Riley Green Packs Out FirstBank Amphitheater For ‘Damn Country Music Tour’ Stop
Riley Green.
Riley Green packed out FirstBank Amphitheater in Franklin on Thursday (June 19) for another sold-out night of his “Damn Country Music Tour.” With a set full of fan-favorites, iconic covers and a sneak peak at new music, Green kept the crowd locked in from start to finish.
Before Green took the stage, newcomer Preston Cooper kicked off the show, setting the tone for the night ahead with a mix of originals and a cover of Chris Stapleton’s “Parachute.” Nashville-native Lauren Watkins followed, with a stand-out hometown performance including her most recent release “Lose My Cool,” fan-favorites “Anybody But You” and “Stuck In My Ways,” and more.
As the sun set over the amphitheater, the crowd jumped to their feet as Ella Langley took the stage, kicking off with a crowd singalong of her current radio single “Weren’t For The Wind.” Langley moved forward with energetic performances of “Better Be Tough,” “Country Boy’s Dream Girl,” “Nicotine” and more before wrapping her time on stage with “Paint The Town Blue.”
Riley Green.
With the crowd fired up, the lights dimmed down as Green made his entrance with “Damn Country Music” before launching into his No. 1 hit, “Different Round Here.” From there, Green moved into the reflective “If It Wasn’t For Trucks,” unapologetic “Damn Good Day To Leave” and rowdy “Half Of Me.”
Green slowed it down with a cover of Jamey Johnson’s “In Color,” “Georgia Time,” “Rather Be” and “When She Comes Home Tonight.” He surprised the crowd with his bus driver Greg on bass guitar for “There Was This Girl,” as the energy climbed back up.
The crowd roared as Green broke into covers of Toby Keith’s “Should’ve Been A Cowboy” and “Courtesy Of The Red White And Blue.”
“Theres a lot of time on the road, being away from home and that’s what is tough about doing this for a living. But, one thing I never get tired of is playing country music for folks who really love country music,” Green expressed before moving into “Jesus Saves,” a solo-penned, emotional ballad telling the story of a homeless man Green encountered in Nashville.
With another surprise up his sleeve, Green decided give fans a live debut of the unreleased track “My Way” before bringing Langley back to the stage to perform their hit duet, “Don’t Mind If I Do.”
“[My Grandaddy] loved three things in this world. He loved Alabama football, he loved bass fishing and he loved my grandmother. I know if he was to leave this world either watching Alabama play, fishing on the lake or just sitting in the carport with my grandmother, he would have been a happy man. So, I wrote this song about him,” Green explained before moving into “Hell Of A Way To Go.”
Kicking the energy up to an all-time high, Green brought Langley out once again to perform their No. 1 single “You Look Like You Love Me,” earning the loudest cheers of the night, before he finished the set with “Change My Mind” and “Worst Way.”
After a short break, he returned for an encore of the fan-favorite “I Wish Grandpas Never Died” and brought the openers out again for a crowd-singalong of “Dixieland Delight” to wrap the night.
The “Damn Country Music Tour” will continue in July.
Ella Langley, Lauren Watkins, Preston Cooper, Riley Green.
Pictured (L-R): Big Machine Label Group’s Scott Borchetta, Pandora’s Victoria Alfonso, Riley Green, Pandora’s Johnny Chiang and Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment’s Jimmy Harnen celebrated Green’s Pandora Billionaire Plaque before the show. Photo: Samuel Crabtree
Ella Langley, Riley Green.
Riley Green.
