best country music tours 2022

The Top Ongoing Country Tours of 2022

Many of country music's top stars will spend the bulk of 2022 traveling between the world's arenas, stadiums , ballparks, amphitheaters, concert halls and dive bars to play festival dates and headlining tour stops.

Note that supporting acts typically vary per tour stop, so check artists' or venues' websites for full lineups.

Keep an eye on this space throughout the year for news about new or expanded tours.

The Top Country Concert Tours of 2022 (as of Nov. 30)

Reba McEntire's Reba: Live in Concert Tour

Paul Morigi/WireImage

Dates: Oct. 13 - Nov. 19; March 9 - April 15, 2023 Supporting Acts: Terri Clark, The Isaacs (for 2023 dates) Additional Details: Nineties hat act Terri Clark will open each tour date.

Zac Brown Band's Out in the Middle Tour

Tim Mosenfelder/WireImage

Dates: April 22 - Nov. 19 Supporting Acts on Select Dates: Robert Randolph and the Family Band (plus special guest ZBB member Caroline Jones) Additional Details: Gigs at baseball stadiums this summer include a July 9 stop at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs.

Maren Morris' Humble Quest Tour

Gary Miller/Getty Images for iHeartRadio

Dates: June 9 - Dec. 2 Supporting Acts on Select Dates: Brent Cobb, Lone Bellow, Ruston Kelly, Joy Oladokun, Natalie Hemby and Brittney Spencer Additional Details: Morris' album tour stops at such iconic venues as Radio City Music Hall in New York City and Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado.

Cody Johnson and Friends Tour

Dates: May 19 - Dec. 9 Supporting Acts on Select Dates: Easton Corbin, Ian Munsick, Randy Houser, Drew Parker, Jordan Rowe, Chris Colston, The Powell Brothers, Craig Campbell, Ashland Craft, Dillon Carmichael, Randall King and Jess Raub Jr. Additional Details: Johnson opens for the Zac Brown Band at Fenway Park in Boston (July 15) and Citi Field in Queens, NY (Aug. 18).

Luke Bryan's Raised Up Right Tour and Vegas Residency Dates

John Shearer/Getty Images for Luke Bryan: Vegas @ Resorts World Theatre

Dates: June 9 - Oct. 28   (Raised Up Right) and June 15- Dec. 10 (Luke Bryan: Vegas) Supporting Acts on Select Dates: Mitchell Tenpenny, Riley Green and DJ Rock (Raised Up Right) Additional Details: Bryan headlines a two-night stand on July 28-29 at Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion (Gilford, NH). In addition, Bryan's Las Vegas residency got extended in June and will last through the end of 2022.

Luke Combs' 2021-2022 Tour

Jason Koerner/Getty Images

Dates: Nov. 16, 2021 - Dec. 10, 2022 Supporting Acts on Select Dates: Cody Johnson, Zach Bryan and Morgan Wade Additional Details: Combs will spend a bulk of November in Canada.

Russell Dickerson's She Likes It Tour

Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Dates: Nov. 17 - Dec. 10 Supporting Acts on Select Dates: Drew Green Additional Details: Dickerson's headlining jaunt closely follows his All Yours All Night Tour.

Brad Paisley's World Tour

Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images

Dates: May 27 - Dec. 10 Supporting Acts on Select Dates: Tracy Lawrence, Tenille Townes, Morgan Evans, Scotty McCreery and Caylee Hammack Additional Details: The final five dates of Paisley's world tour take place in Australia and New Zealand.

Keith Urban's Speed of Now World Tour

Burak Cingi/Redferns

Dates: June 17 - Dec. 17 Supporting Acts on Select Dates: Ingrid Andress Additional Details: Urban's North American tour follows April and May dates in Europe.

LeAnn Rimes' The Story... So Far Tour

MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images

Dates: May 13 - Sept. 24 , Dec. 2-18 (holiday tour) Supporting Acts on Select Dates: TBA Additional Details: Five September dates have been added to Rimes' 25th anniversary victory lap. She'll hit the road again in December for Joy: The Holiday Tour.

Kane Brown's Blessed and Free and Drunk or Dreaming Tours

Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

Dates: Oct. 1, 2021 - June 4, 2022 (Blessed and Free) and Sept. 17, 2022 - Jan. 31, 2023 (Drunk or Dreaming) Supporting Acts on Select Dates: Walker Hayes and RaeLynn for May and June gigs / Chris Lane, Blanco Brown, Restless Road and Jessie James Decker for the Drunk or Dreaming tour Additional Details: May 7 at Finley Stadium marked Brown's first headlining stadium gig in his hometown of Chattanooga, Tenn.

Wynonna Judd Tour

Katie Kauss/Getty Images for CMT

Dates: Sept. 30, 2022 - Feb. 25, 2023 Supporting Acts: Martina McBride Additional Details: Wynonna Judd announced on May 15 during a public memorial service for her late mother, Naomi Judd, that she'll fulfill dates scheduled for a Judds reunion tour.

Carrie Underwood's Denim & Diamonds Tour

Astrida Valigorsky/WireImage

Dates: Oct. 15, 2022 - March 17, 2023 Supporting Acts on Select Dates: Jimmie Allen Additional Details: "I'm thrilled to be hitting the road again with the Denim & Rhinestones Tour. I'm having such an amazing time with my Las Vegas residency and look forward to continuing that next year after the tour," Underwood shared in a press release. "I'm excited to bring the new music of Denim & Rhinestones to life on tour, as well as put new spins on familiar favorites. We've been working hard already preparing for an amazing show, and I can't wait to see everyone on the road!"

Miranda Lambert's Velvet Rodeo: The Las Vegas Residency

Dates: Sept. 23, 2022 - April 9, 2023 Supporting Acts on Select Dates: None Additional Details: Lambert will play 24 residency shows at Zappos Theater between Sept. 2022 and April 2023.

Lady A's Request Line Tour

Gary Gershoff/Getty Images

Dates: TBA Supporting Acts on Select Dates: TBA Additional Details: In early August, Lady A postponed upcoming tour dates until 2023.

The band's setlist for each night will be dictated by fans via the Lady A Request Line: 615-882-1975.

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The Best Country Concerts I’ve Been To This Year… So Far

Nothing beats live music.

Throughout 2020 at the peak of Covid, concerts were few and far between. Things eventually got rolling again in 2021, but for a lot of the year, there always seemed to be some level of concern that a new Covid outbreak or someone in a band’s crew getting sick could derail several shows and festivals.

Now, throughout 2022, for the most part, concerts have been in full swing and gotten back to pre-Covid levels. Crowd sizes seem to be back to normal, there are far less show cancellations, and artists have been able to successfully tour the whole country to promote new music, win over new fans, and provide the concert experience music fans have been yearning for.

With over half of 2022 behind us now, I’ve seen more than 20 concerts and have had tons of opportunities already this year to catch some of my favorite bands live.

So, in alphabetical order, here are nine of my favorite live acts I’ve seen so far this year.

For the sake of narrowing this list down, I’ve only included headliners, but if you’re going to show you always need to get there in time for the openers. Chances are they’re pretty incredible, too.

Whether you are familiar with their music yet or not, I highly recommend seeing all of these bands live if you get the chance.

49 Winchester

I’ve already seen these guys three times this year and I can’t wait for more. If 49 Winchester comes to your city, you better make sure you don’t miss them. The Appalachian soul outfit from Castlewood, Virginia has been on a hot streak for quite some time now, and 2022 has been a special year for them.

Of all the times I’ve seen them this year, their Neighborhood Theater show in Charlotte, NC with Cole Chaney in February takes the cake. Chaney got the show started and had the whole place silent as he played several songs off of his 2021 album Mercy.

Then 49 came on and blew the roof off the place, hitting all the crowd pleasers, previewing several unreleased songs prior to the Fortune Favors the Bold release, and even threw in a Waylon Jennings “Waymore’s Blues” cover at one point.

With one of the best albums of the year so far in Fortune Favors the Bold , 49 Winchester is finally beginning to gain some of the recognition they deserve. This is just the start, though. This band is about to take off.

They have finished up their tour supporting Whiskey Myers, and aside from a few dates with the Turnpike Troubadours, they’ll be back to festivals and headlining some of the smaller venues. Try to make it to one of these shows soon, you won’t regret it.

49 Winchester is one of my favorite live acts in the business.

Here they are playing “Long Hard Life” at the Neighborhood Theatre.

American Aquarium

Another one of my favorite live bands, I’ve seen American Aquarium twice so far this year.

Frontman BJ Barham may be known for his sad song writing expertise, but if you have ever seen American Aquarium live, you know that’s not all they have to offer. The Raleigh, NC band puts on a full blown, high energy rock and roll show that’ll leave you speechless, and BJ always slows things down with a few acoustic songs as well.

My favorite show of theirs this year was at the River Road Ice House in New Braunfels, TX. Margo Cilker opened the show, and then American Aquarium killed their set as always, but the thing that honestly set it apart from all of the other incredible AA shows I’ve seen was the venue. The River Road Ice House is awesome, I need to make it back there at some point.

With the release of their spectacular Chicamacomico album back in June, AA has plenty of new material to play at their shows, but it’s not like fans ever get tired of the older stuff.

Check an old video of them playing my favorite AA tune, “Burn. Flicker. Die.”

Billy Strings

Billy Strings has got to be the greatest guitarist I’ve seen play live, the guy is ridiculous. I saw the young jamgrass phenom in my first Red Rocks show, and I can’t imagine a better venue for it. I hadn’t originally planned to be there, but when he announced a two-show Red Rocks run right before the Turnpike show, I had to make it happen.

Billy played without an opener and jammed for two sets himself. The venue is beautiful, of course, and as the sun set over the stage and behind the mountains, the lights of Denver were breathtaking. Billy picked and jammed away as the stage lights went crazy for hours on end, and if he never stopped playing, I think I’d still be there today fully entertained.

Here’s part of the livestream from the beginning of that show.

Cody Canada and the Departed

Cross Canadian Ragweeds is one of my favorite bands of all time, but considering I was ten years old when they broke up and I didn’t find their music until several years later, I never had the luxury of seeing them live.

Luckily for me, Cody Canada still tours with his band The Departed, and their set usually includes quite a few CCR songs.

I caught them at one of my favorite venues, The Grey Eagle in Asheville, NC on 4/20. Yep, that’s right. “Boys From Oklahoma” was in high demand all night, and it was even better than I had expected when they finally played it. Canada’s family was in Nebraska at the Koe Wetzel/Snoop Dogg concert the same night, but even though he was a little jealous of them, he delivered one of the best concerts I have ever been to.

Southern rock and rollers Them Dirty Roses opened up the show and joined The Departed several times during their set in an all around fun show.

Check out this legendary video of Ragweed and friends doing “Boys From Oklahoma” live at Shadow Canyon back in their prime.

Read Southall Band

I saw RSB for the first time this year at the Grey Eagle as well. On any normal occasion, I think that lace would be absolutely packed for them. Unfortunately this time they played on a cold and rainy Tuesday in January, and a decent snow had come through a few days prior that I’m sure discouraged some people from making the trek to the show.

To make matters worse, the opener was a band of some pretty low energy older locals that definitely didn’t fit the RSB vibe.

Nevertheless, the band took it all in stride and still played a high energy rock and roll set to probably the smallest audiences they’ve played in years. I mean, it was almost like a private show for me and my friends, and it was awesome. Easily one of my favorite shows of the year. It was just a couple of months after they released their latest album For the Birds in October 2021, so it was great to hear several of the new ones live along with all of their other hits.

Read Southall, the drummer who is also named Reed, and some of the other band members also stuck around after the show a bit to talk to the fans, which is always cool. If any of the RSB guys are reading this, hopefully that Grey Eagle show doesn’t discourage y’all from coming back to the Carolinas soon.

Here’s a recent video of Read Southall Band playing their song “Damn.”

Robert Earl Keen

Thank God I was able to catch the legendary Robert Earl Keen on his farewell tour. He brought a packed house to The Ramkat in Winston-Salem, NC, and although he didn’t really move from the stool he sat on on stage, he kept the audience captivated with his entertaining storytelling and great music.

John R. Miller opened the show and both he and REK played longer sets than I expected, which was awesome. He’s still got a handful of shows left on the farewell tour, so catch him while you can.

Here’s an old video of Keen playing his classic “Feelin’ Good Again” at Austin City Limits.

Turnpike Troubadours

I won’t write too much on this one here, because I could go on forever about it. Turnpike at Red Rocks in May was the best concert I’ve ever attended.

It feels great to have the greatest band of all time back on tour.

Here’s a clip from the livestream of their show the second night.

Whiskey Myers

I had seen Whiskey Myers twice before, but the third time was the charm in Charlotte, NC a couple of weeks ago.

In one of my favorite concerts I’ve ever been to, Whiskey Myers came out hot and never took their foot off the gas, playing one of the best setlists I’ve ever heard. They played a pretty short set before leaving and coming back for an “encore” that was just as long as their first part, and included multi-instrumentalist Tony Kent coming to the front of the stage for an iconic “Wonderwall” cover.

With storms looming all night, the weather largely held off longer than expected, before it poured for their final two songs. The crowd was going crazy.

The biggest name in country music that isn’t Morgan Wallen (and I still don’t get all the hype on that guy), Zach Bryan has taken the world by storm this year. But it’s been a long time coming. He released his first studio album American Heartbreak back in May and recently followed it up with another project called Summertime Blues.

Until I saw Turnpike this year, ZB’s show last year in Charlotte with Christian McCaffery was my favorite concert I had been to, and it’s still a solid second.

This year I saw him sell out a much larger venue in Richmond, VA’s 6,000 person Virginia Credit Union Live at the Richmond Raceway. Bad weather delayed the show a couple of hours, and unfortunately Charles Wesley Godwin and ZB both had to play shortened sets, but the crowd stuck around for the show and Zach killed it.

Zach came out on stage in sunglasses, and while I can’t remember exactly what he said, he told the crowd that he had gotten into some trouble and his face was kind of messed up, so he was going to keep the shades on. According to some fans on social media, this may have been from a motorcycle accident he had. Interestingly enough, he mentions it in one of his newest songs “Motorcycle Drive By”

“Readin’ poetry under shade tree, that woman she’s my baby I will be in Richmond by tonight With so much shame inside me, I just wanna hide me But they wanna hear me sing my songs under lights…”

Check out this video of Zach playing “Something in the Orange” at Auburn Rodeo this year.

There are a whole lot more good shows coming through my area, and I’m sure even more are yet to be announced, so hopefully I can continue the hot streak and keep catching some great shows.

I’ve already got several in the works, but I’m most excited to see some of these artists again and several others at Greenville Country Music Fest in October. That lineup is absolutely stacked.

Streaming music from your favorite artists is great and all, but if you want to really support them, get out to a show and maybe even buy some of their merch.

It’s a lot more fun for everybody, anyway.

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The biggest country music concert tours in 2022

• Updated: Mar. 02, 2022, 1:30 p.m. |
• Published: Feb. 18, 2022, 5:50 p.m.

Kenny Chesney and many other mega country acts are set to tour North America in 2022.

• Matt Levy | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

It’s a good year to get out of the house and see your favorite country music stars live.

In 2022 alone, dozens of household names are going on tour and cities all over the U.S. are mounting country-only festivals catering to fans of the genre.

From Reba to Kane to Dierks to Garth to Kenny to Miranda, we’ve got the scoop on each and every tour and festival listed below.

Reba McEntire

Runs Feb. 18 through March 19. Buy tickets here

Marshall Tucker Band’s “50th Anniversary” Tour

Runs Feb. 18 through Nov. 3. Buy tickets here

Ashley McBryde’s “This Town Talks” Tour

Runs Feb. 18 through Sept. 30. Buy tickets here

Eric Church’s “The Gather Again” Tour

Runs Feb. 18 through Aug. 28. Buy tickets here

Travis Tritt

Runs Feb. 18 through Feb. 22, 2023. Buy tickets here

Luke Bryan’s “Raised Up Right” Tour

Runs Feb. 18 through Oct. 28. Buy tickets here

Darius Rucker

Runs Feb. 18 through July 23. Buy tickets here

Cole Swindell’s “Down to the Bar” Tour

Runs Feb. 18 through July 24. Buy tickets here

Tim McGraw’s “McGraw Tour 2022″

Runs Feb. 19 through Aug. 7. Buy tickets here

Runs Feb. 20 through Nov. 22. Buy tickets here

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Runs Feb. 22 through Sept. 23. Buy tickets here

Morgan Wallen’s “The Dangerous” Tour

Runs Feb. 24 through Sept. 30. Buy tickets here

Keith Urban’s “The Speed of Now” Tour

Runs Feb. 26 through Nov. 5. Buy tickets here

Kane Brown’s “Blessed and Free” Tour

Runs March 4 through July 29. Buy tickets here

Garth Brooks

Runs March 5 through May 21. Buy tickets here

Dierks Bentley’ “Beers On Me” Tour

Runs March 13 through Sept. 11. Buy tickets here

Runs March 13 through Sept. 17. Buy tickets here

Chris Stapleton’s “All American Road Show” Tour

Runs March 17 through Sept. 4. Buy tickets here

George Strait

Runs March 18 through July 30. Buy tickets here

Carrie Underwood’s Las Vegas Residency, Festivals and Tour

Runs March 23 through Aug. 21. Buy tickets here

Brothers Osborne’s “We’re Not For Everyone” Tour

Runs March 23 through July 24. Buy tickets here

Dwight Yoakam

Runs March 24 through June 18. Buy tickets here

Jason Aldean’s “Rock ‘N Roll Cowboy” Tour

Runs April 2 through Oct. 29. Buy tickets here

Kid Rock’s “Bad Reputation” Tour

Runs April 6 through Sept. 17. Buy tickets here

Thomas Rhett’s “Bring The Bar To You” Tour

Runs April 8 through Oct. 15. Buy tickets here

Zac Brown Band’s “Out In The Middle” Tour

Runs April 22 through Nov. 19. Buy tickets here

Kenny Chesney with Dan + Shay’s “Here and Now” Tour

Runs April 23 through Aug. 27. Buy tickets here

Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town’s “Bandwagon” Tour

Runs April 27 through Aug. 7. Buy tickets here

Brandi Carlile’s “Beyond These Silent Days” Tour

Runs April 29 through Oct. 22. Buy tickets here

If you’re hoping to catch more than one country superstar at a time, we’ve listed all the biggest country music festivals in the United States in 2022 below with dates, locations and links to buy tickets below.

San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo

Feb. 18-Feb. 26, San Antonio, Texas

Headliners include Toby Keith, Brad Paisley and Tim McGraw. Buy tickets here

Houston Stock Show and Rodeo

Feb. 28-March 20, Houston, Texas

Headliners include George Strait, Tim McGraw and Keith Urban. Buy tickets here

Boots In The Park

March 12, Norco, California

Headliners include Tim McGraw, Dustin Lynch and Jordan Davis. Buy tickets here

April 2, San Diego, California

Headliners include Blake Shelton, Brett Young and Carly Pearce. Buy tickets here

Country Thunder

April 7-10, Florence, Arizona

Headliners include Blake Shelton, Florida Georgia Line and Morgan Wallen. Buy tickets here

Tortuga Music Festival

April 8-10, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Headliners include Thomas Rhett, Nelly and Luke Combs. Buy tickets here

Stagecoach Festival

April 29-May 1, Indio, California

Headliners include Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood and Luke Combs. Buy tickets here

iHeartRadio Country Music Festival

May 7, Austin, Texas

Headliners include Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood and the Zac Brown Band. Buy tickets here

Patriotic Festival

May 27-29, Norfolk, Virginia

Headliners include Kane Brown, Morgan Wallen and Jon Pardi. Buy tickets here

Gulf Coast Jam

June 2-5, Panama City Beach, Florida

Headliners include Florida Georgia Line, Old Dominion and Brooks and Dunn. Buy tickets here

Carolina Country Music Festival

June 9-12, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Headliners include Jason Aldean, Keith Urban and Luke Bryan. Buy tickets here

Country Thunder Iowa

June 10-12, Forest City, Iowa

Headliners include Trace Adkins, Travis Tritt and Chris Young. Buy tickets here

The Country Fest

June 15-18, North Lawrence, Ohio

Headliners include and Jason Aldean, Brantley Gilbert and Morgan Wallen. Buy tickets here

Tailgate ‘N Tallboys

June 16-18, Bloomington, Indiana

Headliners include Riley Green, Morgan Wallen and Brantley Gilbert. Buy tickets here

Winstock Country Festival

June 17-18, Winsted, Minnesota

Headliners include Tim McGraw, Jake Owen and Jimmie Allen. Buy tickets here

Barefoot Country Festival

June 16-19; Wildwood, New Jersey

Headliners include Eric Church, Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean Buy tickets here

Country Summer Music Festival

June 17-19, Santa Rosa, California

Headliners include Blake Shelton, Chris Young and Kelsea Ballerini. Buy tickets here

Country Jam

June 23-25; Grand Junction, Colorado

Headliners include Tim McGraw, Miranda Lambert and Eric Church. Buy tickets here

June 23-July 9; Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Headliners include Jason Aldean, Gabby Barrett and Justin Bieber. Buy tickets here

*passes for all days are not available at the time of publication

Hodag Country Festival

July 7-10, Rhinelander, Wisconsin

Headliners include Jon Pardi, Kip Moore and Sam Hunt. Buy tickets here

Pendleton Whiskey Music Festival

July 9, Pendleton, Oregon

Headliners include Eric Church, Randy Houser and Macklemore. Buy tickets here

Country Thunder Wisconsin

July 21-24, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin

Headliners include Florida Georgia Line, Morgan Wallen and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Buy tickets here

Night In The Country Music Festival

July 21-23, Yerington, Nevada

Headliners include Chris Young, Dustin Lynch and Tracy Lawrence. Buy tickets here

Country Jam USA

July 21-23, Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Headliners include Little Big Town, Scotty McCreery and Jimmie Allen. Buy tickets here

Faster Horses Festival

July 22-24, Brooklyn, Michigan

Headliners include Eric Church, Morgan Wallen and Tim McGraw. Buy tickets here

Buckeye Country Superfest

July 23, Columbus, Ohio

Headliners include Luke Combs, Cody Jinks and Zach Bryan. Buy tickets here

Watershed Music Festival

July 30- Aug. 1, George, Washington

Headliners include Kane Brown, Miranda Lambert and Morgan Wallen. Buy tickets here

We Fest 2022

Aug. 4-6, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota

Headliners include Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert and Luke Bryan. Buy tickets here

Boots and Hearts Music Festival

Aug. 4-7, Oro Station, Canada

Headliners include Florida Georgia Line, Sam Hunt and Dustin Lynch. Buy tickets here

Rock the South

Aug. 5-6; Cullman, Alabama

Headliners include Morgan Wallen, Alabama and Jamey Johnson. Buy tickets here

Tidal Wave Music Festival

August 12-14; Atlantic City, New Jersey

Headliners include Luke Bryan, Morgan Wallen and Dierks Bentley. Buy tickets here

Headwaters Country Jam

August 18-20, Three Forks, Montana

Headliners include Chris Janson, Lee Brice and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Buy tickets here

Sept. 30-Oct. 1, Bristol, Tennessee

Headliners include Jason Aldean, Morgan Wallen and Travis Tritt. Buy tickets here

Oct. 21-23, Kissimmee, Florida

Headliners include Jason Aldean, Morgan Wallen and Chris Young. Buy tickets here

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Matt Levy covers the live entertainment industry, writing about upcoming concerts, festivals, shows and events. He can be reached at [email protected] .

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Country concerts 2022: tickets & tour dates.

Country Concerts 2022 last updated: December 05, 2022/02:31 am CST

With only a few months left and the big holidays coming up, country concerts 2022 is on a roll – from iconic names like Reba McEntire to budding new artists like Ernest. Some are finishing up the last legs of their tours, while some are opening new dates for fans. And of course, there are the yearly awaited Christmas shows and festivals that we are all excited about… because honestly,  who isn’t?

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So here is the full rundown of country concerts that are happening right now and will happen until the end of the year, so you won’t miss out on anything. And don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with all the details from tour dates to ticket information, and this will be updated frequently to include new tours and dates as well as any postponements and cancellations as soon as they’re available. 

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So, bookmark this now, and let’s begin the list!

Where to get your tickets?

Tickets are selling out by the minute, so if you want to secure your spot for the concert, then you’d have to act fast! The best way to get official tickets is through the artist’s official website. Just head on to the Tour / Tour Dates tab, scroll down and pick the date that you want. You will then be redirected to their ticket seller, which is usually either Ticket Master or Bands In Town . 

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If you’re not so lucky and the date you’re eyeing is already sold out, there are a number of third-party platforms you can still visit, like BigStub. You can also click on vividseats and SeatGeek, which also host a lot of event ticketing, including country concerts. 

Country Concerts 2022 Tour Dates

Alabama – Tour Dates Dec 9 Roanoke, VA – Berglund Center Dec 11 Fayetteville, NC – Crown Center Complex of Cumberland County

Bailey Zimmerman – Tour Dates Dec 8 Portland, OR – McMenamins Mission Theater Dec 10 San Diego, CA – House of Blues San Diego

Billy Strings – Tour Dates Dec 30 New Orleans, LA – UNO Lakefront Arena Dec 31 New Orleans, LA – UNO Lakefront Arena

Brett Eldredge – Tour Dates Dec 6 Washington DC, DC – DAR Constitution Hall Dec 9 New York, NY – Beacon Theatre Dec 10 New York, NY – Beacon Theatre Dec 13 Grand Prairie, TX – Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie Dec 15 Chicago, IL – Chicago Theatre Dec 16 Chicago, IL – Chicago Theatre Dec 20 Boston, MA – Orpheum Theatre – Boston Dec 21 Boston, MA – Orpheum Theatre – Boston

Brett Young – Tour Dates Dec 10 San Diego, CA – House of Blues San Diego

CAAMP – Tour Dates Dec 13 Chicago, IL – Vic Theatre

Clay Walker – Tour Dates Dec 8 Tulsa, OK – The Cove at River Spirit Casino Dec 9 Durant, OK – Choctaw Grand Theater Dec 30 Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Casino and Resort

Clint Black – Tour Dates Dec 8 Wachholz College Center – Montana, MT Dec 10 Alberta Bair Theater – Billings, MT Dec 14 Fox Cities Performing Arts Center – Appleton, WI Dec 15 Stranahan Theatre – Toledo, OH Dec 16 State Theatre Kalamazoo – Kalamazoo, MI Dec 17 Victory Theatre – Evansville, IN Dec 18 Coronado Performing Arts Center – Rockford, IL

Cody Johnson – Tour Dates Dec 9 Las Vegas, NV – Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino

Cole Swindell – Back Down to the Bar Tour Dates Dec 8 Duluth, GA – Gas South Arena

Craig Morgan – Tour Dates Dec 10 San Diego, CA – House of Blues San Diego

Hardy – Wall to Wall Tour Dates Dec 8 Charlotte, NC – Coyote Joes Dec 9 Charlotte, NC – Coyote Joes Dec 10 Charlotte, NC – Coyote Joes Dec 15 Greenville, SC – Blind Horse Saloon Dec 16 Greenville, SC – Blind Horse Saloon Dec 17 Greenville, SC – Blind Horse Saloon

Indigo Girls – Tour Dates Dec 6 Newton Theatre – Newton, NJ Dec 7 Ithaca, NY – State Theatre Ithaca Dec 9 Plymouth, NH – The Flying Monkey Dec 30 Atlanta, GA – Symphony Hall Atlanta Dec 31 Atlanta, GA – Symphony Hall Atlanta

Josh Turner – Tour Dates Dec 8 Nashville, TN – The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts Dec 9 Biloxi, MS – Beau Rivage Theatre Dec 10 Wetumpka, AL – Wind Creek Casino and Hotel Wetumpka Dec 16 Houston, TX – Houston Arena Theatre Dec 17 Oklahoma City, OK – The Criterion OKC

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Kane Brown – Drunk or Dreaming Tour Dates Dec 8 Winnipeg, MB, CA – Canada Life Centre Dec 9 Regina, SK, CA – Brandt Centre Dec 10 Saskatoon, SK, CA – SaskTel Centre Dec 15 Vancouver, BC, CA – Rogers Arena Dec 17 Calgary, AB, CA – Scotiabank Saddledome Dec 18 Edmonton, AB, CA – Rogers Place

Keith Urban – The Speed of Now Tour Dates Dec 6 Sydney, AU – Qudos Bank Arena

Koe Wetzel – Tour Dates Dec 6 Las Vegas, NV – The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas

Lainey Wilson Tour Dates Dec 7 Kansas City, MO – PBR Big Sky Dec 8 Duluth, GA – Gas South Arena

Lee Brice – Tour Dates Dec 15 Fort Smith, AR – Templelive Dec 16 El Dorado, AR – Murphy Arts District – First Financial Music Hall Dec 17 Huntsville, AL – Mark C. Smith Concert Hall at Von Braun Center

Luke Bryan – Raised Up Right Tour Dates Dec 7 Las Vegas, NV – Resorts World Theatre Dec 9 Las Vegas, NV – Resorts World Theatre Dec 10 Las Vegas, NV – Resorts World Theatre

Luke Combs – The Middle of Somewhere Tour Dates Dec 9 Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center Dec 10 Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center

Martina McBride – Tour Dates Dec 8 Denver, CO – Paramount Theatre Denver Dec 9 Omaha, NE – Orpheum Theatre – Omaha Dec 10 Cedar Falls, IA – Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center Dec 16 Catoosa, OK – Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tulsa – The Joint Dec 17 Kansas City, MO – Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland Dec 18 Fayetteville, AR – Walton Arts Center – Baum Walker Hall

Miranda Lambert – Tour Dates Dec 8 Las Vegas, NV – Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Dec 10 Las Vegas, NV – Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Dec 11 Las Vegas, NV – Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood

Morgan Wade – No Signs of Slowing Down Tour Dates Dec 17 Bristol, TN – Paramount Center for the Arts – TN

Nathaniel Rateliff – Tour Dates Dec 10 Aspen, CO – Belly Up Aspen Dec 16 Denver, CO – Ball Arena

Old Dominion – No Bad Vibes Tour Dates Dec 8 New York, NY – Beacon Theatre

Parker McCollum – Tour Dates Dec 30 Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center Dec 31 North Little Rock, AR – Simmons Bank Arena

Reba McEntire – Tour Dates Dec 10 Estero, FL – Hertz Arena Dec 16 Indianapolis, IN – Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Russell Dickerson – Tour Dates Dec 6 Portland, OR – Roseland Theater Dec 7 Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory Concert House Spokane Dec 9 Salt Lake City, UT – The Union Event Center – Salt Lake City Dec 10 Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium Denver

Sawyer Brown Band – Tour Dates DEC 8 West Wendover, NV – Peppermill Concert Hall DEC 9 West Wendover, NV – Peppermill Concert Hall DEC 10 Casper, WY – Casper Events Center DEC 15 East Moline, IL – The Rust Belt DEC 16 Harris, MI – Island Resort & Casino

Shenandoah – 35th Anniversary Tour Dates DEC 8 Winterhaven, CA – Ocotillo Cafe – Quechan Casino Resort DEC 9 Las Vegas, NV – Dawg House Saloon DEC 10 Laughlin, NV – Edgewater E Center DEC 16 Boise, ID – The Egyptian Theatre

The Mavericks – Tour Dates Dec 6 Santa Fe, NM – Lensic Performing Arts Center Dec 7 Santa Fe, NM – Lensic Performing Arts Center Dec 9 Scottsdale, AZ – Salt River Grand Ballroom at Talking Stick Resort Dec 10 Tucson, AZ – Fox Theatre Tucson Dec 13 Chico, CA – Laxson Auditorium Dec 14 Santa Rosa, CA – Luther Burbank Center for the Arts – Ruth Finley Person Theater Dec 15 San Jose, CA – San Jose Civic Dec 17 Los Angeles, CA – The Theatre at Ace Dec 29 New Braunfels, TX – Gruene Hall Dec 30 New Braunfels, TX – Gruene Hall Dec 31 New Braunfels, TX – Gruene Hall

Travis Tritt – An Evening with Travis Tritt – Solo Acoustic Tour Dates Dec 8 Elkhart, IN – The Lerner Theatre Dec 9 Champaign, IL – Virginia Theatre Dec 10 Kansas City, MO – Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City

Turnpike Troubadours – Tour Dates Dec 9 Las Vegas, NV – Brooklyn Bowl – Las Vegas

Walker Hayes – The Fancy Like Tour Dates Dec 11 Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live – Orlando Dec 16 Troy, OH – Hobart Arena Dec 31 Durant, OK – Choctaw Grand Theater

Enjoy the rest of Country Concerts 2022 and gear up for more next year!

Top 30 Country Songs This Week

Randy travis and his version of the gospel song “open the eyes of my heart” , jelly roll pens an emotional thank you post after winning at the 2024 acm awards, 10 of the best lukas nelson songs you should have on repeat, leann rimes incredible cover of “i will always love you” is awe-inspiring, joey + rory’s rendition of “suppertime” is a christian hymn for new beginnings.

Ricky Skaggs Mesmerized CMA Viewers With His Version of “There Goes My Everything” 

Patty Loveless and Dwight Yoakam Show Deep Longing in “Send A Message To My Heart”

Loretta Lynn Sings “Ten Thousand Angels” Wholeheartedly

Another Musical Success in “North to Alaska” by Johnny Horton

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2021-2022 Tours: Here’s a Rundown of the Country Stars Hitting the Road

We can't wait to be in the crowd over the next few months!

Live music is back. That’s right: after months without any concerts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, country stars are coming back in full stride by heading out on tour and bringing their friends along for the ride.

Just as fans have been wishing for the return of live shows, artists are just as excited to get back out on stage and entertain. While some have their sights on rescheduled dates landing in the fall, others are planning to make their triumphant post-pandemic comebacks for 2022.

Sounds Like Nashville has compiled a list of some of the country artists you love that are taking their shows on the road to a city near you. Check out the list below and keep it bookmarked as the tour announcements keep rolling in:

Alan Jackson : 2021 Tour (rescheduled from 2020) – Start date: August 6; Full dates  here ; Openers: Tenille Townes , rotating cast of artists who play his AJ’s Good Time Bar in downtown Nashville

Ashley McBryde : This Town Talks Tour – Start date: June 12, 2021; Full dates  here ; Openers: Morgan Wade , Adam Hambrick , Priscilla Block and Ray Fulcher

Blake Shelton : Friends and Heroes Tour 2021 (rescheduled from 2020) – Start date: August 18, 2021; Full dates  here ; Openers: Martina McBride , Tracy Byrd , Trace Adkins and Lindsay Ell

Brad Paisley : Tour 2021– Start date: August 9, 2021; Full dates here ; Opener(s): Jimmie Allen and Kameron Marlowe

Brantley Gilbert : 2021 Tour – Start date: August 6 (earlier shows canceled due to illness); Full dates  here ; Openers: N/A

Brett Eldredge : Good Day Tour 2021 – Start date: September 16, 2021; Full dates  here ; Openers: Morgan Evans

Brett Young : The Weekends Tour – Start date: September 11, 2021; Full dates  here ; Openers: Matt Ferranti, Ryan Hurd and Filmore

Brooks & Dunn : Reboot 2021 Tour – Start date: September 2, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Travis Tritt and Elvie Shane

Brothers Osborne : We’re Not For Everyone Tour—Start date: July 29, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Tenille Townes and Travis Denning

The Cadillac Three : Tour 2021 – Start date: July 30, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): TBA

Chris Stapleton : 2021 All-American Road Tour – Start date: July 17, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Caylee Hammack , Dwight Yoakam , Elle King , Jamey Johnson , Kendall Marvel , Margo Price , Mavis Staples, Nikki Lane , Sheryl Crow , The Dirty Knobs with Mike Campbell, The Highwomen , The Marcus King Band, Willie Nelson and Yola

Chris Lane : Fill Them Boots Tour – Start date: October 28, 2021; full dates  here ; Opener(s): Tyler Rich , ERNEST and Lily Rose

Dan + Shay : The (Arena) Tour 2021 – Start date: September 9, 2021; full dates  here ; Opener(s): The Band Camino and Ingrid Andress

Dierks Bentley : Beers on Me 2021 Tour—Start date: August 13, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Riley Green , Parker McCollum , DJ Aydamn and Hot Country Knights

Dustin Lynch : Tour 2021 – Start date: July 31, 2021; full dates  here ; Opener(s): N/A

Eli Young Band : Tour 2021 – Start date: August 6, 2021; full dates  here ; Openers(s): N/A

Granger Smith : Tour 2021 – Start date: July 30, 2021; full dates  here ; Opener(s): N/A

Florida Georgia Line : I Love My Country Tour 2021—Start date: September 24, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Russell Dickerson , Lauren Alaina and Redferrin

Ingrid Andress: The Feeling Things Tour—Start date: September 27, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Georgia Webster

Jameson Rodgers : Cold Beer Calling My Name Tour—Start date: August 6, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Brandon Lay , Sarah Allison Turner, Hunter Phelps, Drew Parker , Drew Green and Jordan Rowe

Jason Aldean : Back in the Saddle Tour 2021—Start date: August 5, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Lainey Wilson and HARDY

Jordan Davis : Buy Dirt Tour—Start date: September 9, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Seaforth and MacKenzie Porter

Kane Brown : Worldwide Beautiful Tour—Start date: September 2, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Chris Lane and Restless Road

Kane Brown: Blessed & Free Tour—Start date: October 1, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Jordan Davis, Chase Rice and Restless Road

Keith Urban : The Speed of Now World Tour 2021—Start date: December 1, 2021; Full dates here ; Opener(s): Birds of Tokyo

Kenny Chesney : Here and Now 2022—Start date: April 23, 2022; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): N/A

Lady A : What a Song Can Do Tour—Start date: July 29, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Carly Pearce and Niko Moon

LANCO : Honky-Tonk Hippies Tour—Start date: September 12, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Ross Ellis

Little Big Town : 2021 Nightfall Tour—Start date: September 3, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Ashley Ray and Caitlyn Smith

Kip Moore : The How High Tour—Start date: October 14, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): N/A

Luke Bryan : 2021 Proud to Be Right Here Tour—Start date: July 8, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Dylan Scott , Caylee Hammack, Runaway June and DJ Rock

Luke Combs : What You See Is What You Get 2021 Tour—Start date: July 2, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Ashley McBryde and Drew Parker

Midland : The Last Resort 2021 Tour—Start date: October 7, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Hailey Whitters

Miranda Lambert : Tour Dates 2021—Start date: July 17, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Matt Stell , Elvie Shane and Jackson Dean

Old Dominion : The Band Behind the Curtain 2021 Tour—Start date: May 27, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): N/A

Reba : 2021: Reba Live in Concert Tour—Start date: January 13, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): N/A

Tanya Tucker : 2021 Tour—Start date: June 25, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Brandi Carlile

Thomas Rhett : 2021 The Center Point Road Tour—Start date: August 13, 2021; Full dates  here ; Opener(s): Rhett Akins , Gabby Barrett , Cole Swindell and Conner Smith

2022’s Must-See Country, Americana, Folk + Bluegrass Tours

Although 2021 marked a return to the road for most country and Americana artists, it wasn't a completely smooth journey. Venues and artists scrambled to put vaccination and testing requirements into effect to help protect the safety of concertgoers and performers. Due to the spread of the Delta variant in mid-2021, many concert dates and full tours were postponed or cancelled throughout the year. However, as vaccination rates increase globally, the music industry continues to make strides towards keeping live music alive and well.

With the recent discovery of the Omicron variant, many artists have been forced to cancel overseas tours scheduled for 2022 due to border closings. It's unclear what the future will hold in regards to coronavirus' effect on artists' touring plans for the coming year, but we'll keep you posted on any changes as they happen.

The Boot will keep this list updated with changes and new tours as they're announced.

2022's Country, Americana, Bluegrass and Folk Tours

Launching in January:

Jan. 6: CMT Next Women of Country Tour Presents: All Song No Static Tour with Maddie & Tae Jan. 6: Ashley McBryde's  This Town Talks Tour Jan. 6: Dierks Bentley's  Beers on Me Tour Jan. 6:  Riley Green's We Out Here Tour Jan. 7: Tedeschi Trucks Band's 2022 Tour Jan. 13:  Reba McEntire's  Reba: Live in Concert Tour Jan. 13: Chris Lane's Fill Them Boots Tour Jan. 14: Son Volt's 2022 Tour Jan. 15: Lee Greenwood's  40 Years of Hits Tour Jan. 19:  Kacey Musgraves' 2022 Star-Crossed : Unveiled Tour   Jan. 20: Scotty McCreery's Same Truck Tour Jan. 20: The Infamous Stringdusters'  Toward the Fray 2022 Tour Jan. 21: Randy Houser's 2022 Tour Jan. 25: Lyle Lovett's Acoustic Tour Jan. 27: Walker Hayes' Fancy Like Tour

Launching in February:

Feb. 3: Billy Strings' 2022 Tour Feb. 3: Jimmie Allen's Down Home Tour Feb. 4: Hailey Whitters' Heartland Tour Feb. 4: Waxahatchee's 2022 Tour Feb. 8:  Yola's 2022 Stand 4 Myself Tour Feb. 10: Chris Janson's  Halfway to Crazy Tour Feb. 16: Whiskey Myers' Is A Comin' Tour Feb. 17: Cole Swindell's Down to the Bar Tour Feb. 24:  Aoife O’Donovan's 2022 Tour Feb. 24: Lauren Alaina's Top of the World Tour Feb. 24: Dylan Scott's  Livin' My Best Life Tour

Launching in March:

March 3:  Clay Walker and Tracy Lawrence's 2022 Tour March 28: Bonnie Raitt's 2022 Tour March 30: Bon Iver's 2022 Tour March 31:  Valerie June's The Moon & Stars Tour

Launching in April:

April 7:  Joy Oladokun's 2022 Tour April 14: Jessie James Decker's  The Woman I've Become Tour April 23: Kenny Chesney's Here and Now Tour

Launching in May:

May 27: Keith Urban's The Speed of Now Tour

Launching in June:

June 1: Alison Krauss & Robert Plant Summer 2022 Tour June 11: Brandi Carlile's  Beyond These Silent Days Tour

Launching in July:

Launching in August:

Launching in September:

Launching in October:

Launching in November:

Launching in December:

More From TheBoot

Country Music’s Best Live Performers of 2022

Trigger Reviews American Aquarium , Big Richard , Billy Strings , BJ Barham , Charles Wesley Godwin , Charley Crockett , Cody Jinks , Hogslp String Band , MIke and the Moonpies , Molly Tuttle , Sierra Ferrell , Sierra Hull , The Vandoliers , Them Dirty Roses , Turnpike Troubadours , Tyler Childers , Zach Bryan --> 78 Comments

When highlighting some of the best live acts Saving Country Music witnessed in 2022, let’s take a little bit of a different approach this year. We all know about the big headliners like Cody Jinks , Tyler Childers , Zach Bryan , and of course Billy Strings , who probably as long as he’s living, will be considered by many as the perennial greatest live performer to see. You also have acts that are notorious for bringing the good times live that always deserve to be in this conversation like the Hogslop String Band and Big Richard . But here, let’s highlight some of the bands on the brink, that probably should be headlining festivals and big events themselves, and very well may be in the coming years. These are the artists and bands you better get out to see before like many of your favorite headliners, they end up only playing arenas for super expensive tickets, along with highlighting one band that came back from the brink, and did something spectacular in live music in 2022. PLEASE NOTE: Because these are live performers, their inclusion here is dependent on having seen them live in the last year. Please feel free to leave your list of your favorite live performers in 2022 in the comments section below for the benefit of us all.

10. Charles Wesley Godwin

(as seen at Born & Raised Fest) You could call West Virginia-native Charles Wesley Godwin the next great voice and songwriter to blow up out of Appalachia. But after touring lately with Zach Bryan, the blowup has already happened. Godwin was already the reigning Saving Country Music Album of the Year winner for 2021’s How The Mighty Fall . Now with his band The Allegheny High, he’s proving to be one of the best live performers out there in independent country as well. The only problem in 2022 was that just like Zach Bryan before him, promoters were slow to catch on to just what an important performer Charles Wesley Godwin was, putting him in early slots at festivals, or ignoring him entirely. But some fests like Wild Hare outside of Portland saw where this performer was heading, and got in on the ground floor. As great as 2022 was for Charles Wesley Godwin, 2023 could be even better. See him in smaller venues while you can.

9. Sierra Hull

(as seen at Old Settler’s Fest and Under The Big Sky Fest) A maestro of the mandolin and of million-watt blissful smiles, Sierra Hull is a living legend among us, stunning audiences with her amazing finger work and compositional vision. After being in the audience of Sierra and her band, you feel infinitely inspired and think you can do anything: colonize Mars, make cars run off of water, bring about World peace. Those Sturgill Simpson bluegrass records would have been something less without Sierra’s involvement, so would Bela Fleck’s Grammy-winning My Bluegrass Heart, and so many other projects where she’s bolstered whatever the boys are doing. But her solo stuff is next level, showing off her songwriting side. She’s not to miss, and deserves to be in the conversation when we’re talking about the youthful resurgence in bluegrass right beside Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle.

8. Charley Crockett

(as seen at The Ryman Auditorium) Charley Crockett started his career busking on street corners and lurking in back alleys.  “The alley is just outside, but it’s a long way from here,”  Crockett said while headlining the legendary Ryman Auditorium, referring to the famous alley between the Ryman and the legendary haunts of Lower Broadway like Tootsie’s and Robert’s Western World. It’s where you can most feel the ghosts of country legends lurking. Even if Crockett never makes it past venues like The Ryman, he’s accomplished something spectacular by getting there. Some like to criticize Charley Crockett as a show, or a shtick. Well, of course it is. But it’s a show better than most, which recalls all the goodness of classic country and American roots music, and makes it feel alive in the souls of a modern audience once again. ( read review )

7. American Aquarium

(as seen at Under The Big Sky Fest, KOKEFest) It’s almost not fair. American Aquarium is known as one of the premier bands in all of roots/Americana music for turning devastating heartfelt/heartbreaking songs. If you’re one of those “Sad songs make me happy” gluttons, look no further than American Aquarium and frontman BJ Barham. That’s what you get in spades on their new album Chicamacomico released this year. But usually a band like this would be resigned to listening rooms and perhaps peaceful theater performances with everyone listening intently and clapping politely after the expiration of a well-written song. Oh no sir. American Aquarium live is like watching a controlled explosion, with BJ Barham darting on stage like he was shot out of a cannon, and then roaming around like an wild animal just let out of his cage. American Aquarium fulfills all the senses in the live context.

6. Sierra Ferrell

(as seen at Under The Big Sky Fest, Americanafest) I’m not quite sure we can even confirm that Sierra Ferrell is a real person at this point, and not some demigod sent down from the Heavens to entertain us through these trying times. She’s as fantastic as some fictional character. Her talent is other-worldly. Her command of her music is incomparable. Her cranium sprouts a unique flower crown cornucopia each time she appears in public. And when she sings, you’re transported to an entirely different space and time. Music this supposedly dated and fey should never find a wide audience in today’s automated world. But similar to Colter Wall and other revivalists, it’s the magic with which Sierra Ferrell delivers her interpretation of Appalachian mountain music that makes it feel so immediate and vital. The West Virginia native may come across more like an apparition than a mortal, but her music is steadfastly grounded in the roots, and palpably authentic.

5. Them Dirty Roses

(as seen at Born & Raised Fest) As if the the Gods of Southern rock themselves came down from the Heavens to smite a new band out of the hard Alabama iron, Them Dirty Roses is one of those bands that can grow hair on your chest just from listening to them. This is a band you listen to while overdosing in a tour bus lavatory at 27. Them Dirty Roses can deflower virgins simply by them being in the audience. Led by James Ford on lead vocals and guitar, brother Frank Ford on drums, guitarist Andrew Davis, and bass player Ben Crain, the group left their hometown of Gadsden, AL in an RV and all moved into the same house in Nashville, TN Monkees style to try and make it. Anyone who has seen them live will attest, The Dirty Roses are one of the hottest bands in live music, and promise to hold that title well into the future.

4. The Vandoliers

(as seen at Cain’s Ballroom) The Vandoliers from Texas are the first to admit that they’re not really country, not exactly punk, but some amalgam in-between that defies categorization and doesn’t care to fit neatly in any box. Whatever you want to call it, it’s a hell of a good time live, which they’ve been proving all across the country during 2022, opening big shows for Flogging Molly and the Turnpike Troubadours, touring with another stellar live band in Mike and the Moonpies, and showcasing songs from their new self-titled album. Deadly tight and full of piss and vinegar, The Vandoliers are one of the few bands that anyone would have the audacity to book on the Cain’s Ballroom stage to open for the Turnpike Troubadours’ first show back. And when the shirts come off, you know it’s on.

3. Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway

(as seen at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival) So often when it comes to highly-anticipated albums, our expectations outpace even the possibilities of reality. But this was not the case with  Crooked Tree  and Molly Tuttle. It was everything we wanted and hoped for from Molly Tuttle’s long-anticipated romp into bluegrass. But what’s happening now with Molly Tuttle live takes it to even another level. The demure and reserved girl with otherwise blazing fingers has let it all loose with her band Golden Highway, having more fun than she should be allowed to, and allowing few inhibitions to get in her way. Molly Tuttle was never restrained as a picker. She could articulate whatever she envisioned, only restricted by the physical laws of how fast the human fingers can articulate. But now she’s unafraid as a human, and it’s resulted in some of the best music being made at the moment within any genre. The enthusiasm she has rekindled for bluegrass is conferred to the crowd, and has helped light a spark under the entire genre. Golden Highway is Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (fiddle), Dominick Leslie (mandolin), Shelby Means (bass), and Kyle Tuttle (banjo).

2. Mike and the Moonpies

(as seen at Born & Raised Fest) Yes we know. The Turnpike Troubadours are back, and with the emotional connection many have with that band, it results in some of the most memorable experiences possible in music. When it comes to bluegrass, Billy Strings is on fire, and doing things future generations will still be raving over. But if there is one band everybody should be seeing live right now, without hesitation the answer is Mike and the Moonpies. After Zach Bryan played a set for the ages in front of a hometown crowd in Oklahoma at Born & Raised Fest in September, Mike and the Moonpies had the impossible task of playing afterwards on a side stage as everyone in Oklahoma was filing out into the parking lot. Only one band could pull this off, and that’s exactly what Mike and the Moonpies did, winning over a crowd that included a lot of folks that had never heard of them before, but stumbled onto their next favorite band. Things are finally starting to click for these guys, and it couldn’t be more deserving for the best band in country music.

1. Turnpike Troubadours

(as seen at Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Under The Big Sky Festival, KOKEFest, and most importantly, Cain’s Ballroom) With the benefit of hindsight here in late December, it may be easy to look back on 2022 and say, “Well of course the Turnpike Troubadours were going to blow up, become one of the biggest live acts in country music, start headlining festivals, and selling out arenas.” But there was certainly no guarantee that was going to be the case when this year started. Of course long-time fans always knew that the Turnpike Troubadours were something special, and if just given the right opportunities, they could explode. But let’s just appreciate that at the start of 2022, this band was coming off a hiatus where they almost broke up entirely, had a sordid history of cancelling shows last minute, and very much could have stumbled on their way out of the gate, or seen the wheels fall off somewhere on the road. What happened was the exact opposite of that. They continued to gain momentum, until at the end of 2022, they played to a sold-out Paycom Center Arena in Oklahoma City. But if there was one musical moment that defined 2022 in country music, it wasn’t in an arena, but at the legendary and iconic Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma, only 2nd to the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in regards to the country music history that has transpired between its walls. During Turnpike’s very first show back, large swaths of the sold-out crowd were visibly weeping. The emotion in the room was something most will never experience in music. It was church. It was bliss. The performance was just fine, but it was all the emotion in the room that made it something beyond memorable. It was the stuff of musical legend. On a personal level, witnessing the return of the Turnpike Troubadours was not just the biggest music experience in 2022, but in a career of covering music. And it comes with the appreciative, but also somewhat bittersweet realization that I may never experience something that impactful in music ever again.

The moment the Turnpike Troubadours took the stage at Cain’s Ballroom, officially ending their hiatus. pic.twitter.com/bCeZmOyYFu — Saving Country Music (@KyleCoroneos) April 9, 2022

American Aquarium , Big Richard , Billy Strings , BJ Barham , Charles Wesley Godwin , Charley Crockett , Cody Jinks , Hogslp String Band , MIke and the Moonpies , Molly Tuttle , Sierra Ferrell , Sierra Hull , The Vandoliers , Them Dirty Roses , Turnpike Troubadours , Tyler Childers , Zach Bryan

78 Comments

that video of turnpike at cain’s gives me chills every time. Lucky to have seen a lot of the artists mentioned here. Thanks for all you do trig, we appreciate the shit outta you!!

One day I will see jeremy pinnell rip live and spontaneously combust on the spot and return to the dust from which I came. (his last album “Goodbye LA” rips really hard)

It’s been an amazing year for real country music. It’s awesome you get to spend so much time around all that amazing artistry. Thanks for doing your best to include us in the experience with your reporting.

Saw Arlo McKinley twice this year and he was intense and entertaining both times. Will see him again if I can.

I also saw Dallas Moore twice this year. Saw him at Gruene Hall a couple weeks ago (In TX again, visiting familly). We watched three sets and loved it. He mentioned he was playing a short set in Austin at C-Boys later that night, and went to that. He is great live. Band is a great bunch of guys as well. BTW he previewed a bunch of new songs from upcoming album and they were dynamite.

Saw Charley Crockett twice this year, and his live shows are super entertaining.

Ward Davis also kicks ass live.

Also, Sarah Shook has a brand new backing band. Did not disappoint at all live.

Forgot Whiskey Myers and Shane Smith and the Saints. Helluva show by both,

Saw Ray Wylie Hubbard last nite. At the Armadillo Xmas Bizarre in Austin. It was kinda weird. Stage was in the middle of this Art Fair. It was $12. He maybe had 100 – 150 people in front of this small stage. He was awesome. I had never seen him before. Was talking to this couple who have seen him multiple times, and they said I was lucky because this was one of the best most intimate performances they had ever seen from him.

I was keeping my comments to others than what was mentioned in the article. But I’ve posted so much, may as well say more. I saw Billy Strings twice this year. He really is on another level and planet. Was my 5th time seeing him and I can’t wait to see him again.

Saw Cody Jinks acoustic Hampton Beach, NH and Bar Harbor, ME. Great Great Shows.

Also saw Zach Bryan in Boston 3500 people. Haters gonna hate, but after seeing him I get it.

And Wille is still entertaining as hell!

I’m with ya about Sarah Shook, they put on a hell of a show in Phoenix

Living in Barcelona, Spain, I certainly don’t get to enjoy most of these bands live, but I did get to see Sarah Shook a few months ago and she and her band kicked ass on stage. In a small venue for maybe 200 people max. Very good! Can’t even imagine the others… Oh, and btw Trigger, thanks for continuously pointing out good new artists!

Really nice to see Sierra Hull on this list. She and Justin Moses are great talents.

My favorite concert of this year was Lyle Lovett and his Large Band.

New guitarist is a pro with great respect for Eric

I don’t remember a better year for live music, 2022 has been amazing. I was fortunate to see everyone listed except Molly Tuttle. and Turnpike Troubadours. Highlights for me were Bluegrass happening with Bella fleck, Jerry douglas, Sam bush, and Sierra Hull; and FireWater Festival with whiskey myers, Blackberry smoke, 49 winchester, and many others. Firewater was especially great because each band had a minimum of 1 hour sets.

Oh yeah, Bella Fleck was great too. Had Bryon Sutton and Michael Cleveland (a gift from above) with him.

Best 2022 Concerts (unless otherwise noted with ***, I only listed artists I actually watched/listened to):

3/20/22 Cole Chaney – Club Café, Pittsburgh, PA

5/20/22 Del Fest (Day 4) – Allegany County Fairgrounds, Cumberland, MD Tyler Childers w/ The Travelin’ McCourys The Del McCoury Band Sam Bush Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway Hot Club of Cowtown The Price Sisters The California Honeydrops Sierra Hull Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band

7/31/22 Outlaw Music Festival – The Pavilion at Star Lake, Pittsburgh, PA Willie Nelson ZZ Top Gov’t Mule Larkin Poe

8/14/22 Outlaw Music Festival – Darien Lake Amphitheater, Darien Lake, NY Willie Nelson ZZ Top Zach Bryan Charlie Crockett

8/21/22 Chris Knight/ Jason Eady – Club Café, Pittsburgh, PA

9/17/22 Outlaw Music Festival – Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD Willie Nelson The Avett Brothers Zach Bryan Larkin Poe

9/24/22 Healing Appalachia (Day 2) – State Fairgrounds of West Virginia, Lewisburg, WV Tyler Childers Arlo McKinley*** Lost Dog Street Band Vince Herman Band Jeremy Pinnell Laid Back Country Picker

Late, late Healing Appalachia night show: Cole Chaney 49 Winchester*** *** didn’t see

Turnpike Troubadours, Mike and the Moonpies and Nikki Lane were the three best shows I saw all year.

Good stuff, Jbird… those were some killers, for sure!

Mike and thee Moonpies at Dee’s in Nashville, Blackberry Smoke in London Ontario, and Nikki Lane in Detroit were my favorite shows of 2022. I had seen the Moonpies and Smoke before, so I knew it would be a great show. Nikki Lane however absolutely blew me away…she crushed it! She is an instant ticket buy for any future shows near me. I highly recommend seeing her live.

Nikki was great at Firewater. She stole the show!

I can’t believe you didn’t include Whiskey Myers. They have been bringing the heat night after night. Not one act touches them and what they have brought to the scene. Shame on you for not including them.

I appreciate your passion for Whiskey Myers. For this particular list, I am restricted to the artists that I personally saw in 2022. That’s the only way to keep it fair. I have seen Whiskey Myers in the past and they’ve been included on this list, and if my current itinerary for 2023 holds, I will see them at least twice next year. Without question they are a great live band.

Its all-good Trig. I just had to give WM some love. They seem to get ignored here and are nothing but a consistent hard-working band. Maybe they are too successful at this point for SCM.

And my reading skills need some work. Whiskey Myers is really not a band to be considered for this list. They are headliners already. My bad. I am the ass. I’ll go do push-ups now.

I don’t believe headliner status is a qualifier. It’s just about who puts on the best show, in Trig’s opinion. There are definitely headliners on this list. The obvious one is Turnpike, but Charley and AA are headlining theaters, so that’s nothing to scoff at. Whiskey Myers is an awesome band, and their most recent record was awesome, but it wasn’t very country at all. The band acknowledged that when it was released.

I did say that this year I was not including some of the obvious headliners because they make this list every year, and I’d rather give some dedicated attention to artists breaking right now. Turnpike is unique because they broke in 2022, and they were headliners by the end of it. Whiskey Myers are headliners though, and I agree with you Jerry, as they get further away from country, it makes it a bit harder to talk about them here. But they are still a very important band, and deserve all the recognition they are receiving.

Hahaha. Oh wait…you maybe serious. Maybe Trigger didn’t see them this year or maybe his inclusion criteria is different than yours.

That Joshua Ray Walker isn’t on here is criminal and (once again) makes me question Trigger’s qualifications. Watching JRW live,especially with a full band, is akin to a religious experience. F TT and it’s philandering lead guy…lol .

Joshua Ray Walker won the 2020 Saving Country Music Song of the Year, and was nominated again in 2021. He wasn’t included here because I did not see him perform in 2022, which you can thank Born & Raised Fest in Oklahoma for, who jobbed me at the media check-in. I’d driven in through the night from Nashville specifically to make it to Joshua’s set, made it just in time, and then got hung up at the gate with snafus. I was double angry.

That sucks.

1, 2, and 7 all twice and 10 once.

Don’t sleep on Flatland and William Beckmann. Both super nice people and WB’s voice purity is the best going right now. If you haven’t gotten on board, you better quick!

I feel like William Beckmann will be on this list in the coming years. Great artist to see live.

Those in the know in Nashville would unhesitatingly agree that The Time Jumpers gig at 3rd and Lindsley every Monday night IS the best live band and show in Music City, period. Kenny Sears, Joe Spivey, Paul Franklin and company deliver the real deal week after week. Even with Vince Gills departure, they are FIRE onstage.

Quebe Sisters are a killer live show. Catch them when you can, you won’t regret it. And like The Time Jumpers, they too feature triple fiddle playing. Not that I’m partial to fiddle acts, but these are two dazzling live bands that are quite active and I don’t think you have ever nominated them.

My favorites not mentioned here were Gus Clark and the Least of His Problems, Alma Russ, and The Deslondes. I did see Charley Crockett & Sierra Ferrell and they were great too!

Love Gus Clark, though I haven’t had a chance to see him live.

That Turnpike clip literally brings tears to my eyes every time.

Saw a couple of artists this year that I never thought would come all the way up to the PNW — John R. Miller and Arlo McKinley — and both were mind-blowingly great. I almost cried twice during Miller’s set.

Saw American Aquarium kick a massive crowd of 40 people in the teeth. BJ doesn’t care if he’s playing to 2,500 or the 40 that were there that night. Same show. Great show.

And Turnpike. Damn. Saw them many times pre-hiatus. But they were 10x better this year. Their performance at Jackalope was stunning.

I went to 4 concerts this year and all were really good. One that’s worth mentioning that Trig has already seen live are The Steel Woods. Saw them at Pappy and Harriet’s near Joshua Tree and I thought the goddamn roof was going to collapse the way them boys get after it.

My wishlist for next year include Charles Wesley Godwin and Turnpike.

This past year I got to see Tyler Childers twice, Sierra Ferrell, Charley Crockett 3 times, Lukas Nelson, Billy Strings, James McMurtry, Jim Lauderdale w/ Lillie Mae, Lucette, Hannah Juanita, Whitney Rose, Steve Earle, Jason Isbell, Shannon McNally & Willie Nelson that I can recall. All except Isbell (totally boring) were very good but Tyler and Billy were easily the best followed by Jim, Sierra and Charley!

Was fortunate enough to see four artists this year from your list and they were all killer live: Sierra Ferrell, Vandoliers, Mike and the Moonpies, and Turnpike Troubadours. Pretty impressive for Vandoliers to make your list, and at as high as #4, considering they’re mostly lesser known than the other acts on your list. Certainly worthy of the ranking, though, and are a must see if you get the chance!

Already have Mike and the Moonpies and Vandoliers lined up to see in early 2023. Now just waiting for that new Turnpike album and tour to be announced…

Saw Molly Tuttle & co a month or so ago, and holy hell are they good. Everything you say is true, but _also_ such a strong group of musicians top to bottom.

In no order, my top live shows of 2022 were: Tanner Usrey Alex Williams Rob Leines The Steel Woods

Rob Leines absolutely kills it. When Felipe Guzman, is on drums, it is an unbeatable show.

Rob is the man! One of the best guitar players on the planet.

49 Winchester’s live show is, at least, on par with Mike and the Moonpies now. Would kill to see them both on the same bill. Saw Winchester 3 times, and Moonpies twice this year.

I’m still mad that at Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion this spring, they put 49 Winchester performing in Willie’s chapel, cap. 29. I was standing outside one of the windows, but it was nowhere near being in the audience. They should have put them on one of the outside stages where more people could have seen them, and left the chapel for the acoustic performers. But I digress.

I should have multiple opportunities to see them in 2023.

They were relegated to the second stage at the Greenville Country Music Festival. If you go to the Tour page on Winchester’s website, the photo at the top is from that show. Note the Main stage to the right and the visible (lack of a) crowd for the simultaneous Them Dirty Roses set. Sucks I had to choose, but I hadn’t seen Winchester yet, and it was probably my favorite set of the entire festival.

One of the reasons I wanted to write this article and write it this way is because in 2022, I saw numerous promoters completely whiff when putting together festival schedules. You really need to have your finger on the pulse of who is rising and falling in music, or you’ll make bad decisions. That 49 Winchester picture is basically the same exact thing I saw at Born & Raised Fest and Under The Big Sky Fest when they slotted Zach Bryan, Sierra Hull, and Charles Wesley Godwin as early day openers, and Margo Price as a late afternoon headliner.

Them Dirty Roses is killer live, but they are still dramatically under-the-radar. I suspect that will change in the coming years. Meanwhile, 49 Winchester was probably the biggest emerging band in 2022. So often promoters slot bands based on what they paid them as opposed to who is the most popular and the biggest draw at a given moment.

I went to check out Them Dirty Roses and the first song is “Cocaine and Whiskey.” SOLD!

I’m adding them to the playlist.

I’ve had bad luck trying to see 49 Winchester. They postponed their concert here last February due to COVID. We couldn’t stay at Healing Appalachia to see them at the late, late show (Cole Chaney went on at 12:10 am).

They are here in April.

Finally had the chance to see Charles Wesley Godwin a couple weeks back and he did not disappoint. Probably the best show I’ve been to

I agree with you. Best shows since I saw Sturgill Simpson at the Shed outside of Knoxville, TN in 2016. Even got a pic with CWG after one of the shows.

Saw Them Dirty Roses with Cody Canada and the Departed in Lexington, Ky at a place called the Burl. Standing room only may have only been a few hundred people all together. Before the show they were outside playing with a nerf football and passing it to people arriving and bsing with people, then went on to play for about an hour. They slayed a cover of “Whipping Post”

The Burl is a great venue and I’m glad Lexington is getting a lot of quality acts coming through there!

The experience you had seeing Turnpike I would say was similar to seeing Tyler at Rupp, esp during Nose on the Grindstone. To me it was vindication not that Tyler had made it but “we” the people who watched him blow up from playing The Green Lantern and Al’s along with other dives in the area did. It was a religious experience if there ever was.

Have to say great list as I’ve seen many of the same acts. One not listed that is great live and going to blow up next year is 49 Winchester. Saw them 3 times and each time was better than the last.

On AA, they are the Americana Jekyll and Hyde but in a good way. The albums and catalogue are great, but it’s a whole different ballgame seeing BJ and the boys melting people’s faces off live. I highly reccomend going to Roadtrip to Raleigh at least once.

red clay strays. saw them twice. unbeatable.

Go see Arlo McKinley live!!! Guy and his band are so good.

Dying to see CWG and Sierra as well as Jeremy Pinnell and Jesse Daniel.

Great list. Marcus King’s amazing show and Bela Fleck’s My Bluegrass Heart (ft. Sierra Hull and others, including the incredible Michael Cleveland) would be my additions. I’ve always been a little surprised at Trig’s lack of love for Marcus King, but to each his own.

Caught Dale Watson on a mid week show in Wichita back in October. Amazing show! That or when I saw the Moonpies back in 2019 are the best shows I have seen. Summer Dean opened for Dale and she put on a great show too! Both wonderful folks too!

Can’t imagine anything topping Turnpike at Billy Bob’s. Same indescribable moment when the crowd sang (screamed in joy maybe) “well she was born….”. More exhilarating than coming down the first hill of a giant roller coaster. After that it’d be Red Clay Strays, Kaitlyn Butts in a very small venue with only a fiddle player accompanying her, Reckless Kelly with Joe Stamm opening who was also fantastic, Alex Williams, and Morgan Wade – she owns the stage and is just a flat out badass powerhouse.

Saw five of these bands live this year including the comeback of Turnpike at Cain’s in April. What a time to be alive.

Them Dirty Roses and the Vandoliers live, take any opportunity to see them you can while you still can in small venues. The energy these dudes have is amazing.

TT is my favorite band by far. But i can’t think of a band i’d rather see live then Shane Smith and the Saints.

Favorite shows this year………… Charles Wesley Godwin Turnpike @ The Smokeout 49 Winchester Sunny Sweeney Tommy Prine Side Pony Ohhh and my favorite local gal that might be a future force to be reckoned with…………. Meg and The Wheelers

Lainey Wilson. Easy first pick.

Favorite shows this year:

#1 Mike and the Moonpies with The Vandoliers in St Louis!!

The rest in no particular order!

Kelsey Waldon at The Basement East in Nashville.

Turnpike Troubadours in St Louis at The Factory.

Tyler Childers at Septemberfest in Louisa, Ky.

Hank Jr in Beaver Dam, Ky with Kentucky Headhunters

Mike and the Moonpies/Town Mountain at 3rd & Lindsay in Nashville.

The Steel Woods at Boondocks in Springfield, IL

I wish we would have been able to make the trip for Hank Jr. @ Beaver Dam. We had so much fun at the Turnpike Troubadours Canceled Concert with Chris Knight and Shooter Jennings picking up the slack at that venue a few years ago.

I saw BMFS seven times and the excitement and drama and musicality and fun are off the charts every time. Other shows seem drab in comparison, though I’d love to see David Quinn and the (allegedly very ripping) Jeremy Pinnell some day.

Billy Strings is the answer #1

It’s great the love you are giving Vandoliers and Dirty Roses. Not pure country but they sure are fun to turn up loud and drive fast. Hope to see them live this year. One not on the list but I saw live at 3rd and Lyndsey in Nashville is Jessie Daniels. That man and his band command the stage. If he comes to your neck of the woods don’t miss out.

I think Nick Shoulders could have made the list. I just saw him and the Crawdads just a few days ago and they are magnetic in person.

Great list and thx for all you do to promote this fantastic genre!

Saw Todd Snider on a two night stand at Luckenbach Dec. 9th and 10th. Jack Ingram and Haye Caryll each opened a night. Great weekend of music!

Great list Trig, I can understand leaving off more popular acts like Billy to feature other artists. Especially glad you gave Sierra Hull a shout out.

I’m not sure I’ve seen ten different acts this year but the top two for me are Bela Fleck’s My Bluegrass Heart show and Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper. Bela’s band for MBH has got to be the best band touring right now in terms of everyone being a master on their instrument while Flamekeeper is guaranteed to burn the house down.

Here’s my top shows from 2022 in no particular order. Arlo McKinley Jamestown Revival American Aquarium 49 Winchester THE Steel Woods Read Southall Band Hayes Carll Drive By Truckers Flatland Cavalry Joshua Ray Walker Marcus King Band Randy Houser and Jamey Johnson

I went and saw Mike and the Moonpies in August, with Kaitlin Butts opening. First concert I’ve ever been to, and it absolutely blew me away.

Saw Mike and the Moonpies/Vandoliers and it was incredible! Also saw Charles Wesley Godwin open for Reckless Kelly last year and that was insane. Reckless is still my favorite band to see live and I hate to see them hang it up but they have definitely earned it. If you get the chance to see the Joe Stamm Band, don’t pass it up. They’re fantastic live.

What a Great list, I seen 5 ( American Aquarium, Charlie Crockett, Sierra Hull, Molly Tuttle, and Sierra Ferrell) and hopefully the others. Also seen Tyler and Hogslop. Sierra Ferrell has been one of my favorite upcoming artist over the last few years.

Lots of live music! The best concert was Blackberry Smoke and Jamey Johnson, hands down. I’m incredibly grateful I saw both of them separately, two times each. Together was a bucket list.

Cody Jinx did a cool acoustic show. And The Outlaws are always a good time Those delicious festivals are to be read about, music bought and enjoyed until a close enough visit.

Trigger, keep your eye out for Cody Ikerd and the Sidewinders in 2023, with a new album coming out in May. This is some of their best work since “You Can Find Me in a Honkytonk” ep came out in 2019!

Rob Leines was easily my favorite live performer of 2022. One of the best out there and any band who shares the stage better bring their “A” game because Rob and the boys are going to bring the heat!

I enjoyed The Vandoliers (with Sam Morrow opening) more than any other show in 2022.

I checked items off the bucket list with Turnpike & Whiskey Myers, but the shows were so jam-packed crowded it was difficult to enjoy them.

2022, in order: Chris Stapleton*** w/ Mickey Raphael and Paul Franklin Marty Stuart & his Fabulous Superlatives (intimate setting) Keith Urban (don’t shoot me) Sierra Ferrell (intimate setting) Joshua Ray Walker (intimate setting) 49 Winchester opening for Nikki Lane – both killer performances Mike & the Moonpies (seen 7x) Daniel Romano’s Outfit (intimate setting) Kelsey Waldon (intimate setting) Melissa Carper (intimate setting) Yola (intimate setting) Morgan Wade Elle King Miranda Lambert Jon Pardi Emily Nenni (intimate setting) Jesse Daniel (intimate setting) Hayes Carll (intimate setting) The Broken Spokes Johnny Falstaff Cadillac3 (intimate setting) Gus Clark South Texas Tweek Ellis Bullard Christopher Seymore Patrick B Ray Maren Morris Comedy: Tim Dillon Musical: Bat Out of Hell

2023: looking forward to Margo Price, Two Step Inn Festival, potentially Colter Wall, Gene Watson, Ricky Skaggs… whoever else actually plays Houston or a Texas city on a weekend night.

Whoops! Billy Strings after Marty

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CountryFest 2022 Lineup Released!

The largest 3-day country music and camping event in the U.S. has announced next summer’s lineup. Country Fest 2022 will feature headliners Florida Georgia Line , Jason Aldean and Lee Brice – June 23, 24 and 25 in Cadott, Wis. The not-to-miss festival will also include Chase Rice , Gabby Barrett , LoCash and so many more! 

“We are so excited to bring people back to live music and in 2022 we are doing it in a big way!” Festival promoter Wade Asher said. “With this star-studded lineup, activations and overall experience we give the fans, we always aim to please. There’s a reason why fans call Country Fest ‘Your Happy Place’ and we can’t wait to show them all that we have in store and to see those smiles once again.” 

Fifty+ bands, one massive main stage, four side stages: 

Scheduled Thursday, June 23: Lee Brice, LoCash, Dylan Scott, Jameson Rodgers, Little Texas, Callista Clark, Nate Barnes, Lauren Weintraub and more. 

Scheduled Friday, June 24: Florida Georgia Line, Chase Rice, Mitchell Tenpenny, Sara Evans , Parmalee , Priscilla Block , Drake Milligan, Ray Fulcher and more. 

Scheduled Saturday, June 25: Jason Aldean, Gabby Barrett, Michael Ray, Rodney Atkins, Lainey Wilson , Tenille Arts , Frank Ray, Dillon Carmichael and more. 

Scheduled Wednesday, June 22 – *Kickoff Party exclusive to 3-day ticket holders: Phil Vassar, Alexandra Kay, Jake Stringer and Tim Hurley . 

Artists to watch – up and coming Nashville acts: JessLee, Derek Jones, Kat Beal, Eric Burgett, Derek Crider, Six One Five Collective and more! 

VIP, Reserved Lawn, and General Admission ticket packages are available at this venue along with Pit Passes – attendees can party in the pit all weekend long with a 3-day pass, or individual passes to get close to their favorite artists! Tickets are on sale now at CountryFest.com.

For the full lineup, ticket details and camping info, visit CountryFest.com.

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Walker Hayes Plots First Headlining Arena Tour, the Glad You’re Here Tour

Walker Hayes is crossing another career accomplishment off his list with his first-ever headlining arena tour, the Glad You're Here Tour.

The 15-city tour kicks off on Sept. 29 in Johnstown, Pa., and it will run through Nov. 12 in Everett, Wash. Parmalee will join Hayes for the entirety of the trek.

"I can’t believe that we are playing arenas," Hayes says in a press release. "It’s mind blowing how our team is growing, how the crowds are growing, and how the music continues to connect with my audience. I’m just so grateful."

Hayes also announced the exciting news on social media, saying that he "can’t frickin believe it."

The tour is named after Hayes' upcoming book, Glad You're Here , out May 3. The singer wrote the book alongside his friend Craig Allen Cooper, the generous pastor at the center of Hayes' 2017 song, "Craig." As he sings in the tune, Craig gifted the Hayes family a car when they were in a time of need, and he's responsible for helping the country star find his faith. The book is available for pre-order here .

Hayes' Glad You're Here Tour comes after his  Fancy Like Tour , which visited theaters around the country starting in January. That tour, of course, was named after his breakout, viral tune, "Fancy Like," which was nominated for Best Country Song at the 2022 Grammy Awards. Hayes has more possible awards to look forward to this spring, as he is nominated for a whopping six trophies at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards on May 15.

Pre-sale tickets go on sale April 26 at 10AM and all other tickets will be available Friday, April 29 at 10AM.

Walker Hayes 2022 Glad You're Here Tour Dates: 

Sept. 29 —Johnstown, Pa. @ 1 st  Summit Arena Sept. 30 —  Binghamton, N.Y. @ Visions Veterans Memorial Arena Oct. 1 — Huntington, W.V. @ Mountain Health Arena Oct. 7 — Reading, Pa. @ Santander Arena Oct. 8 — Worcester, Mass. @ DCU Center Oct. 13 —  Saginaw, Mich. @ Dow Event Center Arena Oct. 14 — Corbin, Ky. @ Corbin Arena Oct. 15 — Youngstown, Ohio @ Covelli Centre Oct. 21 — Cedar Rapids, Iowa @ Alliant Energy Powerhouse Oct. 22 — Sioux Falls, S.D. @ Danny Sanford Premiere Center Nov. 5 — Bakersfield, Calif. @ Mechanics Bank Arena Nov. 7 —  Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Greek Nov. 10 — Spokane, Wash. @ Spokane Arena Nov. 11 — Portland, Ore. @ Theater of the Clouds Nov. 12 — Everett, Wash @ Angel Of the Winds Arena

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The 50 Best Concerts of 2022

Out: couch potatoes. In: crowd surfers… even if we just define that as breaking the waves of the lines of fans queued up to catch concerts during the music world’s first fully open-for-business year in a while. Our writers were making up for lost pandemic time by catching shows at SoFi Stadium, the Forum and the Troubadour on the west coast, or Madison Square Garden, the Kings Theatre and Town Hall back east… or even in Las Vegas, Nashville, Tulsa, Philly, Paris and Medellín. Here, in no particular order, are 50 great ones that reminded us how streaming is ultimately no match for being in the room where it happens. — Chris Willman

Elton John at Dodger Stadium (11/17-20/22)

There was some suspense going into the opening night of Elton John’s three-night stand at Dodger Stadium, the capping engagement to what was billed as his final U.S. tour — not for what he would play, since his set lists have been pretty locked in place, but for what he would be wearing at the finale, since everyone assumed he would come up with a variation on the Dodger uniform he famously wore there back in 1975. In the end, he skipped anything like actual field wear in favor of something more befitting a knight than a ballplayer: a very fancy Dodgers robe. That encore look inevitably made him look like someone who might be ready to retire for the night, but there was nothing about the almost two-and-a-half hour performance that suggested a fellow about to actually retire, apart from the “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” lettering atop the massive proscenium. This was John in top vigorous form, sounding and feeling like he’s ready for the next 50-some years — leaving the touring scene still at the top of his performing game, exiting because he wants to, not because he has to. A touring loss that we maybe hadn’t considered as much is how we’ll miss his touring ensemble, with longtime mainstays like guitarist/MD Davey Johnston, percussionist Ray Cooper and drummer Nigel Olsson being stars in their own right. This was a slightly misty, mostly joyful wave bye-bye to one of the great bands of the 20th and 21st centuries, along with one of the greatest singular entertainers. Each time you see him, meanwhile, there’s the shock of rediscovering what a rollicking rock ‘n’ roll pianist he is. On the globally webcast night 3, Brandi Carlile, Dua Lipa and Kiki Dee joined him for delectable guest turns. But no one coming the previous two nights felt cheated — of star power, still-vital vocals, or magic fingers that still split the difference between classical training and boogie-woogie like no other player in history. All that and glitz, too… however were we so lucky? (Read Variety ‘s review of Elton’s opening night here and coverage of the finale here .) — Willman

Bono at the Orpheum in L.A. (11/13/22)

We thought we’d signed up for a “book tour,” those of us who were fortunate to get tickets to the U2 frontman’s short run of shows in mid-size theaters. Perhaps he’d stand at a podium and crack open his new memoir, “Surrender,” taking a few audience questions for an encore? It was far from anything like that — this was “Bruce Springsteen on Broadway” meets an acrobat’s act, figuratively and almost literally. As physical as he is during a U2 tour, that’s how physical he was in this extended “reading,” from leaping onto a table for dramatic effect to moving back and forth between chairs as he reenacted testy and moving conversations with his father in a pub. If prompters were involved, it sure seemed like Bono was mostly doing without them as he mixed and matched verbatim passages from the book — with a very few additional asides, such as: “Like everyone who arrives in Hollywood, I have a screenplay I’d like you to look at… based on my book that I wrote me-self.” (“My book that I wrote me-self” was a recurring refrain, lest anyone imagine there was a ghostwriter in his machine.) There was music, too, from a trio of musicians that would help out with a snippet of “With or Without You” or “I Will Follow” or two full-length renderings of “City of Blinding Lights.” Mostly, though, there was glorious talk — from the seeds of creation in U2’s origin story to the recurrences of death in the passings of a mother and father and (nearly, in the recounted heart operation that is the show’s opening monologue) Bono himself. So how do we get him to turn this into a months-long residency that most fans who want to could see? Because every day he should write this book. — Willman

Kendrick Lamar at Paris’ Accor Arena (10/22/22)

People had been saying all day before  Kendrick Lamar ’s second sold-out show at Paris’ Accor Arena that the crowd’s reaction on the first night made his  summer concerts in Brooklyn , Las Vegas and even the four-night, North American tour-closing stand in his hometown of Los Angeles seem tame. Damned if they weren’t right. The Paris crowd responded much more powerfully to the songs from Lamar’s challenging latest album, “Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers,” than American audiences seemed to. (U.S. audiences did get to see the Paris show, as Amazon Music livestreamed it over Prime Video  and Twitch in an elaborate 19-camera shoot.) He doesn’t jump, he rarely raises his voice, and he doesn’t dance conventionally. But a closer look reveals that the deeply disciplined control and complexity of his lyrics is fully equaled in his performance, from his moves to the lighting and effects. It’s like watching the engine of a fine-tuned Mercedes. “The Big Steppers Tour” was almost the obverse of the ordinary concert tradition, where the hits are saved for encores or the end of the set. Lamar is far from ordinary, and the show was designed to acknowledge his past and please the crowd early — but conclude by signaling that this is where he is now and he knows exactly what wants. (Read Variety ‘s original review here .) — Jem Aswad

Haim at the Hollywood Bowl (5/1/22)

Haim ’s homecoming show at the  Hollywood Bowl  felt a little bit like a block party first, and a big rock ‘n’ roll coronation secondarily. “We are Valley girls through and through!” declared Alana Haim, one of the three sisters who make up the core group, explaining why “there’s gonna be a lot of emotion tonight.” When they’d headlined the Greek Theatre across the hills in 2017,  that  might’ve seemed like the prime hail-the-conquering-heroes moment of their lives, but, of course, there were bigger nearby ravines to conquer. They’re still a rock band when they want to be, Haim is unconcerned about re-proving any rawk bona fides when they could be experimenting with slightly left-of-center pop or R&B chord progressions, picking and choosing styles in service to one of the best song catalogs anybody in rock or pop has amassed in the last 15 years. It felt like a just world for 100 minutes at the Bowl as the evening turned into a celebration of both Haim and Los Angeles, an explosion of mutual affection more cathartic than anything even P.T. Anderson could come up with for a last act. (Read Variety ‘s original review here .) — Willman

Bad Bunny at SoFi Stadium (9/30/22)

The North American leg of Bad Bunny’s “World’s Hottest Tour” lived up to that promise, as the Puerto Rican phenom achieved the  top-grossing tour  of August with this trek, consisting of several stops in the country’s biggest venues. He pulled out all the stops for the first of two back-to-back shows at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, bringing out several guests — including the reggaeton pioneer  Ivy Queen , who played a medley of her hottest hits — and declared his love for L.A., inciting cheers throughout the night with: “¡Los Latinos in L.A., que se sienta!” During his performance of “Yo Perreo Sola,” Ivy Queen appeared on stage and finished out the last few lines of the track as Bad Bunny’s hype woman. The Puerto Rican singer and pioneer of the Latin urban scene did a short set list of her biggest hits starting with “Te He Querido,” plus “Quiero Bailar” and “Quitate Tu Pa Ponerme Yo.”  Bomba Estéreo’s Li Saumet, who joined him on stage in a neon pink and green look for their Latin Grammy-nominated “Ojitos Lindos.” By the time Bad Bunny’s show-closers “El Apagón” and “Después De La Playa” began to play, the audience was ready to give up any last bits of energy it had left. (Read Variety ‘s original review here .) — Thania Garcia

Dua Lipa at the Kia Forum (3/23/22)

When we called “Future Nostalgia” “the reigning dance-pop album of the century,” we meant it, and her two-night stand at the Forum couldn’t have been a happier two-year anniversary celebration for a record we strongly suspect we’ll be spinning for decades. That she was just now getting around to performing this music live felt like an ideal punctuation point to all but officially mark the end (knock on wood) of the quarantine era “Nostalgia” came out at the beginning of. As much as Dua Lipa is a bona fide superstar at this point, her tour had a kind of thrilling community spirit to it, evident right at the start when she introduced her dancers and band with generous opening credits, teasing a terrific ensemble movie of sorts that her beautifully choreographed show turned out to be. You can’t exactly call Dua Lipa an Everywoman… not when she is modeling something as alien-seeming as a fluorescent yellow-green one-piece that has her boots impossibly sewn right into the costume (and matching long gloves out of a Bob Fosse Day-Glo dream). She’s not “just like us,” but the effect of the show was to weirdly make us feel like we were marching down that same catwalk, or levitating above it in some kind of sympathetic fluidity. (Read Variety ‘s original coverage here .) — Willman

Rhiannon Giddens with the LA Phil at Walt Disney Concert Hall (11/12/22)

Giddens is as insanely talented an artist as we have today, but how she found time to pull off a one-off as spectacular as her collaboration with the L.A. Philharmonic is anyone’s guess. She’s usually doing shows and recordings with her partner Francesco Turrisi, and co-wrote an opera, “Omar,” that was wrapping up its west coast premiere run a few blocks away in downtown L.A. the same weekend she performed with the Phil. But when Julia Bullock and Ava DuVernay come calling, even the busy listen, apparently. DuVernay and Bullock brought Giddens in as part of their Rock My Soul festival at Disney Hall, dedicated to celebrating Black female artists. Giddens’ show further made good on that by having conductor Jeri Lynne Johnson at the helm of the orchestra, as well as the (all-woman and partly, not entirely, Black) Resistance Revival Chorus on the bill as opening act and returning for the headliner’s encore. This was the Giddens show of anyone’s dreams, matching her banjo plucking to a massive swell of strings that transformed songs both familiar and not so much so. The traditional Black folk song “Waterboy,” for instance, which Giddens has usually sung a cappella, felt less stern and more playful, even sensual, somehow, in this setting. And she again proved that she is one of the few people around who has much business singing “Summertime,” a song you have to be pretty sure the Gershwins presciently wrote for her. Any chance the Phil could create a way to make Giddens a singer-in-residence for a whole season? — Willman

The 1975 at NYC's Madison Square Garden (11/7/22)

Frontmen should be fun. Obnoxious, pretentious, eccentric… yes, all good words when it comes to the face of your favorite rock band. So when singer Matty Healy introduces  the 1975  as “the greatest band on the planet,” or gnaws on a slab of raw meat or mimics masturbation more than once in one concert, at least he’s giving you something to talk about. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that over the last decade, the 1975 has been one of rock’s most consistent acts, and their live show has evolved into an impressive culmination of five strong records and a bevy of hits. Ripping through two dozen of their greatest songs and new album cuts, the 1975’s sold-out Madison Square Garden show was a captivating exposition from a band that embraces nearly every pop trope yet demands to be taken seriously. The 1975 transformed the Garden’s stage into an enormous deconstructed house, fully furnished with couches, lamps, bookcases and vintage televisions — lots of them. Healy delivered one song from the top of a spiral staircase and another atop the roof. The singer’s wandering around the set, lounging on the couch and sticking his head out of its fake windows, gave the show not only a vague narrative but also a more intimate, literally homey feel. It got weirder, as Healy began chewing on a raw meat shank and doing push-ups until, finally, he climbed into a TV and disappeared. Despite the vague political messaging and elaborate staging, the most exhilarating part of the show was the songs. Healy and company are no strangers to stunts, theatrics and moments designed for Twitter virality, but if there’s one thing the 1975 won’t let you forget, it’s that they’re one hell of a live band. — Ethan Shanfeld

Danny Elfman at the Hollywood Bowl (10/29/22)

Elfman had warned that the weekend Bowl shows should not be seen as a family-friendly variation on the “Nightmare Before Christmas” screening/concerts he did at Halloween-time at the same venue in 2015, 2016 and 2018, and in a detour last year to the Banc of California Stadium downtown. His main point was that this career-encompassing show, with its courser language and copious overhead animation of intestines in various states of visible distress, was not “family-friendly.” But, in fact, he did deliver three songs from that film’s song score early on — “Jack’s Lament,” “This Is Halloween” and “What’s This?” — which is really about all the musical “Nightmare” anyone needs in one night. The real joys were in the twin poles of the evening: full-orchestral versions of instrumental score excerpts from his 40-year filmography’ and a resumption, after decades of avoiding rock ‘n’ roll, of his manic frontman side, combining Oingo Boingo chestnuts from the ’80s and early ’90s with the more industrial-sounding selections from his rock comeback album, “Big Mess.” There’s never been a show quite like this one because there’s never been a career like this. That he pulled it off as a cohesive concert experience made the show wildly successful, and not just because he’s refilling his rock reservoir after an epic drought. It almost felt like Christmas, with or without the boxed-up snakes. (Read Variety ‘s full review of the show here and preview of the concert here .) — Willman

Lizzo at the Kia Forum (11/18/22)

Lizzo wrapped up the North American leg of her “Special” tour in November with back-to-back, sold-out shows at the Forum, filmed for her HBO Max “Live in Concert” New Year’s Eve special. The concerts were marked by special guest appearances from Cardi B (“Rumors”), SZA (“Special”) and Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott (who surprised Lizzo onstage while she performed their hit “Tempo”). But what made the shows unique was Lizzo’s intention behind the production. The Grammy- (and Emmy-) winner opens each concert by asking the audience, “When was the last time you said something kind about yourself?” It’s the type of bracingly honest question that you’d expect at from your therapist, not a pop star. And what follows is essentially a two-hour music therapy session as Lizzo twerks her way through a lineup of high-energy anthems (“It’s About Damn Time,” “Truth Hurts,” “Juice” and “Soulmate”), soulful ballads (“Jerome,” “Naked”) and Sasha Flute-solos with the help of the Lizzbians and the Little Bigs band and her Big Grrrls dancers. The concert experience is best described as a church service-meets-self-help seminar, leaving audiences floating out of the arena with renewed self-esteem. One could say you’re feeling “Good As Hell.” And it’s all by Lizzo’s design. — Angelique Jackson

'Brandi Carlile: In the Canyon Haze — Live From Laurel Canyon' at the Ross House in L.A., and on IMAX Screens (9/28/22)

Carlile had a terrific headlining tour of amphitheaters, and in some all-star or one-off gigs in person or on television, she was the master of the get-in-and-get-out showstopper number, from Elton’s U.S. finale to the memorials for Naomi Judd and Loretta Lynn to a pair of “SNL” appearances that bookended the year. But maybe her crowning 2022 moment as a live performer was a concert she did that went out live to hundreds of IMAX screens from a hillside overlooking Laurel Canyon at dusk. (The setting was enough to finally give grassy knolls a good name again.) A lot of times, on shoots as high-concept as this one, the magic either doesn’t quite translate to the screen or is actually a lot more vivid through the camera than it is on-site. I was there for the shoot, and as I walked back and forth between what was happening against the sunset outdoors with a very minimal crew and a big screen inside the adjacent house, I can vouch that what viewers saw in their local theaters felt exactly what it was like to be there. That’s a testament to director Sam Wrench’s bold move to shoot every song as an intimate single take, alternating Steadicams and cranes. But of course it’s really a testimonial to Carlile’s ability to create real intimacy wherever she goes, amid the coyotes or in a cinematic attack of the 50-foot woman. (Read Variety ‘s original coverage here .) — Willman

Paul McCartney at SoFi Stadium (5/13/22)

Paul McCartney  has something to prove. What that is is between him and his shrink, but what we do know for certain is that, in the year of our lord 2022, McCartney was doing two-hour-and-40-minute sets that encompass 36 songs… on top of maintaining his custom of doing separate-admission VIP soundchecks with different setlists. At SoFi, he was just days away from turning 80, and few would begrudge McCartney if he cut a few corners: cutting the set length to a reasonable two hours here, lowering the keys a little there, or dropping some of the vocal ad libs to save his voice for Syracuse. But McCartney was not about to use this milestone finally half-ass it, or even three-quarters-ass it. On top of the sheer quantity of catalog, he still  howls . Yes, if you listen carefully, it’s maybe a softer, less throat-ravaging version of the howl than he used to do, but that’s more of a technical adjustment than anything that is going to stand in the way of anyone enjoying a balls-out resurrection of “Helter Skelter.” Will he continue to be able to keep coming around for stadium tours in years to come? Only Mama Nature knows, but for now, there was reason to be grateful that he just can’t stop going back to the top of the slide. (Read Variety ‘s original review here .) — Willman

Björk’s ‘Cornucopia’ at the Shrine Auditorium (2/1/22)

This stage show reimagined Björk’s 2017 album “Utopia,” twisting the batch of love songs into a plea for the environment. Björk twirled and danced around a crowded stage filled with flautists, a harpist, a choir and a cutting-edge light spectacular which painted the Shrine’s gorgeous interior with morphing floral and fauna, some real, some imagined, some merging with Björk’s masked face. As the band — which included hypnotic percussion from Manu Delago and dense arrangements courtesy of musical director Bergur Porisson — moved around the stage for each song, it evoked faeries pirouetting through the forest, more ethereal in movement than, say, David Byrne’s lo-fi marching band in “American Utopia.” — William Earl

Joni Mitchell MusiCares Person of the Year Salute at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Conference Center (4/1/22)

No, it was not filmed for broadcast (apparently), so you had to be there to see Mitchell feted for three solid hours by Beck, St. Vincent, Yola, Mickey Guyton, John Legend, Lauren Daigle, Allison Russell, Cyndi Lauper, Sara Bareilles, Lucius, Chloe Bailey, Black Pumas, Herbie Hancock, Pentatonix, Violet Grohl and musical co-directors Brandi Carlile and Jon Batiste. Billy Porter got got a standing ovation for a very dramatic and slowed-down rendering of “Both Sides Now,” but the most riveting reading of the night’s voluminous covers was Yola’s stunning “Urge for Going,” with the instrumental assistance of Wendy & Lisa. Also slaying: Christian music star Lauren Daigle’s “Come in From the Cold,” with Carlile and Lucius providing stacked backing vocals that were a marvel in themselves; Carlile doing a “Woodstock” that started out in spooky, ruminative territory before suddenly exploding into full-bore rock ‘n’ roll mode with Stephen Stills coming out for a guest shred on guitar; Beck turning a song as strange as “The Jungle Line” into something stranger still, and also strangely exhilarating. Please, someone, tell us that the word that this show wasn’t recorded for public airing was just a dirty lie. (Read Variety ‘s original coverage here .) — Willman

Jack White at the YouTube Theater in L.A. (5/31/22)

The YouTube Theatre, a new mid-size theater built next to SoFi Stadium and the Kia Forum in L.A.-adjacent Inglewood, almost felt too gleaming and spanking-new to offer the proper vibe for a down-and-dirty White gig. Yet he had a way of making even this suddenly feel like a classic old-school rock hall like the Fillmore West, or at least become our imagined version of what it might have been like to see a classically lead-guitar-fueled show from back in the day when T-rexes and Hendrixes still walked the earth. Touring behind two world-class 2022 albums, “Fear of the Dawn” and (the then-not-yet-released) “Entering Heaven Alive,” White led his band through paces that might have woken up and thrilled the ghosts of horse racing fans who hung around the Hollywood Park track that was demolished on the site. Fifty years after Ten Years After, he’s a conduit back to how it must’ve felt to be part of a Woodstock and Bill Graham genre-mixing generation in which rock could hit as hard as it was ever going to and still feel smart, spontaneous and proficient, as well as primal. If he can sound a little like a carnival barker when he’s doing callouts to the crowd, that makes sense — he’s out there putting on the Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Show on earth. (Read Variety ‘s original review here .) — Willman

Pavement at NYC's Kings Theater (10/3/22)

Back in the day (“the day” being the 1990s),  Pavement  became so typecast as a cliché-lambasting, anti-rock band that they never really got credit for what a great rock band it was — and, as its 30th-ish anniversary tour showed, still is. Although the members always downplayed their ability to “rock out” and still do, when the band locks in on hypnotic grooves while singer-guitarist Stephen Malkmus plays solos with a Lou Reed-ish combination of soaring melodies and brittle squall (usually finishing with some self-mocking gesture), it can hold its own with virtually any rock band. Although their current tour — their second reunion trek, following one in 2010 — consists entirely of songs dating from their 1989-1999 recorded career, for this stand, the group mixed up the setlists every show, playing between 25 and 30 songs in just under two hours, on four consecutive nights. To be seeing this band playing in a gorgeously ornate venue like Brooklyn’s Kings Theater as middle-aged men, Pavement truly delivered. Hopefully, it won’t be another 12 years before they tread the boards together again. (Read Variety ‘s original review here .) — Aswad

Allison Russell at the Troubadour (11/15/22)

The title of one of Russell’s signature songs, “Joyful Motherfuckers,” provides an apt description for just about any audience that comes to see this riveting breakthrough artist as a headliner. She’s been out enough as an opening act (coming through town with Lake Street Dive in 2021 and Andrew Bird at the Greek earlier in 2022) that it took till this Troubadour show for her to make it to L.A. under her own top billing, something that felt especially well-earned in the wake of her “Outside Child” solo debut having deservedly won album of the year a few months earlier at the Americana Honors. Getting a deeper exploration of that album, with its harrowing themes of abuse, was an emotional experience unto itself, and her revival of the slavery-themed “Quasheba, Quasheba,” a song she first sang as part of Our Native Daughters, was a stark reminder of just how far and severely back abuse runs in North American Black families. But she didn’t skimp on joy (and not even because she has Joy Clark in her band) — from a Sade cover to her own brand new semi-political anthem “Georgia Rise,” Russell brings a brand of feel-good that’s never felt more well-earned. (Read Variety ‘s commentary on her award wins and nominations here .) — Willman

‘Quentin Tarantino: Cinema Speculation Book Tour’ at the Theatre at Ace Hotel (11/3/22)

Quentin Tarantino went the rock star route to promote his new book, “Cinema Speculation,” holding sold-out live events at Los Angeles’ Ace Hotel, San Francisco’s Castro Theatre and the Town Hall in New York City with fellow film brains. The Bay Area event was a dud (Tarantino was sick and the host reportedly stoned), but the SoCal crowd went wild for a deep dive into the director’s ’70s obsessions, as Rotten Tomatoes awards editor (and longtime pal) Jacqueline Coley got personal, grilling QT about his influences. After two hours of banter, Tarantino gave a colorful, anything-but-sober reading of the final chapter, about Floyd, the Black family friend who took “Little Quentin” to outrageously inappropriate (yet formative) screenings. Never shy about the “N word,” Tarantino channeled the man who inspired several of Samuel L. Jackson’s most iconic characters. — Peter Debruge

Lady Gaga at Dodger Stadium (9/10/22)

Surrounded by brutalist architecture and rocking other-worldly outfits, Lady Gaga’s Chromatica Ball finally landed at Dodger Stadium. Rather than save her biggest hits till last, Gaga had everyone on their feet as she front-loaded her setlist with a trifecta of smash tunes that included “Bad Romance,” “Just Dance” and “Poker Face.” Dodger Stadium had become a dance floor with the biggest party in town that would last over two hours. The stripped-back ballad section was another spectacle, a highlight showcasing just Gaga at a piano, belting out her Oscar-winning tune, “Shallow.” It was quite a unifying moment, an escape from the pandemic era we were all going through, as all 52,000 attendees joined in a sing-along, maskless and forgetting about all our worries. It was also mesmerizing to look around in any direction to see fans dressed up recreating her looks… think Comic-Con but Gaga-Con. How did Gaga cap the night off? With mile-high pyrotechnics that could burn toast if you stood too close as she sang her soaring ballad from “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Hold My Hand.” The show was worth the wait — coming after a full two-year pandemic delay — and a reminder of her artistic range, not that we ever needed it. (Read Variety ‘s original review here .) — Jazz Tangcay

The Smile at NYC's Hammerstein Ballroom (11/20/22)

The Smile is a band formed during the pandemic by the most public-facing members of Radiohead, singer Thom Yorke and lead guitarist and musical wizard Jonny Greenwood. Their debut album “A Light for Attracting Attention” causes a racket, blending the primal power of axe-heavy Radiohead albums (think “The Bends” blended with “In Rainbows”) with the songwriting precision of post-punk, sprinkled with the experimentation of Greenwood’s solo compositions. Along with drummer Tom Skinner, the group bounded through standouts including the piano ballad “Pana-vision,” which devolved into a noisy outro, complete with Greenwood attacking his electric bass with a bow; “Bending Hectic,” an experimental and extended jam which could live alongside “A Thousand Leaves”-era Sonic Youth; the slinky, minimalist “The Smoke,” and set-closer “You Will Never Work in Television Again,” a rousing, pissed-off rocker. — William Earl

Billie Eilish at L.A.'s Kia Forum (4/9/22)

Here’s a hot take: Eilish’s 2021 album “Happier Than Ever” was every bit as strong as 2019’s “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” So what a hell of a set list Eilish had coming into her 2022 tour, just two albums (or two and a half, if we count her 2017 EP) into a career that’s amassed a library of songs for her, at 20, that almost any other performer would envy at 50. Maybe nothing can live up to the shock and awe of her coming out of the gate on Coachella 2019’s second stage with a show that proved she was as captivating a live performer as she was a recording artist, but consistency trumps even the excitement of initial flashpoints. Going into a headlining slot at Coachella 2022, Eilish and her brother  Finneas  preceded that locally with a sold-out three-night stand at L.A.’s Forum that established she’s in a sweet spot where a performing maturity has set in before the first, most glorious flush of youth has waned. (Read Variety ‘s original review here .) — Willman

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss at the Greek (8/19/20)

In the annals of popular music, has there ever been a more successful confluence of two existing solo brands than  Robert Plant  and  Alison Krauss ? Theirs seemed to go down as a one-and-done in the late 2000s, but after 2021’s reunion album, they were back on the road this year for the first time in 14 years. These two feel born to be together … occasionally. This tour felt like home, and like Halley’s comet. As a bonus, this time around,  JD McPherson  is the lead guitarist  and  fantastic opening act; while that’s quite a break for him, it’s also a boon for the audience, many of whom are getting their first exposure to one of the best there is in American rock ‘n’ roll. You could see Plant’s and Krauss’ admiration for McPherson in how, after usually singing apart from one another, they’d step back together into the shadows to look at him like proud parents. The highlight of the show for many was surely a version of Zeppelin’s classic “When the Levee Breaks” that managed to cleverly interpolate some of the instrumental parts from a separate Zeppelin song, “Friends”; it turns out Krauss is capable of making her instrument feel as much Middle Eastern as middle-Tennessean. But the real high point was the Zep cover that immediately preceded it, “The Battle of Evermore,” in which it was Krauss’ voice making the substantial contribution to a ’70s rock standard. She so made it hers, Zeppelin’s recorded version feel forever like it’s missing something going forward. (Read Variety ‘s full review here .) — Willman

Bob Dylan at the Terrace Theatre (6/21/22)

It’s almost comical to compare what Dylan is doing at 81 with what Paul McCartney has been doing in stadium shows just on the cusp of 80. One’s a people-pleaser, and the other is a walking Rorschach test, or hall of mirrors. But they’re putting on what may be the two most reliably great shows of 2022, despite flying or bussing in from opposite ends of the solar system. You don’t want McCartney to act his age, but to defy it. On the other hand, it’s fantastic that Dylan is putting on what absolutely amounts to a rock ‘n’ roll show where nonetheless you  can  believe how old he is, because the depth of his performance is heightened by our awareness of the years he’s logged, which add to the palpable mythos that’s already there in the music. The barely death-defying danger of “Crossing the Rubicon,” or the fountain-of-youth giddiness of “Coming Up”? Listen, it’s OK to want both from our favorite octogenarians! At 81, Dylan is acting his somber age, and yet, in the fun of the arrangements, you sense him deep at play in the fields of the Lord. (Read Variety ‘s full review here .) — Willman

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis at NYC's Kings Theatre (3/25/22)

Commensurate with the empathetic lyrical vibe of Nick Cave’s most recent studio albums (“Ghosteen,” “Carnage”), the praying mantis-like vocalist presented a live show in Brooklyn that was equal parts quiet sermon and communal fireside chat. Aided by the Kings Theatre’s shrine-like design, Cave’s usual menace disappeared, leaving in its wake an intensity borne of the wealth of deeply-felt emotion and fellowship. The reverie of Cave’s live, prayer session was nearly broken when the audience spilled from the theater to the shock that Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins had died. Somehow, Cave’s message lingered in the air as fans struggled to process the tragic news. — A.D. Amorosi

The Mars Volta at NYC's Terminal 5 (9/29/22)

This reunion tour, in support of a new self-titled record that marks the end of a decade-long hiatus for the Texas rockers, is a reminder not only that the group itself is back but keenly aware of their legacy as a taut, adventurous live act ready to blend genres at a breakneck pace. Their musicianship was jaw-dropping on standout tracks like “L’Via L’Viaquez,” a classic rock collision where a Zeppelin-esque rager abruptly swerves, dipping into a Latin jam out of the Santana playbook. Toggling back and forth between the styles could be whiplash-inducing, but there was enough talent and communication on stage to keep the complex song structures crisp and flowing. — Earl

Father John Misty at Hollywood Forever Cemetery (8/20/22)

Father John Misty sang “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” early on in the show nearly every night on his 2022 tour, but when he deigned to sing it at Hollywood Forever during a two-night stand at the mortuary/outdoor concert venue, thinking about how meta that was made him momentarily flub the words. But a lot of his songs are at least that life-and-death. “It didn’t occur to me till last night, my first time playing in a graveyard, that my catalog has quite a serious body count,” he said on night two. “We’re, like, five (songs) in, and quite a few dead.” The songs with mortal coils ranged from “Chloë,” which ends with the effervescent starlet of the title throwing herself from her balcony, to “Goodbye Mr. Blue,” a song about a dead cat (or, really, the death of the relationship between its two owners). He also made a joke out of saying “I’d like to dedicate this next one to all the dead people in introducing “Please Don’t Die.” But the song itself is no gag — for all his elusiveness and wryness, Misty has his hand on the throbbing pulse of anyone who ever suffered such anxiety or existential terror that they let themselves bottom out, or worse. Meanwhile, the new album, which ventures more into short-form narrative, strictly fictional songwriting than he has in the past, has some of the best orchestral arrangements that have been put to a pop record in years, by Drew Erickson — and against all odds, those were carried over to the tour, thanks to a substantial string section and horn section Misty took out on the road with him. It was a show that, in its catharsis, felt positively death-defying. (Read Variety ‘s original review of the Hollywood Forever concerts here , and of his appearance earlier in 2022 with the LA Phil at Disney Hall here .) — Willman

The Who at the Hollywood Bowl (11/1/22)

The Who — aka surviving members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend — was touring with an orchestra, just as the band did a few years earlier, pre-pandemic. If anyone thought that particular deja vu was a valid reason to pass on picking up a ticket this time around, the Who’s Hollywood Bowl season-capping show proved this music and these arrangements make for as mandatory a visit as ever. Daltrey sounded in impossibly fine form, and Townsend seemed fully invested, wanton windmills and all (he’s claimed that his cartilage is so damaged it’s easy to do them again). And hearing the full symphonic take on a generous selection of “Tommy” at the beginning and “Quadrophenia” at the end? That’s a catalog and a combination that rock-estras will still be trying to pull off long after you and I and Rog and Pete are gone, so what joy to get the full package now. It doesn’t hurt that Zak Starkey pulls off replicating Keith Moon’s unmistakable style in a way that we probably wouldn’t let anyone but the scion of rock royalty get away with. The show-closer offered a special treat: young lead violinist Katy Jacoby putting a literal spring in the step of “Baba O’Riley.” (Read Variety ‘s 2022 interview with Townshend here .) — Willman

‘Homeward Bound: A Grammy Salute to the Songs of Paul Simon’ at the Pantages (4/6/22)

On the recent television special as well as at the original taping at the Pantages last spring, the unmistakable highlight of the Simon tribute was having Rhiannon Giddens join Simon for the penultimate number, “American Tune,” which she sang alone to his guitar-picking accompaniment, with slightly altered lyrics that spoke to a non-white legacy of these United States. But the entire evening was a feast fit for the king of American tuneage, including, of course, a generous swath of “Graceland,” arguably the most important album of the ’80s. Besides Simon’s own version of “Graceland’s” title track near the end, the record was represented by Take 6 channeling Ladysmith Black Mambazo on the a cappella “Homeless” and West African native Angélique Kidjo and South African native Dave Matthews bringing figurative swagger and literal strutting to “Under African Skies” and “You Can Call Me Al.” Other testimonies to Simon’s multi-cultural interests included Jimmy Cliff and Shaggy’s “Mother and Child Reunion” and the also mama-deifying “Loves Me Like a Rock” from Take Six and Billy Porter. With Irma Thomas, Trombone Shorty, Susanna Hoffs, Garth Brooks, Eric Church and others on board, the show did Simon proud, no easy feat. The only performers cut for the telecast were Eric Idle and Puddles Pity Party, but we can’t always send in the clowns. (Read Variety ‘s original coverage here and TV review here .) — Willman

The Weeknd at SoFi Stadium (11/26/22)

Would “House of Balloons”-era Weeknd ever believe that he would be able to rock out NFL stadiums like he consistently did throughout 2022? While SoFi Stadium was the site of his loss of voice and concert postponement in early September, the Weeknd found personal redemption after Thanksgiving across two nights of rescheduled shows. Immersive stage and light design supplemented the storytelling of recent records “After Hours” and “Dawn FM,” but the real star of the show has always been Abel Tesfaye’s astonishing vocal capabilities. The irresistible momentum of hits like “Blinding Lights” and “Can’t Feel My Face” were electric in a stadium atmosphere, but moments like the particular roars of dedicated fans across the crowd when the opening guitar and synths signaled playback of longtime favorite “The Morning” were simply unforgettable. — EJ Panaligan

Bonnie Raitt and Mavis Staples at the Greek in L.A.(9/24/22)

If the planet was under threat of annihilation from beyond, and we had to present our divine or interplanetary overlords with just two musical emissaries to make a case that humankind is worth being spared as a species,  Bonnie Raitt  and  Mavis Staples  might be the couple we’d want to pick. Raitt had several different worthy opening acts for her 2022 tour, but the segment of it that had Staples in tow made for a two-sided portrait of what heart, soul and understated heroism look like in music. Their Greek stop was a show where you  could  think about what Staples meant during the civil rights movement, and since, or about Raitt’s role as a warrior without uniform in the early days of women fighting to get their due in rock. Or you could just enjoy the chops and grease that feed into the respective performances of historically significant figures who wear their mantles as lightly as anything else they’d need to peel off upon stepping into a humid roadhouse. (Read Variety ‘s original review here .) — Willman

Paramore at the Belasco (10/27/22)

After a four-year hiatus from performing, Paramore’s enthusiasm to return to the stage was further heightened by the intimacy of the Belasco, a too-rarely-utilized small-scale downtown L.A. venue. With fellow musicians like Billie Eilish, Jesse Rutherford and Finneas in attendance, vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro gave a heartfelt performance that took audience members on a journey through the band’s genre-non-conforming discography. The setlist featured a blend of older fan-favorites like “Misery Business” and “Decode” along with newer works such as opening number “This Is Why” and “Simmer,” Williams’ 2020 debut solo single. — Katie Reul

Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe at the City National Grove of Anaheim (9/1/22)

With Costello performing on tour with his former producer Lowe as opening act, the two teamed up as a duo on some nights and not on others. Alone among their several L.A. area dates, their Anaheim show had them not just sharing the stage for one number but joining armed forces for three — “Indoor Fireworks” (written by EC, covered by Lowe), “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” (written by Lowe, covered by Costello) and, possibly for the first joint time ever, “Alison,” with Lowe, for his part, giving maybe the tenderest reading of that Elvis standard ever. Costello did his extra bit to make it a more Lowe-centric night by opening his part of the show with his never-recorded, 120-mph reading of Nick’s “Heart of the City.” As headliner, Costello, one of rock’s all-time great singers, was in peak form, never more than in the five songs from this year’s “The Boy Named If,” his most energized and maybe just best album since the ’90s. One of the best things about Costello’s recent touring is that, while he won’t ever go up against that other EC, his shows have gone from having virtually no guitar solos to being filled with them, between his own and new Imposter Charlie Sexton’s. Who would ever have expected to see Costello and Sexton jamming out — just infrequently enough that you don’t get too used to the idea — like they were a 2020s Allmans? — Willman

‘The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert’ at the Kia Forum (9/27/22)

“It’s a revolving door of rock heroes tonight,” Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl said during the Los Angeles tribute concert for late drummer Taylor Hawkins, and he couldn’t have been more accurate. The impressive lineup was practically a lesson in rock ‘n’ roll history, including the likes of Joan Jett, Travis Barker, Josh Homme, Wolfgang Van Halen, Alanis Morrissette,  Pink , Miley Cyrus, Stewart Copeland and Chad Smith as well as members of Queen, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Soundgarden, Rush, Metallica and Black Sabbath. There was also comedic relief in the form of Jack Black and  Dave Chappelle , who covered “Creep” for the occasion. But perhaps the most special guest was Shane Hawkins, the 16-year-old son of Taylor, who joined Foo Fighters on drums at the end of the show for an emotional performance of “My Hero” and “I’ll Stick Around.” (Read Variety ‘s original coverage here .) — Ellise Shafer

Olivia Rodrigo at NYC's Madison Square Garden (4/27/22)

For all the teen-leaning concerts we’ve attended in the past few years — Harry Styles, Ariana Grande, Jack Harlow, Dua Lipa, Eilish, BTS and more — Rodrigo’s was the most laser-focused on speaking to and for her audience and age group. For all of their differences in sound and imaging, it was most similar to Billie Eilish circa 2019, which isn’t surprising: both are (or were) teenagers themselves. But whereas Eilish’s appeal at the time was more like the cool, creative friend from art class, Rodrigo’s is a more situational relatability: “I wrote this song in my bedroom when I was feeling like I was falling short for this guy I really liked” was her spoken introduction to just one song, but could have been for many. There’s no question that the audience was with Rodrigo before she’d even set foot on the stage, but living up to it is a different story. Filling a room on the scale of Radio City is a challenge, and she did it with an easy grace, using poses both natural and trained — outstretched arms, a lighthearted skip or purposeful strut across the stage, hair flips, hunching over for emphasis and scowling on the heartbreak lyrics while beaming on the happy ones, and most of all, connecting with her audience. (Read Variety ‘s original review here .) — Aswad

Amanda Shires at the Troubadour (10/10/22)

Amanda Shires isn’t always determined to drive an audience in a frenzy. Much of the setlist for her 2022 tour was taken from “Take It Like a Man” — one of the year’s finest singer-songwriter releases — which reaches deep into the lonely or insecure moments that can creep into a long-term relationship, as well as the emotionally fulfilling and carnal ones. That fiddle of hers can be as plaintive as her voice, and the newer stuff nicely balances Americana heartbreakers with light-R&B uplift. But watch out if she puts on a pair of black wings over her bodysuit; that may be a sign that she’s about to bring the show to an extended climax with an older song, “Look Like a Bird,” that establishes she and her crackerjack band would fare just fine on the jam-band circuit. — Willman

The Killers with Bruce Springsteen at Madison Square Garden (10/1/22)

Very few modern bands have a “Mr. Brightside.” Even fewer are able to whip it out in the first five minutes of a show and continue to entertain an arena for another 90 minutes. And even fewer are those who can hold their own in a three-song duet with  Bruce Springsteen  as he beams with excitement announcing their name to the crowd: “ THE KILLERS !” “Everybody knows God made Saturday nights for rock ‘n’ roll,” frontman Brandon Flowers declared toward the beginning of the band’s set, the second of two consecutive nights at Madison Square Garden. And the Killers delivered on that, taking New York City on a tour of its greatest songs from “Hot Fuss” to “Pressure Machine.” As the set wrapped up, an attentive audience member might have sensed a surprise was in order, as it wasn’t entirely clear how the band could top closers “All These Things That I’ve Done” and “When You Were Young” with an encore. Oh, of course, just bring out Springsteen for “Badlands,” “Dustland” and “Born to Run.” (Read Variety ‘s full review here .) — Shanfield

Muse at the Wiltern (10/4/22)

Muse has been relying on massive production design in its touring for so long — nearly putting Pink Floyd to shame — that the idea of a no-frills tour seemed as unlikely as a Roger Waters solo acoustic outing. But the band did a few global small-hall shows to herald the coming of its “Will of the People” album, free from drones or giant puppets, and they’ve never sounded better. (“Sounded” being the operative word, since sightlines at the SRO Wiltern are non-existent except for the balcony and a chosen few on the floor. Is there a worse place to see a show in L.A.?) The set was especially heavy on the band’s earliest and, yes, oft-heaviest material, when Muse sounded more like the love child of Metallica and prog; it was a lovely, headbanging place to revisit before the “real” tour comes around to arenas this spring. — Willman

Patti Smith at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa (5/6/22)

When the Bob Dylan Museum opened in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in May, the festivities included three nights of affiliated concerts at the legendary Cain’s Ballroom around the corner, with three headliners worthy of a bard: Elvis Costello, Mavis Staples and Patti Smith. Each of them brought their own historic connection to Dylan, which they did or didn’t play off of during their Tulsa performances. Costello covered “Like a Rolling Stone” and “I Threw It All Away” and interpolated a snippet of “Subterranean Homesick Blues” into his own “Pump It Up.” Staples didn’t sing any Dylan songs at all, but given a 60-year history with the man that speaks for itself, she didn’t need to. But Smith really went the extra mile, opening her show with a quiet “Boots of Spanish Leather,” later doing an equally acoustic “One Too Many Mornings,” and in-between those taking her Dylan covers electric with a howlingly fierce “Wicked Messenger.” Dylan didn’t show for any of these activities, of course, but Smith made sure that his ears were burning up, wherever he was. (Read Variety ‘s coverage here .) — Willman

Grace Jones at the Hollywood Bowl (9/25/22)

Dancing on towering heels for more than an hour, changing costumes every other song (of course including one recreating Keith Haring’s iconic body paint), and singing her cathartic finale, “Slave to the Rhythm,” while effortlessly navigating a hula hoop, 74-year-old Grace Jones commanded the cavernous Hollywood Bowl stage — and moved around on it — like a performer half her age. But even if shuffling through a murderer’s row of her most enduring hits (“Nightclubbing,” “My Jamaican Guy”) somehow wasn’t entertainment enough for an absolutely mesmerized audience of fans, late in the show she enlisted a group of them for a dance party during “Pull Up to the Bumper” that unexpectedly featured superfan and disciple Janelle Monae, who paid appropriate tribute by crawling between Jones’ legs while her idol spanked her behind. — Todd Gilchrist

‘Katy Perry: Play' at Resorts World Las Vegas (1/12/22)

If you’re easily triggered by 30- to 40-foot props, dance routines with dozens of performers, childish wonder, juvenile humor, vivid drug-trip simulations or just, you know, color , by all means avoid “Katy Perry: Play,” the Las Vegas residency that began just before last New Year’s Eve and is continuing into 2023. To be sure, talking poops, dancing mushrooms and anthropomorphic toothbrushes and tube socks are not for all tastes or tolerance levels. But what giddy fun this show is, if you love old-school Vegas showmanship, movie musicals and pop art or any intersection thereof. Think “Toy Story” as an acid trip, or Busby Berkeley meets “The Incredible Shrinking Man” meeting Peter Max in “South Park”… with a healthy dose of Sin City’s classic headdresses and tuxes toward the end. It’s not all about the wild production design: There could be no better hostess with the most-est for this campy but clever madness than Perry, who has the hooks to go with the pop-a-top on her beer-dispensing brassiere. (Read Variety ‘s coverage of the residency here .) — Willman

Feid at Columbia's La Macarena (9/9/22)

La Macarena in Colombia has a long history of hosting boisterous energy. The stadium has served as a venue for both concerts and bullfights since 1945, but on the weekend of Sept. 9, the ring was populated by Medellín native Salomón Villada Hoyos, otherwise known as  Feid . The reggaeton singer-songwriter sold out three consecutive nights at the stadium – a feat that not even two other hometown heroes, J. Balvin and Karol G., can claim (yet). Feid has been an active and successful songwriter for years, penning songs for Balvin and fellow Colombian reggaeton star Reykon, Sebastián Yatra and more. However, Feid has grown into somewhat of an emblematic figure, representing his home city with an alluring and emotive sound that’s idolized far beyond the forests of Antioquia. If this string of shows is of any proof, it’s clear the Medellín hero is just getting started. (Read Variety ‘s original review here .) — Garcia

My Chemical Romance at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center (8/29/22)

For a band that split nearly a decade ago, My Chemical Romance — the burning toast of 21st century emo-glam-empowered power-pop — never lost the flame when it came to reuniting. Vocalist-lyricist Gerard Way and the rest of MCR (original members guitarists Ray Toro, Frank Iero and brother-bassist Mikey Way) performed as if they were a ticking time bomb. Dedicating themselves to the disenfranchised and the outliers with material from 2002’s “I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love” and 2006’s “The Black Parade,” their speedy riff-heavy songs never lacked for intense, contagious choruses and bold, theatrical bridges worthy of a James Bond theme. But each MCR moment of the past spoke boldly and loudly to the present-day concerns of mental health, self-awakening and freedom from fear and shame. (Read Variety ‘s full concert review here .) — Amorosi

Bomba Estéreo at Ohana Fest (10/2/22)

Bomba Estéreo is not exactly an obscure band among Latin music fans — especially not after collaborating with Bad Bunny for his blockbuster album as a cherry on top of an already long career for the Colombian crew. But at Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Fest — where, however notably diverse the lineup, a Latin act is still going to count as an outlier — there were no guarantees how they’d go over in an afternoon set. No worries. Li Saumet’s rainbow-cape-flashing, pretty-in-skintight-pink was like a visual siren song to draw audiences over to the second stage, and the music kept them there — especially the younger demographic portions of a festival whose crowd can skew a little dad-rock-y. Besides adding some global flair, Saumet’s presence as a magnetic frontwoman was right in keeping with Vedder’s emphasis on having strong female representation throughout the whole festival, which is far from a given at these things. Ohana was special in that regard from the top down — from Pink, Stevie Nicks and St. Vincent on down to Joy Oladokun, Brittany Howard, Madison Cunningham, S.S. Goodman, Grouplove and Broken Social Scene. (Read Variety ‘s Ohana Fest coverage here .) — Willman

Feist at the Shrine Auditorium (4/27/22)

When  Feist  took to the stage for four shows over two nights at L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium , some burning questions were raised. Like: Where  is  the stage, exactly? Her experimental, very intimate, limited-run tour — which, like a forthcoming album, is titled “Multitudes” — had the smallish crowd sitting in a circle around her in a space that the audience had been led into from a side entrance, and was clearly not the main, massive, fixed-seat auditorium of the Shrine. Most attendees probably figured out that they were actually seated on the venue’s stage before the raising of a curtain near the end proved it. It could have just been an intriguing stunt, but Feist’s collaboration with designer  Rob Sinclair  — of David Byrne and “American Utopia” fame — resulted in a show that plays with the separation between artists and their audiences in any number of meaningful ways. Feist will likely follow the release of the “Multitudes” album some time in 2023 with a more traditional tour, but for anyone who appreciates artists playing with the concert form in thoughtful ways, these shows represented some kind of Canadian-American utopia of their own. (Read Variety ‘s preview of the show here .) — Willman

‘Juneteenth: A Global Celebration for Freedom’ at the Hollywood Bowl (6/19/22)

Chaka Khan, Khalid, Billy Porter, Mickey Guyton, Bell Biv DeVoe, Earth, Wind & Fire, Robert Glasper, the Roots, Michelle Williams and Ne-Yo helped bring the party for the day that honors Black emancipation, in a multi-artist, multi-genre show that was broadcast live on CNN. Although the concert spanned almost as wide an array of musical and performance styles as could be packed into a single prime-time slot, from soul to classical to country to jazz, the lineup had a special emphasis on artists that ruled the R&B world of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, leading an emcee to joke to the sold-out audience about a time “before all those knee replacements out there.” Even with EWF, Khan and others getting the crowd on its feet, there may have been no greater eruption of joy during the three hours than the one that occurred during a short set by Bell Biv DeVoe. Socially conscious anthems had their day, too, with Guyton especially spanning eras in reviving Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Goin’ On” right alongside a recent power ballad of her own, “Black Like Me,” that put Nashville and the world on notice that so-called color-blindness is hardly the answer. (Read Variety ‘s original coverage here .) — Willman

Lorde at the Shrine Auditorium (5/6/22)

On “Solar Power” opener “The Path,” Lorde declares: “If you’re looking for a savior, well that’s not me.” But during a two-night stint at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in May, the 26-year-old singer seemed to be doing a whole lot of saving. Putting forth the perfect alchemy of a set list that represented the very best of her three-album discography, Lorde took an energized L.A. audience on a musical journey that excited, jubilated and maybe even healed many in attendance. Rarely do you ever get the chance to feel like your teenage self again, but when tracks like “Ribs” and “Perfect Places” come on, I found it impossible not to scream along to every word — tears of joy streaming down my face, of course. — Panaligan

Rakim at NYC's Sony Hall (11/21/22)

In the wake of the success of recent tours like the one where fellow emcee Nas performed his debut album “Illmatic” from start to finish, “An Intimate Night with Rakim” could easily have been a low-effort cash in for the legendary lyricist, even backed by a live band. But even after breaking his foot just days beforehand, requiring him to sit (appropriately in a throne, flanked on both sides by beautiful, stone-faced women) for the entirety of the show, Rakim seemed to feed on the energy and affection of the crowd in New York’s Sony Hall while he rattled through a nonstop string of hits that included “Paid in Full,” “Microphone Fiend,” “Know the Ledge” and “Don’t Sweat the Technique.” A high energy lead-in DJ set by Funkmaster Flex further helped by starting the night with a proper party vibe, which Rakim capitalized upon to preside over the club like its king, revisiting and reminding fans of a hip-hop heyday when razor-sharp verses and irresistible beats went hand in hand. — Gilchrist

Loudon Wainwright III, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Judd Apatow and Beck at Largo (10/11/22)

Wainwright’s appearance at Largo would have been just fine as a proper solo headlining gig, given that he was on tour behind a wonderful new album, “Lifetime Achievement,” that greets the prospect of getting older with as much wry humor and humanism as you’d expect from his 50-year career. But as often happens at Largo, and always happens at the Judd Apatow-hosted “Juddapalooza” benefit concerts, the cast list tends to grow. On this night, Beck and Greg Kurstin sat in, but Wainwright was also joined by  Michael McKean  and  Christopher Guest . It wasn’t quite a Spinal Tap reunion, but Wainwright did have a cameo as that band’s supposed keyboard player in an early short — but more importantly, he just ran in the same theatrical/satirical/musical circles back in their fresh-faced days. Guest and McKean revived Tap’s pre-metal songs like “Listen to the Flower People,” Beck sang Neil Young’s “Old Man” and Wainwright sang about being an old man: “I’ve got pieces of me strewn around the globe / There’s not much left, I’m lightening up my load.” Thanks for the mortal detritus. (Read Variety ‘s original coverage here .) — Willman

Kelsea Ballerini at the Greek (10/6/22)

If you went to see Kelsea Ballerini at L.A.’s Greek Theater in October to see her perform her biggest hits, you may have been bummed. But only for a second — her show didn’t allow for that as she played multiple new songs from her fourth album, “Subject to Change,” and had the crowd on their feet for nearly the entire show. By sprinkling in medleys of her past hits (“Dibs,” “Hole in the Bottle,” etc.), performing a fan-favorite but rarely sung live track, “L.A.,” and combining her “Love Is a Cowboy” with the Chicks’ “Cowboy Take Me Away,” it was impossible not to have a good time. The cherry on top? Her “Half Of My Hometown” collaborator, Kenny Chesney, showed up for the duet and she was genuinely surprised, just like the very excited crowd was. —Emily Longeretta

The B-52s at Atlantic City's Ocean Casino Resort (10/15/22)

So maybe the B-52s are claiming that their 2022 tour would be their last lengthy go-round. That didn’t mean that Fred Schneider, Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson were going to go quietly or without their patented angularity high in its live mix. Peppering their set with punky B-52’s oddities featuring Schneider’s dry-ice cackle (like a searing, syncopated “Mesopotamia”), nothing could compare to hearing pop’s most unique harmonists, Wilson and Pierson, do their thing on “Roam” and “Deadbeat Club.” And yes, the crowd did fall on its back,  en masse , to “Rock Lobster” for the last time. Fantastic. —Amorosi

'Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Celebration of the Life & Music of Loretta Lynn‘ at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House (10/30/22)

The memorial concert for Loretta Lynn went out live over CMT, so you didn’t have to be there to catch it. That is, unless you wanted to experience it amid the sniffles and tears of real country music fans who’d been waiting in line outside the Opry House for hours for a shot at drowning their sorrows in harmony and recreations of Lynn’s signature sweet feistiness. The Highwomen’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Brandi Carlile’s “She’s Got You” (in honor of Loretta’s bond with Patsy Cline), Margo Price’s “Fist City,” Tanya Tucker’s “Blue Kentucky Girl” and Wynonna Judd’s “How Great Thou Art” were just a few of the highlights for an audience that came to the show with mournin’ on its mind. (Read Variety ‘s coverage of the memorial here .) — Willman

Khruangbin at NYC’s Prospect Park (8/4/22)

Khruangbin, a trio from Houston that plays mostly instrumental music, is a band as unusual as its name, and what was perhaps most remarkable about the concert was the size of the densely packed crowd — there aren’t many bands like it that are popular enough to sell out Radio City Music Hall, which they did earlier this year. While they were originally (broadly) categorized as an alternative act and quickly embraced by the Pitchfork contingent, the easy groove of their music — highlighted by Mark Speer’s effortlessly stunning guitar playing — and a series of high-profile festival appearances soon brought them a big following with the jam-band crowd. Both audiences were out in force at this concert and grooving joyfully to the group’s headlining set. (Read Variety ‘s full review of the show here .) — Aswad

‘The Town Hall and T Bone Burnett Present a Tribute to Bob Dylan’ at NYC's Town Hall (9/30/22)

To celebrate Dylan’s 1963 rise from Greenwich Village coffee houses to Manhattan civic centers like Town Hall, T Bone Burnett threw a party last autumn. Praise was paid to Dylan’s ‘63 show with Sara Bareilles and Margaret Glaspy harmonizing warmly through a folksy version of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.” But with actor Oscar Issac, Joe Henry, the McCrary Sisters, Punch Brothers, Lizz Wright, guitarists Bill Frisell and Julian Lage, et al., the event transcended its “tribute” tag. There was a feeling of forward motion and even raucous fun during moments such as the mass singalong of “Rainy Day Way Women #12 and #35.” And yes, T Bone joined in for the “everybody must get stoned” bit. (Read Variety ‘s original review here .) — Amorosi

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Top 5 Country Music Concerts to See in 2022

Country music concerts 2022.

If you are one of the thousands of people who love country music, then you will enjoy any of these country music concerts 2022. Since there are so many in the U.S. to choose from, we have narrowed it down to the top five events that are still happening this year.

Top 5 Country Music Concerts

1. grand country nights festival – august 12 to 13, 2022.

Hosted at the Grand Casino Hinckley Amphitheater in Hinckley, Minnesota, you are sure to have a grand and entertaining time at the Grand Country Nights Festival ! There’s no better way to spend the last of your summer nights, especially with this epic line-up: Brothers Osbrone, Big & Rich, Mason Dixon Line and more.

If you want tickets, you should get them as soon as possible, as they have been available since January. You can get them online . It starts at $99 for a single day and costs $129 for the full two days. General camping is also available, starting at $50.

2. Americana Fest – September 2022

The New York Times has rated the Americana Fest in Nashville Tennessee as “the coolest music scene today” and it is no wonder since there are 147 performing artists scheduled for this year’s five-day event. It will feature legendary country artists like North Mississippi Acoustic, Black Opry Revue, James McMurty, Joshua Ray Walker and Oliver Wood. The festival runs from September 13 to 18, so be sure to get your tickets before they are sold out.

This festival is not only for the fans of country music to enjoy shows but it also has a conference portion that features seminars, panels and exclusive day-time performances. This conference covers the needs and interests of artists, managers, publishers, agents and promoters with leading industry professionals.

Festival pass rates start at $175 or you can get a festival and conference pass for $499, which can all be purchased online at Americana Fest’s website .

• Country Music
• Morgan Wallen Concert
• Blake Shelton Concert
• Zac Brown Band Concert
• Thomas Rhett Concert
• Shania Twain Concert

3. Firewater Festival – September 29 to October 1, 2022

Whiskey Myers is at it again with their second annual three-day music festival just outside Kansas City. With country rockers headlining the event, you can expect fantastic few days of live music, camping and outdoor activities. If you have nothing to do at the end of September and beginning of October and you are a country music fan, then we would recommend the Firewater Festival .

You can disappear for the weekend between the beautiful forest with a lake and cool down in the emerald pool or wander between the stages. There’s something for everyone at the Firewater Festival and a weekend general admission with free camping pass is only $144 with a two-month payment option. The line-up includes the Old 97s, Goodbye June, Them Dirty Roses, Real Southall Band and Nikki Lane, to name a few.

4. Keith Urban's Speed of Now Tour — Ongoing Until November 5, 2022

If you are a fan of legendary Australian country singer Keith Urban and don’t really prefer an all-weekend music festival, then you can catch him performing at a variety of venues as he does a tour in the U.S. from now through to the 5th of November. Performing his Speed of Now World Tour every weekend across America, there is guaranteed to be a concert near you.

Tickets can be purchased online , and depending on where you are happy to sit (or stand), they will cost you from $91 to a whopping $902 for the best seats in the house.

5. Carrie Underwood's Denim and Rhinestones Tour — Ongoing Until March 17, 2023

Another favorite country singer Carry Underwood is currently on tour in the U.S., and you can be assured of getting tickets to one of her concerts as she is performing all over the states until the 17th of March 2023. After winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005, she shot to fame and became one of the world’s favorite female country music stars.

You can get tickets from Ticketmaster for anything from $36 in Indianapolis to $526 if you want to experience this famous country star performing at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.

Which Event Will You Attend?

Whether you like a longer event or prefer a one-day jam, there is something here for every country music lover. Make sure to check out headliners, dates and ticket pricing to make your final decision on which show to attend.

2022’s Best Cities for Country Music Fans

Remember that time you slashed your boyfriend’s tires for flirting with a bleach-blond tramp? Or when you went fishing to forget how much you miss your wife (the one you left)?

If those bluesy, downhome lyrics sound like your life’s story, then you probably love you some good ol’ country. But where are the best U.S. cities to live like you were dying?

Marking International Country Music Day this Sept. 17, LawnStarter ranked 2022’s Best Cities for Country Music Fans. 

We compared over 180 of the biggest cities based on eight key factors, such as the number of country music festivals, access to performance venues, and the affordability of concert tickets.

We also gauged local interest in the genre based on Google search data, the number of country music stations, and even the existence of country music museums.

See which cities’ dirt roads lead to the top country music scenes below, followed by some highlights and lowlights

City Rankings

Highlights and lowlights, surprising findings.

• Ask the Experts

Behind the Ranking

Final thoughts.

See how each city fared in our ranking:

Undefeated Nashville

For the second year in a row, Nashville, Tennessee, topped our ranking charts as 2022’s unofficial Country Music Capital.

This outcome was really a foregone conclusion. After all, Music City is where country legends are born — and where many stay. Stars like Dolly Parton and Kacey Musgraves call the area home, so if you aspire to be the next Carrie Underwood or Morgan Wallen, Nashville is the place to put down roots.

In our ranking, Music City naturally dominated the Access and Genre Interest categories. No other big city has booked more acts for the next 2 years and Googled country music-related terms more times over the past 12 months.

Where Nashville could use a tune-up: Concert Venue Quality (No. 68) and Affordability (No. 116), though neither seems to have deterred fans. Despite the disappointing stats in these categories, Nashville scored an impressive 33 points higher than the next best country city, New York.

Cowpoke Country

Our top 10 wouldn’t be right without at least one city from Texas, the Cowboy Capital of the World. After all, country music traces some of its roots to the Lone Star State, particularly its cowboy and cowgirl history.

And what better city to fill that spot than the Live Music Capital of the World? At lucky No. 7, Austin boasts a strong country music scene. Every year, the city hosts the popular iHeartCountry Festival featuring the biggest names in country music and the Austin City Limits Music Festival .

Stats-wise, Austin’s biggest strength is Genre Interest at No. 5. Austin offers plenty of upcoming country concerts, too, placing 14th in this ranking factor. You won’t find a better Texas city if country’s your jam. Dallas comes the closest, at No. 26.

Country Hubs vs. Country Snubs

There are cities Dierks Bently might call “Risers.” Those include the biggest of the big cities that boot-scooted their way to the top of our ranking (or near it). Fringe cities, on the other hand, broke our hearts with their poor performances overall.

Newark and Paterson, New Jersey, for example, occupy two of the five worst spots, but they’re redeemed by their close proximity to silver medalist New York. In other words, these metro outliers don’t need to find their own voice in the country music scene.

It’s a similar story for other cities like Lancaster, California (No. 8 worst), which is sandwiched between two heavy hitters: iconic Bakersfield (No. 81) — dubbed “The Country Music Capital of the West Coast” and “Nashville West” — and Los Angeles (No. 18).

Our bottom cities include some literal outliers, too, mostly in Texas. Coming in last place is Brownsville, Texas, a city that’s more “country” than “country music.” Killeen (Me Softly) — pardon the irresistible pun — was last year’s worst but moved up one spot in 2022. This military city is known more for its fort than anything else.

Birthplace of Country?

New York is our first runner-up this year, displacing Las Vegas, our previous silver medalist, but does The Big Apple deserve a spot in our top 5? 

The short answer is yes if for no other reason than a claim guaranteed to ruffle some feathers: that The Big Apple is the real birthplace of the genre — based on a technicality — not Bristol, Virginia, the Congressionally designated official birthplace of country . 

In terms of performance, New York far outnumbered the competition in country radio stations — 24 in all, nearly double the number in Nashville (13). Gotham also will host the fourth-highest number of upcoming country concerts. Last and perhaps most unexpected, the city recorded the second-highest (population-adjusted) volume of Google searches for country terms.

Clearly New Yorkers can’t get enough country in the big city. 

Nationwide Country

It wouldn’t be called “country” if all its fans were concentrated in one region. Although country music is heavily associated with the South, the all-too-relatable songs draw fans from all over America — even around the globe. According to the Country Music Awards, over 139 million listeners tune in to country from every part of the U.S.

Our top 10 alone reflects those trends. Half of those cities are still in the South, as expected, but the other five cover every other region. New York (No. 2) reps the North, Chicago (No. 6) the Midwest, and Denver (No. 10) the Mountain region. Eugene, Oregon (No. 9), stands in for the West Coast, while Salt Lake City (No. 2) shines for the Southwest.

Last year, the South made up the majority of our top 20, but many dropped position this year after we accounted for concert venue quality and concert ticket affordability.

You might even be surprised to learn that New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago — in that order — took up some of the highest spots in average monthly Google searches for country terms.

Ask The Experts

Every now and then, country music finds a new sound just like all other genres. 

To help you find what’s fresh and which classics pair well with the two-step, our panel of country music experts threw their voices into the conversation. See what they had to say below.

What’s the new flavor of country music? What’s next?

Where are the best places for country music fans to discover new songs or artists that will resonate with them?

Who are some up-and-coming artists to watch out for? What makes them stand out?

What’s the best country music song for line dancing — Boot-Scootin’ Boogie or Electric Slide or Achy-Breaky Heart — and why?

What’s the best way to be introduced to country music? Which 10 songs or 10 artists would you include in an “intro” playlist?

What’s the new flavor of country music?

There is currently a modernization in the production of country music. While there is still a great deal of live music being recorded, there is also a fair amount of music that is being produced in home production studios, then brought to a recording to record the vocals and mix or master the track. This leads to a much wider variety of the types of music that are now labeled “country.”

While the lyrical content may be a storyline that would play well in a country music setting, sometimes the track tends to be a bit outside the organic sounds of how country music has been produced over the past several decades.

What’s next?

There is a great opportunity for unsigned artists and songwriters to showcase their material. The genre will evolve with the technology whereby more and more music will be produced that may be influenced by country music and perhaps create its own unique form of expression.

The best places for country music fans to discover new songs or artists are on streaming outlets and social media platforms.

Country Music has many flavors. We’re digging the tunes that have a bit of a retro appeal, and it seems like the “new flavor” has some old roots creeping in. So, the fires are starting to burn with some old flame.

Anywhere there’s music –– CMT Music Channel, Indie radio, music blogs, friends, any online music platform, and even soundtracks. Maybe up next, friends will have listening parties and listen to entire albums –– I’m open to an invite!

Claudia Hoyser, Charlie Crocket, Ruston Kelly

They connect with solid songs and honest production.

Achy-Breaky Heart (I had to ask others!)

• The Gambler- Kenny Rogers
• Wichita Lineman – Glen Campbell
• Jolene – Dolly Parton
• Ode to Billy Joe – Bobbie Gentry
• Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys – Willie Nelson
• Strawberry Wine – Deanna Carter
• I hope you Dance – Lee Ann Womack
• Take Me Home, Country Roads – John Denver
• Friends in Low Places – Garth Brooks
• The House That Built Me – Miranda Lambert

For each of the 200 biggest U.S. cities, we gathered publicly available data on the factors listed in the table below. 

We then grouped those factors into four categories: Access, Venue Quality, Genre Interest, and Concert Affordability. 

Next, we calculated weighted scores for each city in each category. 

Finally, we averaged the scores for each metro across all categories. We eliminated eight cities lacking sufficient data in a single category, resulting in a final sample size of 182 cities.

The city that earned the highest average score was ranked “Best” (No. 1), while the city with the lowest was ranked “Worst” (No. 182). (Note: The “Worst” among individual factors may not be No. 182 due to ties among cities.)

Sources: Concerts50, Country Music on Tour, Google Ads, Indie on the Move, myTuner Radio, Taste of Country, and Wikipedia

Why is LawnStarter ranking the Best Cities for Country Music Fans? 

First of all, we’re based in Austin, the Live Music Capital of the World, so that should clue readers in on our music tastes.

Our industry’s closer to the genre than most people think, too. Nothing epitomizes “country” more than yard work. Just this year, Josh Melton released his single “Cutting Grass,” and the title delivers on its promise — it’s a song about lawn care.

So, on International Country Music Day this Sept. 17, slather on the Coppertone, and enjoy mowing your grass while you listen to your favorite country hits. If you’d rather just enjoy the tunes, hire a local LawnStarter pro instead.

Main Photo Credit: Shutterstock

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Richie Bernardo

Country 102.5’s Top 50 Songs Of 2022

Country 102.5’s Top 50 songs of 2022 have been announced! It has been one heck of a year in country music, full of incredible new music from both well-established artists and artists on the rise!

We have watched country stars like Luke Combs & Morgan Wallen continue to climb to the top, selling out Gillette Stadium & Fenway park. Rising stars like Lainey Wilson and Cody Johnson have put out albums that caught the attention of country fans all over America, and it seems like they are just getting started!

Female country artists are taking up more and more top spots amongst the top 50 and we couldn’t be more excited for them!

Thank you to all of our country music stars who have been the soundtrack of 2022. We cannot wait to see what is next in 2023!

Here are your top 50 songs of 2022:

50. DOWN HOME - JIMMIE ALLEN

49. ONE MISSISSIPPI - KANE BROWN

48. COUNTRY'D LOOK GOOD ON YOU - FRANK RAY

47. FALL IN LOVE - BAILEY ZIMMERMAN

46. WHISKEY ON YOU - NATE SMITH

45. IF I WAS A COWBOY - MIRANDA LAMBERT

44. WITH A WOMAN YOU LOVE - JUSTIN MOORE

43. SOUL - LEE BRICE

42. WHAT MY WORLD SPINS AROUND - JORDAN DAVIS

41. PICK ME UP - GABBY BARRETT

40. AA - WALKER HAYES

39. SHE LIKES IT - RUSSELL DICKERSON FT. JAKE SCOTT

38. WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE - SAM HUNT

37. GIVE HEAEN SOME HELL - HARDY

36. HEART ON FIRE - ERIC CHURCH

35. COUNTRY ON - LUKE BRYAN

34. 7500 OBO - TIM MCGRAW

33. OUT IN THE MIDDLE - ZAC BROWN BAND

32. TIL YOU CAN'T - CODY JOHNSON

31. DAMN STRAIT - SCOTTY MCCREERY

30. WILD HEARTS - KEITH URBAN

29. BEERS ON ME - DIERKS BENTLY, BRELAND, HARDY

28. HEARTFIRST - KELSEA BALLERINI

27. HALF OF ME - THOMAS RHETT FT RILEY GREEN

26. NEVER WANTED TO BE THAT GIRL - CARLY PEARCE & ASHLEY MCBRYDE

25. WASTED ON YOU - MORGAN WALLEN

24. 5 FOOT 9 - TYLER HUBBARD

23. YOU PROOF - MORGAN WALLEN

22. AT THE END OF A BAR - CHRIS YOUNG FT. MITCHEL TENPENNY

21. THE KIND OF LOVE WE MAKE - LUKE COMBS

20. BEST THING SINCE BACKROADS - JAKE OWEN

19. SAME BOAT - ZAC BROWN BAND

18. GHOST STORY - CARRIE UNDERWOOD

17. PARTY MODE - DUSTIN LYNCH

16. DON'T COME LOOKIN' - JACKSON DEAN

15. HALF OF MY HOMETOWN - KELSEA BALLERINI FT. KENNY CHESNEY

14. CIRCLES AROUND THIS TOWN - MAREN MORRIS

13. BUY DIRT - JORDAN DAVIS FT. LUKE BRYAN

12. NEW TRUCK - DYLAN SCOTT

11. SLOW DOWN SUMMER - THOMAS RHETT

10. NEVER SAY NEVER - COLE SWINDELL & LAINEY WILSON

9. TROUBLE WITH A HEARTBREAK - JASON ALDEAN

8. TRUTH ABOUT YOU - MITCHELL TENPENNY

7. SHE HAD ME AT HEADS CAROLINA - COLE SWINDELL

6. LAST NIGHT LONELY - JON PARDI

5. 23 - SAM HUNT

4. TAKE MY NAME - PARMALEE

3. WISHFUL DRINKING - INGRID ANDRESS W/ SAM HUNT

2. THINKING' BOUT YOU - DUSTIN LYNCH W/ MACKENZIE PORTER

1. DRUNK (AND I DON'T WANNA GO HOME)

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'CMA Fest' concert special hosted by Jelly Roll, Ashley McBryde to air June 25 on ABC

NASHVILLE -- The Country Music Association announced "CMA Fest," the Music Event of Summer, will air Tuesday, June 25, at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.

The three-hour primetime concert special, which is set to film in Nashville during the 51st CMA Fest, is hosted by Jelly Roll and Ashley McBryde.

The CMA Fest television special will feature never-before-seen performances and surprise collaborations from some of county music's most exciting stars.

The event will stream the next day on Hulu.

2024 marks the 21st consecutive year CMA has produced a summer concert TV special.

Disney is the parent company of Hulu and this ABC station.

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The 25 Best New Country Songs of 2024

Posted: May 29, 2024 | Last updated: May 29, 2024

25. Dasha - "Austin"

24. Shaboozey - "A Bar Song (Tipsy)"

23. Hayefield - "Trees"

22. LoCash - "Hometown Home"

21. Tyler Braden - "Devil You Know"

20. Beyoncé - TEXAS HOLD 'EM

19. Austin Snell - "Wildfire"

18. Gabby Barrett - "Dance Like No One's Watching"

17. Bailey Zimmerman - "Holy Smokes"

16. Redferrin - "Just Like Johnny"

15. Zach Bryan - "I Remember Everything" ft. Kacey Musgraves

14. Tucker Wetmore - "Wind Up Missin' You"

13. Brothers Osborne - "Break Mine"

12. Anne Wilson, Jordan Davis - "Country Gold"

11. Jojo Mason - "Bottom Shelf"

10. Cody Jinks - "Change The Game"

9. Kenny Chesney - "Wherever You Are Tonight"

8. Kacey Musgraves - "Deeper Well"

7. Miranda Lambert - "Wranglers"

6. Keith Urban - "GO HOME W U (WITH LAINEY WILSON)"

5. Luke Bryan - "Love You, Miss You, Mean It"

4. Sam Hunt - "Locked Up"

3. Lauren Watkins - "Mama, I Made It"

2. Flatland Cavalry - "Let It Roll feat. Randy Rogers"

1. Post Malone - "I Had Some Help (feat. Morgan Wallen)"

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31 Must-See Tours & Music Festivals: How to Get Tickets to Missy Elliott, Megan Thee Stallion, Justin Timberlake & More

We've put together a list of 30 tours and music festivals to attend in 2024.

By Latifah Muhammad

Latifah Muhammad

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2024 is the year of mega-tours. After two years of rescheduled, postponed or canceled tours and concerts , music fans can rejoice in knowing that live shows are in full swing.

How to Score Tickets to Bad Bunny’s Most Wanted Tour

Trending on billboard.

For more tour guides, check out our roundups of 2023 Latin Tours in the U.S. , Las Vegas residencies and country musi c tours .

A List of Must-See Music Tours (Updating)

Alanis Morisette — The Triple Moon Tour launches on June 9 in Phoenix. The tour will feature Joan Jett and the Blakchearts. Get tickets here and here .

Avril Lavigne — Avril Lavigne: The Greatest Hits Tour kicks off on May 22. All Time Low, Simple Plan, Royal & the Serpent and Girlfriends will be featured on select dates. Get ticket here and here .

Billie Eilish — The Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour starts later this year. Get tickets here and here .

Billy Joel — In addition to joining Stevie Nicks for a co-headlining tour , Billy Joel has solo shows scheduled for this year. Get tickets here .

Blink-182 – Blink-182 will be heading back on tour in North America this summer. Buy tickets here .

Bruce Springsteen – After postponing 2023 dates, Bruce Springsteen resumed his tour in March. Buy tickets to see The Boss here and here .

Chris Stapleton – If you enjoyed his rousing rendition of the National Anthem at last year’s Super Bowl , you need to see the country star live . Get tickets to here .

Dave Matthews Band — The Dave Matthew Band’s tour starts today (May 22). Get tickets here and here .

The Eagles – The legendary band announced a UK residency as part of the band’s farewell tour. Get tickets to see The Eagles here .

Foo Fighters – The Foo Fighters’ Everything or Nothing Tour starts in July. Get tickets here and here .

Janet Jackson — Following the success of last year’s Together Again Tour, Janet Jackson is extending her stage run. Get tickets here .

Justin Timberlake — Justin Timberlake added additional dates to the Forget Tomorrow World Tour. Get tickets here and here .

Luke Combs – Luke Combs extended his Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour into this summer. Get tickets here and here .

Nicki Minaj — The Pink Friday 2 Tour starts launched in March. Get tickets here and here .

Megan Thee Stallion — The Hot Girl Summer Tour started on May 14. Get tickets here and here .

Missy Elliott — Busta Rhymes, Ciara and Timberland will join Missy Elliott for her first-ever, headlining tour in July. Get tickets to the Out of This World: The Missy Elliott Experience 2024 Tour here and here .

Metallica – The hotly anticipated M72 Tour from the rock legends returns to North America this summer. Get tickets here and here .

Olivia Rodrigo – The Guts tour is making its way around Europe. The tour returns to the U.S. in July. Get tickets here and here .

The Rolling Stones — The Hackney Diamonds Tour launched April 28 in Houston. Get tickets here .

Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks will be on the road starting in February. Get tickets to see the music icon live here .

Taylor Swift – The international leg of the Eras Tour started in Japan in February. The pop star will be back stateside later in the year. Get tickets here .

Usher — The Past, Present Future tour starts in August. Get tickets here and here .

2024 Music Festivals: Where to Get Tickets

Coachella, Stagecoach, SXSW, Lollapalooza, Dreamville Fest, Global Citizen Festival and Austin City Limits are just some of the many festivals on the calendar this year. See a list of upcoming festivals below.

Austin City Limits Music Festival — The 2024 Austin City Limits Music Festival will be held on Oct. 4-6 and Oct. 11-13).

Bonnaroo Festival — Post Malone, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fred Again, Reneé Rap, Megan Thee Stallion, Malanie Martinez, Diplo, Jason Isbell, Dominic Fike and T-Pain are some of the performers on the bill for Bonnaroo 2024. The festival will be held from June 13-16. Get tickets here and here .

Bottle Rock Festival — The Bottle Rock Festival takes place from May 24-26 in Napa, Calif. The lineup features Stevie Nicks, Megan Thee Stallion, St. Vincent, Nelly, Pearl Jam, Bebe Rehxa, Ed Sheeran, Mana, Kid Laroi, Kali Uchis, Queens of the Stone Age and more. Get tickets here and here .

CMA Fest — CMA Fest returns to Nashville from June 6-9. The lineup includes Gretchen Wilson, Reyna Roberts, Ashley McBryde, Britney Spencer, Jelly Roll, BRELAND, Gavin Degraw, Chase Matthew, Carly Pierce, The War & Treaty, Lainey Willson and Keith Urban. Get tickets here and here .

Lollapalooza Festival — Tyler the Creator, Hozier, Stray Kids, The Killers, Metro Boomin, Blink-182, Melanie Martinez and Skrillex From Aug. 1-4. Get ticket here and here .

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The Most Anticipated Concert Tours Of Summer 2024

Although summertime is often associated with festival season, there are also plenty of artists doing their own tours. Those artists may have some festival appearances scattered throughout their itineraries, but the sunny weather is a solid incentive to open up the outdoor amphitheaters and arenas for some memorable live music, fest or not. From Missy Elliott’s first-ever headlining tour to the indie-rock fan’s dream combo of The National and The War On Drugs , check out the most anticipated summer concert tours of 2024.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by @21savage

The London-born, Atlanta-bred rapper 21 Savage has been touring North America since May 1, but he has several arena and amphitheater dates left on the American Dream Tour. That includes stops in Southern cities like Tampa, West Palm Beach, Birmingham, and, of course, Atlanta. He’ll be joined by J.I.D, Nardo Wick, and 21 Lil Harold.

Adrianne Lenker

pic.twitter.com/B5RSIpvieg — adrianne lenker (@AdrianneLenker) March 28, 2024

Over the years, Big Thief has become one of the most known names in contemporary indie rock. Frontwoman Adrianne Lenker , as her tour agenda showcases, has become wildly popular in her own right. Following her recent solo album, the sparse, somber Bright Future , Lenker brings opening act Twain along for a slew of dates, many of which are sold out, starting June 9 in Austin.

Bryson Tiller

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bryson (@brysontiller)

Louisville vocalist and songwriter Bryson Tiller recently released his self-titled album back in April. He is currently touring behind it, and it continues through nearly all of June. Along the way, Tiller will make stops in cities like Nashville, Minneapolis, New York, Atlanta, and more.

ethel cain – the childish behavior tour LA / NY pic.twitter.com/BgpHnmIGcV — 🏁 (@concertleaks) December 5, 2023

Since her 2022 debut album, the dark, sprawling Preacher’s Daughter , Ethel Cain has steadily ascended through the ranks to become a pillar of indie-pop. Cain has hinted at new music here and there, but for now, she’s going to keep touring. That resumes with a North American tour this month following a slate of European dates. Her new schedule includes appearances at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Summerfest, Hinterland, and others.

Future / Metro Boomin

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Young Metro 3 Times 💔 (@metroboomin)

We Still Don’t Trust You unwittingly became the catalyst for the most fruitful hip-hop beef in recent memory when Kendrick Lamar dissed Drake and J. Cole during his guest verse on “Like That.” Future and Metro Boomin themselves have mostly stayed out of it — relatively, at least. After all, they do have a massive tour to focus on. The duo kicks things off in Kansas City on July 30 and wraps it up in Vancouver on Sept. 9.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Green Day (@greenday)

The Saviors Tour will travel across the globe, in which Bay Area pop-punk trio Green Day will perform their most iconic albums, 1994’s Dookie and 2004’s American Idiot , in full to respectively celebrate their 30th and 20th anniversaries. For select dates, they’ll bring along Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, and The Linda Lindas.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by ❕WUNNA❕🥷🏻✝️ (@gunna)

Gunna is a fixture of Atlanta rap, and he’s taking that idiosyncratic ATL style all over North America plus a small handful of European dates for The Bittersweet Tour. With opener Flo Milli, the YSL affiliate will visit cities like Miami, Orlando, and, obviously, Atlanta.

Janet Jackson

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Janet Jackson (@janetjackson)

The queen of new jack swing, Janet Jackson, will embark on a large North American tour starting June 4 in Palm Desert, California. For last year’s tour, she brought Ludacris along as her opener, and this year, she’s bringing St. Louis rapper Nelly. The Together Again Tour will make stops in Anaheim, Salt Lake City, Denver, St. Paul, and plenty more cities.

Jhené Aiko announces tour dates for ‘The Magic Hour Tour.’ She will be joined by Coi Leray, Tink, UMI, and Kiana Ledé. pic.twitter.com/WgAFyWlluF — Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 26, 2024

From the middle of June to the end of August, Los Angeles R&B mainstay Jhené Aiko will tour North American arenas with openers Coi Leray, Tink, and Umi in tow. It kicks off at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena on June 19 and wraps up at Columbus’ Nationwide Arena on Aug. 22.

Justin Timberlake

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Justin Timberlake (@justintimberlake)

Earlier this year, Justin Timberlake released Everything I Thought It Was , his first studio album since 2018’s folk-tinged Man Of The Woods . To promote the new record, he’s currently on The Forget Tomorrow World Tour. It includes stops in cities like Tulsa, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and many more.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Khruangbin (@khruangbin)

The Houston instrumental trio Khruangbin recently released A LA SALA , an album that leans into the group’s psych-pop proclivities. They’re touring behind it all summer in both Europe and North America, and joining them will be openers Arooj Aftab, Men I Trust, John Carroll Kirby, and Peter Cat Recording Co.

Lizzy McAlpine

View this post on Instagram A post shared by lizzy (@lizzymcalpine)

Back in April, singer and songwriter Lizzy McAlpine released her third studio album, Older . She’s celebrating its release with a summer tour that takes her all the way from Washington, D.C. to Sydney, Australia and back to the States. McAlpine has a busy summer ahead of her, but that gives you plenty of chances to catch her show.

Megan Thee Stallion

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Megan Thee Stallion (@theestallion)

Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion is bringing the Hot Girl Summer Tour all over the globe. It’s currently underway, having stopped at cities like Minneapolis and Baltimore and will soon head to places like New Orleans, Dallas, and Meg’s very own Houston. Joining her will be Memphis rapper GloRilla.

Missy Elliott

🚨”OUT OF THIS WORLD”TOUR across NORTH AMERICA!!!! With my fam @ciara @BustaRhymes & my bro @timbaland The Spaceship will be Landing at an ARENA NEAR YOU🫵🏾 RUN 4 COVER!🛸👽🚀🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾🔥🔥🔥 PRE SALE starts this THURSDAY 10 am Local time https://t.co/VKk4wJUHCy pic.twitter.com/hBkkLeKsni — Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) April 8, 2024

It’s hard to believe that someone as influential as Missy Elliott has never done her own headlining tour before. That is, until now. Alongside friends like Busta Rhymes, Timbaland, and Ciara, The Out Of This World Tour will start on July 4 in Vancouver and conclude on Aug. 22 in Rosemont, Illinois, right near the Chicago O’Hare International Airport. This is certainly a show you won’t want to miss.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by @mitskileaks

Having wrapped up a slew of European dates, Mitski is headed back to the States in August to tour behind last year’s excellent The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We . She’ll usually be doing multiple nights at sizable theaters, such as three nights at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre and two nights at Detroit’s Masonic Temple Theatre. Joining her will be openers Arlo Parks, Lamp, Laufey, Alvvays, Wyatt Flores, Sharon Van Etten, and Sierra Ferrell, depending on the date.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by ODESZA (@odesza)

Odesza is a go-to festival headliner for many booking agents, and it’s easy to understand why. Their seismic strain of EDM is perfect for big fields and arenas alike. They embark on The Last Goodbye Finale Tour with openers Big Boi, Bob Moses, and more in tow, performing multiple nights at Los Angeles’ BMO Stadium, Berkeley’s Greek Theatre, and NYC’s Madison Square Garden along the way, as well as a hometown-adjacent run at The Gorge.

Olivia Rodrigo

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If you managed to secure tickets to Olivia Rodrigo’s highly anticipated arena tour for her sophomore album, Guts , then count yourself lucky, as it’s completely sold out. She’ll spend June touring Europe before she returns to the U.S. with drum and bass/indie pop enthusiast PinkPantheress in July.

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Eddie Vedder and co. have just released Dark Matter , their first album since 2020’s ill-timed Gigaton . To support the new record, they’ll perform all across the globe; the tour has currently taken them to Europe, and they’ll head back to the U.S. toward the end of August with opener Glen Hansard.

TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE 🖤🥷 https://t.co/HbX5V4PJlD pic.twitter.com/pCwk3SBck1 — Peso Pluma (@_PesoPluma) February 23, 2024

Mexican star Peso Pluma is headed to the United States later this month for a string of arena shows and festival appearances. The Exodo Tour will take him to Governors Ball in New York as well as his own shows in cities like Tampa, Oklahoma City, Houston, Kansas City, Omaha, and plenty more.

St. Vincent

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In late April, Annie Clark released her latest album as St. Vincent, the entirely self-produced All Born Screaming . After a brief stint in Europe with Heartworms, she’ll tour all over the States with openers Yves Tumor, Dorian Electra, Spoon, and Eartheater for select dates.

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Canadian pop artist Tate McRae will take the world tour for her most recent album, Think Later , to North America starting this July. She’ll be performing in various amphitheaters with opening act Presley Regier. Her latest string of dates kicks off in her hometown of Calgary on July 5 and wraps up in New York on Aug. 22.

Taylor Swift

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Cultural behemoth Taylor Swift is ready to stimulate some more local economies. The Eras Tour continues through Europe with openers Paramore all the way through late August. Fresh off the release of the messy, sprawling The Tortured Poets Department , 2024’s iteration of the tour now merges the Folklore and Evermore eras into one. But it also features a new set solely dedicated to TTPD .

The National / The War On Drugs

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Indie dads rejoice! The National and The War On Drugs, as you’d expect, have a lot of overlap in terms of fandom. They’re both massive, beloved indie rock groups that always put on a spectacular show. Their co-headlining tour, dubbed the Zen Diagram Tour , will take them all over North American amphitheaters this September. Joining them is opener Lucius. Ahead of that, The National have a ton of dates this summer as they weave across Europe.

The Rolling Stones

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Last year, The Rolling Stones put out their first studio album in seven years, Hackney Diamonds . Although it won’t be the same without core drummer Charlie Watts, Mick Jagger and the gang still put on an excellent show. They’ll tour all over stadiums, including stops in Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, and more.

Tomorrow X Together

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K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together have a few more tour dates left to play this summer. Whereas May took them primarily to cities on the West Coast, such as Los Angeles, Tacoma, and Oakland, this month’s stops include Rosemont, Washington D.C., and New York City.

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As this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show demonstrated, Usher is a one-of-a-kind performer. Now that he has finished his Las Vegas residency, he’ll kick off a run of sold-out arena dates starting with three nights in his hometown, Atlanta, on Aug. 14. It’ll run all the way through the end of November, with the three final U.S. dates in Houston.

Vampire Weekend

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Following a few festival sets in May, indie-rock outfit Vampire Weekend will play North American arenas and outdoor theaters all summer long. Touring their latest album, Only God Was Above Us , Vampire Weekend will take Ra Ra Riot, Cults, Mike Gordon, La Lom, and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram on the road before heading to Europe in December.

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Zach Bryan has quickly risen to fame as one of the most popular new left-of-center country artists. To capitalize on that quick ascendance, the Okalahoman alt-country songwriter will tour North American arenas for the rest of 2024. The Quittin Time Tour includes openers Sheryl Crow, Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit, Turnpike Troubadours, Sierra Ferrell, The Middle East, Levi Turner, and Matt Maeson.

Country music legend announces farewell tour, thanks fans for a ‘good time’

• Updated: May. 31, 2024, 6:09 a.m. |
• Published: May. 31, 2024, 6:08 a.m.

Alan Jackson performs onstage at The 56th Annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on November 9, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Getty Images

• Geoff Herbert | [email protected]

Country music legend Alan Jackson is going on a farewell tour.

The Country Music Hall of Famer announced his “Last Call: One More for the Road” tour dates Thursday, promising the 10 concerts will be the last time he performs in each city. None of the shows are in New York state, but Jackson will play one northeast date on Aug. 2 at the TD Garden in Boston.

Tickets go on sale Friday, June 7 at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster . Additional tickets will be available through VividSeats and StubHub .

A presale is now available to members of Jackson’s fan club through his  official website .

“I’ve been touring for over 30 years — my daughters are all grown, we have one grandchild and one on the way,” Jackson said in a statement. “I’m enjoying spending more time at home. But my fans always show up to have a good time, and I’m going to give them the best show I can for this Last Call.”

“Fans know when they come to my shows, they’re going to hear the songs that made me who I am — the ones they love.”

Jackson is a three-time CMA Entertainer of the Year winner known for songs like “Good Time,” “Chattahoochee,” “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” “Little Bitty,” “Drive (For Daddy Gene),” “Gone Country,” “Remember When” and “Livin’ On Love.” He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, received a Country Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award, and won two Grammy Awards in his career, plus a slew of ACM and CMA awards.

According to USA Today , the 65-year-old Jackson first announced a small number of “Last Call” tour dates in 2022. He revealed in 2021 that he suffers from Charcot-Marie-Tooth, a chronic neuropathy disorder that affects his ability to move and keep balance onstage.

“Some of the best times are had right at last call, and this is one last call that you don’t want to miss!” Jackson said.

Alan Jackson farewell tour dates

Aug. 2, 2024 – Boston, MA - TD Garden

Aug. 24, 2024 – Grand Rapids, MI - Van Andel Arena

Sept. 28, 2024 – Fayetteville, AR - Bud Walton Arena

Oct. 26, 2024 – Kansas City, MO - T-Mobile Center

Nov. 16, 2024 – Salt Lake City, UT - Delta Center

Jan. 18, 2025 – Oklahoma City, OK - Paycom Center

Feb. 15, 2025 – Fort Worth, TX - Dickies Arena

March 7, 2025 – Orlando, FL - Kia Center

April 26, 2025 – Tampa, FL - Amalie Arena

May 17, 2025 – Milwaukee, WI - Fiserv Forum

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CMA Fest 2024 takes over Nashville featuring today's hottest country music stars

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Country music fans are taking over Nashville, for CMA Fest 2024. The festival spotlights some of the best singers and songwriters in country music.

Country icon Dolly Parton officially welcomed fans to CMA Fest 2024 on Thursday. It's the ultimate country music fan experience - four days and four nights of live country music on stages across Nashville featuring the hottest headliners .

"People just come in from literally all over the world for this week," said country singer Thomas Rhett. "It's kind of the only week-long kind of festival that you can literally watch music from 8 a.m. until 2 o'clock in the morning."

There is music everywhere. From the Riverfront stage to Music City Center and everywhere in between. Each night's main event happens inside Nissan Stadium.

"The lineup is crazy. You know, being in Nashville like, I mean, this is the home of country music, so it's like there's an extra kind of specialness to it," said singer-songwriter Jordan Davis.

"I want to see everyone just let loose and have fun and be free," added singer-songwriter Shaboozey. "I'm excited to just see when that last chorus comes, how much energy I can get, you know, how crazy we can get the stadium to go."

And at CMA Fest, even the superstars are super fans, with some of them saying they were excited to see iconic artists such as the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.

"And those fans keep drawing us back in," said Johnny Van Zant, lead vocalist of Lynyrd Skynyrd. "When you're down you listen to music and you play it if you're a musician, when you're happy you listen to music, so music is a great healer and it's a great thing. Our fans have been with us for many, many years."

CMA Fest 2024 goes until Sunday, June 9. For more information visit cmafest.com .

A three-hour primetime concert special hosted by Jelly Roll and Ashley McBryde , will air Tuesday, June 25, at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.

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