Luke Bryan Lights Up Madison Square Garden [Pictures]
Luke Bryan kicked off his first-ever headlining show at Madison Square Garden with a bang, promising his crowd: "This is my kind of night New York City, country has come to town!”
It was a milestone night for the 40-year-old country singer, who proved that even on the second leg of his Kill the Lights Tour, he's still shakin' it — this time with a double dose of Bretts in the form of support acts Brett Eldredge and Brett Young.
Opening the show, ToC RISERS act Young began to warm the night up with his set of “Close Enough,” "You Ain't Here To Kiss Me" and “In Case You Didn’t Know.” The thankful singer embraced the reality that he was performing at MSG, which made him that much more hopeful, noting that it was always a bucket list item for him to someday play the iconic venue. He went on to close his set with his breakthrough radio hit, “Sleep Without You.”
Bringing his own beat of the music, Eldredge went on next to dazzle the New York country fans with his new single “Superhero,” along with “Don’t Ya” and “Something I’m Good At." After a cover of Train’s “Drops of Jupiter,” Eldredge went on to express his love for the Big Apple, citing the city as an influence for his desire to get to know people on a deeper level, which is what inspires most of his songwriting. Before losing his mind, the "Drunk on Your Love" singer ended his set with “Long Way Around,” “Mean to Me” and “Lose My Mind.”
Then, it was time for Luke Bryan. He got his party people moving in full swing with his upbeat single “Move,” following up with spitfire performances of “That’s My Kind of Night” and “Kick the Dust Up” with fire blazing pyrotechnics onstage.
”Y’all ready to honky-tonk with me, Manhattan?" Bryan asked his crowd.
Making it rain with “Rain Is a Good Thing” and “Crash My Party,” the superstar was no buzzkill when bringing his Spring Break vibe to the stage, tossing beer cans to the crowd to chug along as he continued to rollout hit after infections hit. He slowed things down with his ballads: “Do I,” “Drunk on You,” “Play It Again” and “Strip It Down,” for which he played piano.
Taking a moment to look out to the legendary arena, Bryan confessed, “For once in my life, I felt like Billy Joel for two minutes. That was one hell of a feeling.”
Both openers, Brett Eldredge and Brett Young, then came back out to crash the party with cover songs of Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” and a medley of “Thinking Out Loud” and “Let’s Get It On.” The trio christened each other with shots of tequila to celebrate the tour’s show at Madison Square Garden.
Closing out his show with “Hunting Fishing Loving Everyday,” “Country Girl” and “I Don’t Want This Night to End,” Bryan did not let the night end without a final shoutout to Metallica with his band jamming to the main riff of “Enter Sandman."
The Kill the Lights Tour will wrap up in Fort Lauderdale, FL on April 8, and Bryan will embark on an extensive summer run of his Huntin’, Fishin’, and Lovin’ Every Day Tour featuring Brett Eldredge, Adam Craig, Seth Ennis, Granger Smith, Craig Campbell and Lauren Alaina on select dates.
40 Reasons to Love Luke Bryan