Two weeks ago on Thursday, March 21, Sam Hunt performed at the Resch Center in Green Bay for the extension of his “Outskirts” tour. Lily Rose and Brett Young opened for him. Despite not liking country music, I make an exception for Sam Hunt’s music. His album “SOUTHSIDE” got me through virtual geometry class during the pandemic, making him my number-one artist on Spotify for 2020.
The doors to the Resch Center opened at 6:00 p.m. and I arrived around 6:30 p.m. There were not a lot of people, which surprised me but later I became aware of why that was the case. 7:00 p.m. rolled around, the lights went dark, the stage lit up and Sam Hunt was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Lily Rose, who I had never heard of before, took the stage. She performed her own songs, some of which I enjoyed, others not so much. She also sang a couple of songs by other artists such as “Our Song” by Taylor Swift which I screamed all of the lyrics. Lily Rose performed for about thirty minutes. Then, it took another thirty minutes for the stage to be rearranged and set up again.
Still, there were not that many people there. The Resch was maybe halfway full of people. I was confused and a bit impatient because Sam Hunt was still not on the stage! By this time, it was 8:00 p.m. The lights went out again but to my surprise, Brett Young started performing. I also did not know who he was either. The only song of his I recognized was “Mercy.” The lighting and videos displayed added a bit of flair to his performance of songs that carried a sadder tone and slower beat. He was onstage for around an hour. Add in another thirty minutes of shifting the stage around and it was 9:30 p.m. That was the time I had estimated the concert would end, but it was only the beginning. Finally, the Resch Center was actually full, indicating that the one person I actually wanted to see would be coming on stage soon.
Sam Hunt hit the stage opening with “Raised On It” from his first album “Montevallo.” I noticed right away that his voice sounded the same, if not better, in person as he does in his recordings. Visually speaking, I sat straight across from the stage in the bleacher rows in the upper middle section, so Sam Hunt was fairly far away. The side monitors really helped by displaying him so that people far away, such as myself, could actually see him. The stage setup and the lighting were really cool as there were certain images shown and props used for each song. For example, there was this wooden bridge that took up the entire length of the stage where he sat while singing “Water Under the Bridge.” The bridge was then lifted up in the air while videos of water played in the background. He used the bridge for a couple of other songs too, walking back and forth across it.
During one of the first couple of songs that he sang, he went off stage and into the crowd, high-fiving fans, essentially taking a lap before returning to the stage. He did this again about halfway through his set, but instead of returning to the main stage, he ended up at a small stage closer to where I was sitting. I should have gotten up from my seat and sprinted down to join the mini crowd that surrounded the second stage, but I didn’t. Unfortunately, I was stuck between two groups of slightly tipsy women in their thirties having the best girls' night ever. Sam Hunt played two acoustic songs on the mini stage before returning to the main stage where Lily Rose came back out to sing Ingrid Andress’ part of “Wishful Drinking.”
He went on with his set, everyone was having a blast, and I was singing along to every word. There was not a dull moment because even when Sam Hunt needed a little break, his band and more specifically one of his guitarists took over by singing Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” which was a fun little break to pump up the crowd some more before the rest of the set took its course. Sam Hunt also did a sing-along with the fans to “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver which also provided a nice change of auditory scenery one might say. After all of that and about twenty songs, he ended the concert with…drumroll, please…I think you can guess it…”Body Like A Backroad”—his most popular song according to Spotify—ending the concert at 11 p.m.
All in all, I had a fantastic time as I’m sure the other SNC students I saw there did too. I wish he would have played “Came The Closest” as it’s one of my favorites of his newer songs. My only complaint, if I didn’t make it obvious enough already, is how long it took for Sam Hunt to actually come on the stage and perform. I still had assignments to finish that night, so I didn’t appreciate how late it went, but I’m glad I saw the whole thing from start to finish, all four and a half hours’ worth. Although, since I was already awake anyway, I listened to Sam Hunt’s new song released that night called “Locked Up.” On April 5, He dropped his new EP “Locked Up” and announced his “Locked Up” tour dates.
Tickets are on sale now if you missed out on Sam Hunt in Green Bay, but there aren’t many locations close by. Overall, it was a great experience, and I would gladly see him in concert again. Ten out of ten would highly recommend going to a Sam Hunt concert or just hearing him live in general!
Photo: Annika Morschauser