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| Kill The Lights Tour poster (photo courtesy of LukeBryan.com) |
Luke Bryan once again informed everyone inside the sold-out Pavilion at Montage Mountain why he is the current CMA Entertainer of the Year.
Bryan recently celebrated the big 4-0 last week and if Bryan continues to rise and outperform every male in the genre, then it is true what they say-everything gets better with age.
Byran started the night with "Rain Is a Good Thing" which is a number-one hit from six years ago but the way the Scranton crowd sang, you would've guessed it was released within the past year. No matter what he sang, everyone sang along and actually knew all the words. And if they didn't know the words then his current single perfectly exaggerates what they did instead-"Move".
Bryan is known for his booty-shaking and gyrating thrusts on stage, something the female audience melts over. With his perfectly whitened teeth and skin tight jeans, we get it, he's a bit of a heartthrob. But what is refreshing is the age differences in this crowd. You have your typical country-wannabe teenagers and then the older, mature concert experts who kept up with Bryan every second of the show.
Bryan ripped though hits "Drunk on You", "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" and "Strip It Down" before bringing back to the stage one fourth of Little Big Town, Karen Fairchild, to sing their hit "Home Alone Tonight". But Bryan wasn't done with Little Big Town yet.
The rest of Little Big Town came back to the stage where they shared a musical moment with Bryan. Performing Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" and Marvin Gaye's "Lets Get It On", it was pure gold. Bryan told the crowd, "If y'all can't get a girl with our help right now, then you've got no game!"
Throughout the night Bryan proved to us that he can entertain, he can dance and he can joke around. But it was during the song "Drink A Beer" where Bryan showed us that he can dance, drink and have a good time but also be real, raw and connect with the fans. As the sold-out Pennsylvanian crowd lit up the amphitheater with lights on their cell phones, Bryan sat solo on stage with guitar in hand. No stage lights. No special effects. Just a man, his guitar and thousands of passionate country fans singing with him. A moment many where many were thinking 'I don't want this night to end.'
Show opener Dustin Lynch who is very familiar to opening for Luke Bryan (Lynch opened for Bryan on last year's Kick The Dust Up Tour). Lynch did a good job with what he had as more than half the pavilion was still getting their beers. Be sure to look out for him being the next Luke Bryan when Bryan puts his boots up.
Then came Little Big Town. Members Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook. Kimberly Schlapman and Phillip Sweet, blew us away and showed us why they are reigning ACM and CMA Vocal Group of the Year. With their pitch-perfect harmonies and down home country feel, you can tell they sure do love what they do. Being in the business for almost twenty years now, they are no strangers to working hard and moving up the ladder. "Little White Church" and "Pontoon" got the party going. But it was during a cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" where the group showed us what they are capable of. It was beautiful. But so was everything else they did. "Girl Crush", their most noted and controversial song back from 2014 was a highlight from their set with the disco ball hanging from above the stage and the whole crowd singing right along with them. They closed out their set with a powerful vocal performance of their biggest hit to-date "Boondocks". Grand Ole Opry members and hit makers, this band is a force to be reckoned with.
You can still catch the Kill The Lights Tour on the road the rest of this summer. For more dates and information visit Luke Bryan's tour page.
Below is a video from the sold-out Scranton, PA show (video courtesy of Michael Read).
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