On Saturday, August 15th, fans filled the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford, CT for Lady Antebellum’s Wheels Up Tour featuring Hunter Hayes and Sam Hunt. Crowds arrived ahead of time as no one wanted to miss a second of Sam Hunt’s performance. The venue opened the doors at 5:30pm, an hour and a half before the show was scheduled to begin, and within minutes a line for the PIT was forming. Chatter throughout the PIT made it clear that the majority of the crowd had arrived early to get as close to Hunt as possible; some even admitted they got tickets just to see Sam, even though the opener only had a 30 minute set. Sam got the party started at 7:00pm with his upbeat hit, ‘Raised On It,’ and the fans went crazy! The singer came out looking cool in his signature long t-shirt and snapback hat, which were both soon soaked with sweat. It was sweltering inside the open-air arena, but that didn’t stop fans from jumping around and dancing with Sam. The crowd was mesmerized by the singer’s charm and good looks, hanging on every word as he transitioned into ‘Ex To See.’
About mid-way through his third song, ‘House Party,’ Hunt descended from the stage into the sea of fans on the floor. As he made his way through the PIT, it was clear that everyone had left their chill at home and Hunt’s walk through the crowd had everybody fired up even more. The fangirls were excited and giddy awaiting that one life-altering millisecond when Hunt would be within reach. Maneuvering through the flailing arms and cameras, he eventually made a safe return to the stage to finish out his set that included, ‘Take Your Time,’ ‘Single for the Summer,’ ‘Leave the Night On,’ and ‘Break Up in a Small Town.’ Despite the heat, Hunt managed to deliver a high-energy performance throughout the entirety of his set, which left fans wanting more. Sam stole the crowd’s hearts, and arguably, stole the show Saturday night in Hartford.
While Sam Hunt is a tough act to follow, Hunter Hayes did an outstanding job playing hit after hit including crowd favorites like ‘Storm Warning,’ ‘Tattoo,’ and his newest single, ‘21.’ After covering Walk The Moon’s ‘Shut Up and Dance,’ Hunter joked around saying, “I know everybody showed up early to see Sam Hunt rock out. For the record, we showed up early to see Sam Hunt rock out too,” and the crowd cheered in agreement. Hunter has a way of pulling the crowd in with his charisma and sweet smile. He played a couple slower songs, ‘Somebody’s Heartbreak,’ and ‘Invisible,’ that allowed him to be more intimate with the crowd. During the former, Hunter stood at the edge of the stage while fans eagerly held out their hands for the singer; a few of the lucky ones rewarded with firm handshakes. Before introducing his 2012 single, ‘Wanted,’ Hayes said, “Thank you country radio for believing in this song!” The ballad was the singer’s first number one single. Hayes even poked fun at his own tendency to write love songs. “…a song that I wrote a while back. Surprise! It’s a love song, betcha didn’t see that coming,” he said. Hunter closed out his set and had fans jumping around to ‘I Want Crazy,’ even though it still felt like a sauna in the arena.
Lady Antebellum took the stage around 9:15, opening with ‘Long Stretch of Love,’ followed by ‘Bartender’ and ‘American Honey.’ “Where all my American Honeys at tonight?,” Charles uttered. The ladies in the audience cheered and he added that there were “some lucky fellas” out there! The band carried on with some upbeat hits, ‘Freestyle’ and ‘Our Kind of Love,’ taking pictures with fans at the end of the runway during the latter. The trio invited Hunter Hayes back on stage to join them for ‘Compass,’ much to the audience’s delight.
With a myriad of hits under their belt, the group had to carefully choose which songs would make the setlist, and which songs they’d have to cut. They opted to include ‘Love Don’t Live Here,’ Lady Antebellum’s very first single on country radio. “It wasn’t until we wrote this song ‘til we knew we were a real band. Just want to say thank you to all the fans at country radio,” they said.
About halfway through Lady A’s set, the trio made their way up to a second stage towards the back of the venue. It wasn’t long before everyone noticed that the sky was lighting up with a storm in the area and some fans were hurrying off the lawn. Perhaps we should’ve taken Hayes’ ‘Storm Warning’ a bit more seriously because an unexpected squall of torrential downpours had rolled in. But some fans toughed it out and got to enjoy a cover of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and the band’s own ‘Dancing Away with My Heart,’ which Lady A performed on the B Stage.
Hillary, Charles and Dave high-fived fans as the group made their way back to the main stage where they performed a couple of their own hits including, ‘I Run to You’ and ‘Downtown,’ before moving on to covers of Shania Twain’s, ‘Any Man of Mine,’ and Aerosmith’s ‘Walk This Way.’ Rumor had it that Sam Hunt would be making another appearance and fans were thrilled when he took the stage singing the first verse of the Aerosmith hit. Hunter Hayes also joined the group for this number, guitar in hand, and rocked the arena. At the song’s close, the tourmates group-hugged and high-fived each other before Sam and Hunter waved their final goodbyes to fans. Lady A’s show was also nearing it’s end; the group played ‘Lookin’ For a Good Time,’ to close out the set as the audience cheered for more. Of course, a Lady Antebellum concert wouldn’t be complete without the band’s 2009 chart-topper, ‘Need You Now,’ which they performed during their encore. The trio thanked the crowd for an incredible night and graciously bid farewell to Hartford, CT.