Thursday, October 3, 2024

Tennessee Triumph: Morgan Wallen’s Unforgettable Homecoming At Neyland Stadium

Tennessee Native and award-winning country artist Morgan Wallen just completed a sold-out weekend at one of the most iconic landmarks in sport’s history, Knoxville Tennesse’s Neyland Stadium, home to the Volunteers. Wallen is only the 4th artist to ever perform in the stadium over its 103-year history, joining The Jackson 5, Garth Brooks, and Kenny Chesney who all had the pleasure of filling the stadium with music. The number of concert-goers Wallen drew in broke the record previously held by The Jackson 5 of the most fans to be in the stadium, totaling 156,161 people over the weekend. 

Morgan Wallen's Unforgettable Homecoming at Neyland Stadium
Photo Credit: John Shearer/Getty Images

I attended Friday’s show, which was a special show for me since I went to school in Tennessee during the Peyton Manning years and visited Neyland Stadium frequently for games. Being in that stadium again was so nostalgic and brought back a lot of special memories. Now I can add another great memory of an amazing Morgan Wallen show to the list of Neyland Stadium highlights. 

Morgan Wallen's Unforgettable Homecoming at Neyland Stadium
Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

ERNEST opened the show around 6:30 taking the stage in a Tennessee Vols jersey accompanied by his son for the opening song of “Smoking’ Gun.” ERNEST has been a long time friend and writing partner of Wallen so it only made sense for him to open the hometown show. ERNEST played his original songs in addition to his current radio single with Jelly Roll “I Went To College / I Went To Jail.” ERNEST also performed a cover of Hank Williams Jr. ” Family Traditions” to get the crowd going with a singalong.

HARDY played second to warm up the crowd for the main act. He brought is high energy country and rock songs to the enormous crowd. HARDY took the stage wearing a Crow Jersey, black denim shorts and his signature floaters and performed his hit singles including: “Wait In The Truck,” “Truck Bed,” and his number one single written for Blake Shelton “God’s Country.” The songwriter also played songs off his latest album like “Jim Bob” and “Six Feet Under: Caleigh’s Song.”

The city welcomed Wallen with signs and displays around town and fans lined up outside Neyland Stadium hours before the show. Fans wore Wallen merchandise and Vols colors orange and white, to celebrate the homecoming of the East Tennessean. At the beginning of his night 1 show, Wallen ran into the stadium alongside the 2024 National Champion Tennessee Volunteers baseball team and their Coach Tony Vitello as they held up their Championship trophy. Over 80,000 fans in the crowd roared as the team and singer made their way to his signature M/W shaped stage. 

Wallen performed a total of 26 songs in 2+ hours, opening his set with the rhythmic and upbeat song  “Ain’t That Some” and the slower “I Wrote The Book,” both songs from his 2023 album One Thing At A Time. As he took in the thousands of fans filling Neyland Stadium, Wallen took the time to say: “I really appreciate that warm welcome, that means a lot to me. The last time I was in this stadium I was watching Tennessee kick Alabama’s ass. I can’t think of a better way to follow it up than to be here playing two sold-out shows this weekend. This is one of the most special days of my entire life and I’m very glad you guys chose to spend this weekend here with me – it means a lot.”

Morgan Wallen's Unforgettable Homecoming at Neyland Stadium
Photo Credit: John Shearer/Getty Images

About a quarter of the way through the show, Wallen sang a new and unreleased song called “Love Somebody” and revealed its release date as Friday, Oct. 18. A few songs later, Wallen surprisingly welcomed fellow singer Eric Church onto the B-tage with him. The pair performed an acoustic set of “Quittin’ Time.” The men threw on their acoustic guitars as Wallen asked the crowd for more cheers. Wallen told the audience that Church was the first ever artist he saw in concert and said “I decided that day I wanted to sing country music. So, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you brother.”

Another big surprise at the hands of Wallen was HARDY joining him for a run-through of “Up Down.” The pair became good friends as tour partners for the past five years. As Wallen sang through the verses, flames flew out of the LED screen on the stage and HARDY came running out singing. Right after HARDY’s appearance, ERNEST joined Wallen on stage for “Flower Shops,” ERNEST’s song that features Wallen and the highly contagious beat-filled song “Cowgirls” as the stage lit up pink. 

Photo Credit: John Shearer/Getty Images

After more than two hours and three special guests, the show came to a bittersweet end with a full fireworks show as Wallen sang the last three songs: “Thinkin’ Bout Me,” “Last Night,” and “The Way I Talk” in a black and orange number 14 Vols jersey.

Photo Credit: John Shearer/Getty Images

Night two of Wallen’s sold-out shows was on Sunday, where he was joined by two-time Super Bowl champion and former University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) quarterback Peyton Manning, current UTK football coach Josh Heupel, quarterback Nico Iamaleava and wide receiver Bru McCoy as he walked into the packed stadium. 

After performing his Platinum winning cover of Jason Isbell’s “Cover Me Up,” Wallen welcomed Miranda Lambert to the stage to sing the hit song “Thought You Should Know,” the first song the pair ever wrote together. HARDY and ERNEST joined Wallen once again on night two for their cameo song appearances. Wallen sang a special hometown song from Dangerous: The Double Album, “Talkin’ Tennessee,” which was only added to the setlist for the Neyland Stadium shows. He played the song in front of the house replica of his grandmother’s house speakinga bout how excited she would have been to see him play the historic venue in their home state.

Photo Credit: John Shearer/Getty Images

Not long before the encore, GRAMMY-award-winning country singer Darius Rucker surprised the crowd, joining Wallen onstage. The duo was all smiles as they joined together to sing Ruckers’ Diamond-certified version of “Wagon Wheel.”

Photo Credit: John Shearer/Getty Images
Photo Credit: John Shearer/Getty Images

Wallen only has three shows remaining on his One Night At A Time 2024 tour, so snatch up your tickets now! The shows are at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium on Oct. 4, and consecutive evening shows in Charlotte, North Carolina on Oct. 18 and 19. For more details and ticket sales, visit MorganWallen.com.

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Amy Harris
Amy Harris is a writer and photographer who has been traveling for 20 years and flown over 2 million miles to visit over 80 countries on 6 continents. She is a freelance photographer for Invision by Associated Press, AP Images and Rex/Shutterstock. Her work can be seen in various publications and websites including: Rolling Stone, AP Images, National Geographic Books, Fodor’s Travel Guides, Forbes.com, Lonely Planet Travel Guides, JetStar magazine, and Delta Sky Magazine.

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