Morgan Wallen proved he is more than worthy of his CMA Entertainer Of The Year nomination as he closed out his sold-out Dangerous Tour in Arlington, Texas with his first-ever stadium concert at Globe Life Field on Saturday (Oct. 8).
The “You Proof” singer’s concert at the home of the Texas Rangers made history as the venue’s fastest sellout after nearly all the tickets for his show sold out during the pre-sale. The concert, which sold over 37,000 tickets by the end of first day public on sale, surpassed legendary rockstars’ Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard, who sold 36,000 tickets at the time of their public ticket on sales.
Not only did the East Tennessee native’s concert become the fastest sellout in the history of the stadium, but it also broke the venue’s attendance record, hosting 43,598 fans.
After “Broadway Girls” flooded the venue speakers, the country hitmaker was all smiles and full of energy as he exploded onto the stage to a roaring applause, performing “Up Down.” His rowdy, energy-filled set featured performances of radio hits such as “Whiskey Glasses,” “Chasin’ You,” “The Way I Talk,” and more as well as songs from his record-breaking sophomore project, Dangerous: The Double Album.
Wallen played nearly a dozen tracks from the 2022 ACM Album of the Year, including “Somebody’s Problem,” “This Bar,” “Warning,” “Silverado For Sale,” “Quittin’ Time,” “7 Summers,” “Sand In My Boots,” and more.
“This is a special night for me and my crew and my band. This is our first time ever headlining a stadium,” he said before pausing as he held back happy tears with a big smile on his face. “Man… Before we get any further, y’all say hello to my band up here. We’ve added some members over the years, but three of my band members moved to Nashville with me and we started out rehearsing in one of our buddies’ mom’s basements and this not quite a basement. So, I appreciate all y’all being here, it means a lot to me, this is a special show for not only me but for everybody.”
He even added his latest single “You Proof” to his set list as well as two fan-favorite releases. Wallen held back tears as he delivered an emotional performance of “Don’t Think Jesus,” a deeply personal track written by Chase McGill, Jessi Alexander and Mark Holman with Wallen in mind.
He then paid tribute to his mother Lesli with a performance of a song he released on Mother’s Day.
“I started writing this song a couple of years back, had it started, wrote the first verse and chorus, didn’t finish it, but ended up finishing it just in time for Mother’s Day this year. I’m a pretty big time mamas’ boy, especially when I was growing up. So, I wanted to write my mom a song and this is probably my best effort at a Mother’s Day present so far and I have my work cut out beating this one,” Wallen told the audience before singing “Thought You Should Know.”
In the midst of his performance, he welcomed ERNEST back to the stage to honor their friend and longtime collaborator HARDY, who was originally slated to serve as direct support but is currently recovering from a tour bus accident, with a cover of “Unapologetically Country As Hell.”
“As y’all know HARDY was originally supposed to be here tonight and ERN came to fill in for him. HARDY and his crew got into a bus accident, they’re all okay now, but they weren’t good enough to come here tonight and I can clearly understand that,” Wallen said before performing the A Rock tune with ERNEST. “We miss them though. We wanted them to be here and I know y’all did too. He’s another one of my best friends. So, since he’s not here I figured I try my best HARDY impression.”
Wallen and ERNEST ended the tribute by shouting, “We love you HARDY!”
@musicmayhemmagazine @morganwallen and @Ernest615 honored their friend @Hardy tonight in Arlington with a cover of “UNAPOLOGETICALLY COUNTRY AS HELL.”
The country hitmaker then showcased his love for rock music with a covers medley that included Linkin Park’s “In The End,” The Eagles’ “Life in the Fast Lane,” Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love A Bad Name,” Kings Of Leon’s “Use Somebody,” Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Going Down,” and Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me.”
“I grew up kind of listening to a little bit of every kind of music. I’ve always been writing country music, but I don’t always listen to Country music. I kind of put something together to give you a little taste of some stuff I like,” Wallen shared before exploding into the impressive mix of rock covers.
This isn’t the first time the “Wasted On You” singer has performed the mashup. Wallen began incorporating the medley into his set in 2017, however, he hasn’t included it within his set list since 2019.
Wallen later paid tribute to his friends and family, including his son Indigo Wilder, with a performance of “More Than My Hometown,” during which precious family photos were displayed on the screens behind him.
He concluded his set with a rowdy sing-along to “The Way I Talk,” and an exhilarating encore that included “Heartless,” “Wasted On You” and “Whiskey Glasses.”
Wallen, exuding confidence, had the crowd in the palm of his hand with thunderous singalongs and roaring ovations throughout his 24-song set. The award-winning singer/songwriter also made sure to stop and live in the moment throughout his set to take it all in.
“This was special to me and I hope you can feel that. This is something I’ll never forget,” he said after a performance of “Whiskey Glasses.” “God Bless you! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and they told me we broke the attendance record on this building tonight, so y’all did that, and I made it through without crying, so it’s a successful night for me. Thank y’all so much!”
They say everything is bigger in Texas and that was proven true with the supersized finale of Wallen’s sold-out Dangerous Tour in Arlington. The concert marked the final date of Wallen’s record-breaking Dangerous Tour and featured special guests ERNEST, Mike Ryan, and Jake Worthington.
ERNEST took a break from his first headlining trek, dubbed the Sucker For Small Towns Tour, to fill-in for his longtime friend HARDY, who was forced to cancel his appearance at the show as he recovers from a tour bus accident.
The fast-rising Country star served as direct support on the bill and brought the perfect showcase of his growth as a singer/songwriter, performing songs from his debut album, Flower Shops (The Album), and his EP, Locals Only, as well as a cover of Chris Lane’s “Big, Big Plans,” which he co-wrote.
He kicked off his set with “Sucker For Small Towns” and powered through his direct support slot with fan-favorite tunes such as “Cheers,” “American Rust,” “Some Other Bar,” “Classic,” “Tennessee Queen,” among many others.
“This is the most people I’ve gotten to play these songs in front of for sure,” ERNEST told the capacity crowd. Later adding, “I’m from Nashville, Tennessee, and thank you for being here tonight. This is cool as shit, I ain’t gonna lie. Also, growing up I always wanted to play in a big league stadium, so here we are.”
In addition to songs from his EP and debut album, ERNEST also paid tribute to HARDY with an impromptu performance of “SOLD OUT.”
“I’m going to take two seconds really quick and address why I’m even here tonight, which I’m very grateful to be able to be here tonight, but you know my boy HARDY was supposed to be here right now. I’m just glad that they’re alive and good, but I filled in for him tonight,” ERNEST told the crowd before performing the rowdy anthem. “I know y’all probably showed up because you wanted to hear some HARDY songs and I don’t know if you seen my band and I don’t got much of a metal band, but what I can do is we can sing the shit out of a chorus one time, if y’all want to. Y’all help me out with this for HARDY.”
Following the performance, he shouted out the Mississippi native, saying, “That’s for HARDY, I love you HARDY!”
@musicmayhemmagazine @ernest615 prompted a massive sing-along during his performance in Arlington, Texas, while honoring @hardy with a impromptu cover of SOLDOUT.
“I’ll never forget tonight, that’s for sure!” ERNEST said in disbelief. ERNEST then ended his set with a performance of his first single to Country radio, “Flower Shops,” sans Wallen.
Texas native Mike Ryan hit the stage in his home state at about 6:30 and gave fans a taste of his upcoming project, Longcut. “This is our first time in a big ass stadium like this,” Ryan said in shock during the show.
Fast-rising country star Jake Worthington opened the show with his traditional country sound that wowed the sold-out crowd.
Wallen will soon close out his 2022 touring schedule at Country Thunder Florida in Kissimmee, Florida on October 22, which will be his final concert of the year, according to the hitmaker’s website.
