show. This included Amy Evanko attending her first country concert.
“I love country, and it’s Morgan Wallen,” said the Willoughby resident.
Her Euclid boyfriend, Joe Beno, noted it’s great music while also adding a comment for the stadium’s tenants.
“This stadium will never be more full this year than right now,” he said.
In case you live in a cave, Wallen over the last decade has made quite the career singing mostly about good love gone bad, heavy drinking and sometimes how love went bad due to drinking. In many songs, he’s trying to forget about how the good love went bad.
Case in point was “Dark Til Daylight,” with Morgan on an acoustic guitar singing, “I’m sitting here alone/Getting drunk and getting stoned/I’m thinking about you.”
It’s only when taking in his entire set that Wallen’s successful formula could be a little much. But, apparently, when set to a catchy tune, it worked, given how many fans — kids, too — were eagerly singing along.
Other highlights included the moody “Kiss Her in Front of You,” with red light cascading down through fan wrist bands, as well as “Don’t We,” the patriotic postcard to rural American living.
After moving to the back of the stadium for a cover of Jason Isbell’s emotional “Cover Me Up” and the tender “Sand in My Boots” with the singer on piano, Wallen changed into a Jim Thome jersey, put on a retro Cleveland Indians hat and ran through hits that included his Post Malone duet “I Had Some Help,” which boasted an infectious Prince-like melody (and lyrics that also involve problems tied to booze).
The 20-date stadium tour — easily the biggest this summer among all of the country music offerings — includes headliners in their own right opening up different shows, with Miranda Lambert last night getting the honors.
The Grammy Award winner, wearing a “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Since 1985” shirt, turned in a tequila-friendly set that kicked off with the explosive “Kerosene” before finding a nice groove that took the receptive audience through her storied catalog.
This included the up-tempo “Fastest Girl in Town,” which made sense considering she wasted little time delivering one platinum single after another during her hour-long, 15-song set.
There were also fun covers of (surprise!) Wallen’s “Thought You Should Know,” followed by Elle King’s “Drunk (and I Don’t Wanna Go Home).”
The former song truly revved-up the crowd, while the latter encapsulated the evening’s theme of Northeast Ohioans partying it up on a hot and steamy night.
Fireworks ended the entire show, with the best part being that returning Wallen fans can get to do it all over again tonight — with Thomas Rhett replacing Lambert on the bill.
If history serves so far on this tour, Wallen doesn’t see a problem with the setlist, which will be the same, with the results just as fun for diehards taking in night two.
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