Morgan Wallen Reaches Superstar Status During First Live Show of 2019 Tour
As leftover New Year’s Eve confetti fell from the ceiling and a silhouette of his distinctive mullet flashed across not one, but two video screens, Morgan Wallen made the roars of the crowd at his sold-out Chicago show on Friday (Jan. 4) reach a fever pitch.
Good things come to those who wait on his If I Know Me Tour.
Donning a black shirt and red plaid vest, and with red strobe lights flashing behind him, Wallen kicked off what would turn into an all-night singalong with "Whatcha Know 'Bout That," the first performance in a night that would include nearly every cut from his current album, If I Know Me.
"Chicago, what’s goin’ on?" the Taste of Country RISER enthusiastically asked as he took the stage. From there, Wallen tore into "Happy Hour" and "The Way I Talk," with every fan from the first row to the last singing virtually every word.
Wallen then took a much deserved break to greet the fans for the first time of the night.
"I don't know what the hell is going on these days, but I know we sold out Chicago, and for that, I thank you," he told the Joe’s Live crowd. His words drew a thunderous cheer from the adoring audience, further cementing that the Windy City is in love with the kid from Tennessee.
With behind the scenes videos flashing on the screen, Wallen delivered "Had Me by Halftime" and his title track, "If I Know Me."
"Do you guys know every word of every song on the album?" he asked, laughing as the audience screamed in a unison of agreement. "That is awesome."
Wallen showed another side of himself on a sweet love song before pulling out his first cover of the night, performing Eric Church’s "Smoke a Little Smoke." He also let loose in the language department for the first time soon after, telling the crowd that 'this is f--king awesome" before heading into "Little Rain" and his current single, the painfully good "Whiskey Glasses."
And when some technical problems briefly kept the rising star from continuing the show, the crowd took over, getting louder and louder as the microphones were fixed and Wallen shotgunned a beer. But before one knew it, things were back on schedule, with Wallen’s backing band sounding awfully good on tracks such as "If I Ever Get You Back," "Redneck Love Song" and "Chasin’ You."
“If I have my way, this will be my next single,” he told the crowd of the latter song.
After “Talkin’ Tennessee,” Wallen proceeded to lead the crowd into completely losing their minds with a series of covers that included everything from the Eagles’ “Life in the Fast Lane,” Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name,” Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and Linkin Park’s “In the End.”
Eventually, Wallen concluded the night with the song he served as a co-writer on, Jason Aldean’s “You Make It Easy,” before giving the crowd their final song courtesy of “Up Down.”
All in all, Wallen is a star. There is no doubt about it.
Watch Morgan Wallen's RISERS Performance of "Whiskey Glasses"
Behind the Scenes of RISERS With Morgan Wallen: