GALLERIES
REVIEWS
Dalton Mauldin- Nashville
Dalton Mauldin, an up and coming singer-songwriter, who doubles as a Savannah Bananas baseball player. Dalton is down to earth and captures an audience so effortlessly. Despite still being on the rise, with his music available on Apple Music, Spotify, and Youtube, Dalton had the whole rooftop singing along with him on a hot summer night. He even teased new music and spent an hour or so mingling with fans after the show before watching the other artists on tap.
Morgan Wallen- Neyland Stadium
In July of 2024, Morgan Wallen announced he was "coming home." Wallen, regularly gracing the name of "that boy from east Tennessee" announced he was performing at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, TN on September 22nd of 2024. Fans went crazy, everyone wanting to show up for what was being promoted as Wallen's Hometown Show. Not to mention, Wallen was only the 4th artist ever granted permission to perform in Neyland Stadium, an event quickly realized to be monumental! The ticket demand was so high, Wallen announced a second show that would be played on Friday, September 20th. Both shows SOLD OUT rapidly. Wallen has gone from performing in small bar venues to now selling out stadiums in just a few years. For visualization, Wallen sold out a Tennessee Valley Fair crowd of 5,000+ in 2019, and just 5 years later, he brought in 156,000+ fans across two shows at Neyland Stadium, breaking the weekend attendance record previously set by the Jackson 5 in the 1980s.
Of course, being from East Tennessee myself, I had to find a way to take in at least one of the shows. For me, it was Sunday night. I was not surprised at the absolute frenzy that Morgan Wallen sent Knoxville, TN into that weekend, nor was I surprised by his incredible performance. Wallen, CMA nominee for Entertainer of the Year, did just that: he ENTERTAINED, from start to finish. From his opening "walk-out" which is highly anticipated each night, to the grand finale of fireworks gracing the night sky, Morgan Wallen put on an unbelievable show. Fans sang along to every word of every track. There were countless memorable moments, however, one of the coolest moments of the show is the moment Wallen exits the main stage through the pit, walks down the center of the floor, shaking hands and waving to all the fans along his route to his B Stage towards the back of the floor. Wallen states he uses his B Stage to be able to reminisce on his smaller shows where he could see everyone's faces and interact with them on a deeper level. Needless to say, whether concertgoers were in the nosebleed seats, on the back of the floor, in the lower level, or living it up in the infamous "party pit," everyone was having the time of their lives, even in a few spirts of rain.
As if Wallen was not bringing enough of his own energy, he brought out Darius Rucker to perform Wagon Wheel, and Miranda Lambert to sing a song they co-wrote together titled "Thought You Should Know." Both in addition to the Tennessee Volunteers' head football coach (Josh Heupel), wide receiver Bru McCoy, and quarterback (Nico Iamaleava) who were brought out during Wallen's "walk-out."
In closing, fans came from all over the US to support Morgan in his hometown, and Knoxville showed up and showed out proudly as well. There is no doubt that Morgan Wallen and Neyland Stadium had Knoxville ROCKING, for nearly two hours straight and it was a night no one will soon forget.
Jonas Brothers: Greetings from your Hometown Tour
The Jonas Brothers' Greetings from your Hometown Tour is a show that you have to see more than once! We always planned to attend the Knoxville, TN, show because it was our "hometown" show. However, with the Jonas Brothers changing their setlist frequently throughout the tour, switching out songs, bringing in special guests, and playing different song requests requested by the fans themselves, we quickly realized we were going to need to see the show again and again! We decided to add a surprise trip to the Nashville show, in which they brought out Sierra Ferrell and Maren Morris. It was an incredible show full of hits from the brothers' 20-year catalog of music, including Burning Up, Sucker, SOS, That's Just The Way We Roll, Only Human, and Love Me To Heaven. Joe performed Cake By The Ocean and Toothbrush, and Nick performed his top solo hit, Jealous. The brothers also performed fan favorites from the new album, Backwards, and Mirror to the Sky, which are set-list regulars now. They finished it off with two of the most iconic Jonas Brothers songs to date, but I'll leave the titles out to not spoil it for anyone. Needless to say, we left wanting to go back for even more!
A couple of weeks later, we attended the Knoxville show, our hometown. They brought out Alex Warren and performed his top hits "Ordinary" and "Burning Down" with him. Thompson-Boling Arena was LOUD, to say the least. Again, all the best of the best Jonas Brothers songs were performed, and no one wanted the night to end. They even debuted their new Christmas song, "Coming Home This Christmas," which is also featured in their Christmas film, "A Very Jonas Christmas."
Our last stop was at the end of November, on the 2nd leg of the tour. With openers including Jesse McCartney, DJ Deleasa, and Franklin Jonas, the night started in the best way possible. Then the brothers opened with Love Me To Heaven to kick off their set, and hit the ground running from there. Joe sang an unreleased song as a fan request, and they collectively performed "Mandy" as another fan request. While they don't have a special guest for every show on the tour, we oddly enough had one at each show we went to. The guest for Cincinnati was Walk the Moon, and they performed the infamous "Shut Up and Dance With Me" together, which had the whole arena jumping. I think our favorite moment from the Cincinnati show might be the moment Joe asked us (my sister and I) for our Christmas-themed cowboy hat, which I happily tossed to him mid-song. Other favorite moments would include every time Kevin, Joe, or Nick came to the corner of the stage and sang, took time to interact with fans, dance, etc.
To this day, I cannot tell you which show was my favorite because they were each so captivating and memorable in their own way. They are incredibly talented vocalists and entertainers. But even more so, they find joy in making fans feel special every chance they get. If you haven't already, go see the Jonas Brothers' Greetings from your Hometown Tour. You won't regret it! There's a handful of shows remaining before they close out the year with a New Years Eve show in Miami. And who knows what 2026 will bring. But I promise you, whether you're a fan of the Jonas Brothers or not, you will leave their show exclaiming how entertaining it was and how much fun you had. You will also find yourself looking up the rest of the tour schedule to see if there's another show you can make it to before the tour ends.
