It’s been a hot summer and it got any hotter with one of the most anticipated shows of the summer, Thomas Rhett’s Very Hot Summer Tour, when it came to the Xfinity Center in Manfield last Friday night! The tour also featured Dustin Lynch, Russell Dickerson and Rhett Akins- yes, TR’s father!
If you didn’t know, Rhett has had a great career writing songs for some of your favorite stars such Blake Shelton, Jon Pardi, Jason Aldean oh and his son, Thomas Rhett. But Rhett also has had a solo artist career of his own. His set would feature a mix of his original songs and songs he’s written for other artists. Rhett kicked it off with Jon Pardi’s ‘Dirt On My Boots,’ saying after, “What’s happening y; all. My name is Rhett Akins. I’vespent the last 10 years in Nashville writing songs for my buddy. I wrote this one for Jason Aldean” – the song, ‘When She Says Baby,’ had the crowd singing and dancing along. He again addressed the crowd by saying “The first time I played here was 1995 with Reba McEntire and Toby Keith...” Talk about a throwback! He would continue his set with ‘Just Getting Started,’ ‘Boys Round Here,’ and finishing with his original and an absolute jam if you don’t know it, ‘That Ain’t My Truck.’
If you showed up to Mansfield tired after a long week of work or just a look day, Russell Dickerson got you out of that funk with one hell of a set. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone with more energy on stage. Talk about stage presence. His night started with ‘Billions’ before moving into a crowd favorite ‘Every Little Thing’ and then ‘Float.’ He’d address the fans by saying, “Country music fans are the best in the entire world!” You got that right, RD.
Russell would slow it down with ‘Yours’ followed by ‘Blue Tacoma.’ But the RD Party was just getting started. No Russell Dickerson show his complete without the infectious ‘My Girls Night Out.’ This song had the whole crowd going and it seemed that RD had drawn in all the fans from the parking lots and concessions as the venue was packed by the end of the set. Russell wanted to show his appreciation so decided to take a lap around the venue before returning to the stage to show off his dance moves and finish his song. Watch out, Luke Bryan. Russell Dickerson is coming for your dancing crown! I was uberly impressed with Russell’s set. This was my first time seeing him live and I will definitely be seeing him again when he comes through the area.
Next up was a New England favorite, Dustin Lynch. We go back with Dustin as he was one of the first artists who worked with us so seeing a capacity crowd in their seats when Dustin took the stage was awesome. He started with ‘Seein’ Red’ before moving into ‘One Hell Of A Night,’ a new song called ‘Red Dirt’ and ‘Yep Yep’ before addressing the crowd for the first time saying, “This energy is unbelievable. You guys always bring it at this venue! I wanna get weird tonight.” Dustin continued with ‘Mind Reader,’ ‘I’d Be Jealous Too,’ and his classic hit ‘Cowboys and Angels.’
Blown away by the crowd reaction, Dustin again took his mic to communicate his feelings to the fans. “This is incredible. I can’t even hear myself up here. You guys have been the most supportive place for us since we started doing this!” Lightening up the mood, he told the crowd that his bassist is a ‘Masshole.’ “We got the whole family here tonight. Here’s how redneck he is… his family drove a whole school bus into the tailgate tonight,” Dustin said laughingly. He continued with a medley of songs that influenced him from his first country song by George Strait to where he is today with different artists who have taken him on the road. The medley included songs like Alan Jackson’s ‘Chattahoochee,’ Tim McGraw’s ‘Something Like That,’ Dierks Bentley’s ‘What Was I Thinking,’ and Keith Urban’s ‘Someone Like You.’
Dustin would conclude his night with ‘Ridin’ Roads,’ ‘Good Girl,’ with Dustin telling the crowd,”You changed our lives with that one,” and finally ‘Small Town Boy.’ With a bow with his band and a wave to the crowd, Dustin retreated backstage and the stage crew began the transformation of the stage for the man of the night, Thomas Rhett.
As the lights went down, the crowd was buzzing as they awaited the arrival of Thomas Rhett. And with a bang, TR was sprung multiple feet in the air from his riser in the center of the stage. He got the party going with ‘Look What God Gave Her,’ and continuing with ‘Crash and Burn, ‘ Something Like That,’ and ‘Craving You,’ saying in between that (Boston) was his favorite city to play in!
The night continued with ‘Sixteen,’ and ‘It Goes Like.’ Before playing ‘Remember You Young,’ TR told the fans, “My wife is having another baby. The song relates more and more to me.” Next up was ‘Make Me Wanna’ which smoothly transitioned into Justin Timberlake’s ‘Suit and Tie.’ After ‘Life Changes,’ Thomas exclaimed, “You’re hands down the best crowd we’ve played for all year!” Fresh off his recent album was ‘That Old Truck’ before ‘Star Of The Show,’ which Thomas explained, “I wrote this song about my wife, Lauren, who is back in Nashville. She would freakin’ love you guys!“
Next up would be a song he co-wrote for a duo that headlined the venues just a few weeks before, Florida George Line. The song? ‘Round Here’ – singer, songwriter; TR does it all. He followed that song with another song off his new album, ‘Beer Can’t Fix,’ which Dustin Lynch and Russell Dickerson joined in on before Rhett came back out with a cooler full of… beer, of course! During ‘Vacation,’ Thomas would introduce the members of his band and would also put on a show of his own when he took a seat at his very own drumset at the top of his riser. But the night was far from over as he wrapped it up with ‘Marry Me,’ ‘Die A Happy Man,’ ‘Unforgettable,’ and ‘T-Shirt’ – all of which had fans singing so loud that you could hear it loud and clearly from the parking lot!
It was an incredible night of country music at the Xfinity Center with one of the genre’s biggest stars. It was already a hot summer but Thomas and his buddies made it even hotter with this show.
If you missed this show, don’t worry! Thomas is coming back to New England next month when he plays the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT! Tickets for that show can be purchased here.
