The Orpheum Goes 'Up In Smoke' on Friday Night

Friday night brought Kip Moore, Sam Hunt, and Charlie Worsham to the Orpheum Theatre in Boston for the first of two New England area stops on the CMT: Up In Smoke tour. This was hands down one of the most highly anticipated shows of the winter in Boston and rightfully so. Charlie Worsham has built a solid fan base over the year as he opened for Brad Paisley, including at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, and showed sold out crowds on a nightly basis how entertaining he is. Within a week, Sam Hunt sold out what turned out to be two shows at two different venues in one night within twenty total minutes. And for a few years now, Kip Moore has shown his fondness for the city of Boston and he has continuously impressed country music fans in Boston and New England, as a whole, with his smokey and sultry voice. With these three highly entertaining artists set to take the stage at the Orpheum Theatre, country music fans snatched up tickets as soon as they could and sold out this historic 162-year old venue.

Sam Hunt started the night with his fun and addictive song, ‘Raised On It.’ This was a song that he independently released back in 2013 and was also on his free ‘mixtape’ titled ‘Between the Pines.’ After ‘Raised On It,’ Sam went into songs from his debut album, titled ‘Montevallo.’ He started off with ‘Ex To See’ before going into ‘House Party,’ during which he jumped off stage and walked up the center aisle to sing the song from the crowd. After his house party with the sold out show, Sam performed ‘Take Your Time,’ which will be released to radio this week, and his smash hit ‘Leave The Night On’ which is his first number one single, before ending his set with ‘Break Up In A Small Town.’ Throughout Sam’s entire set, it was incredible to see the crowd singing back every single song to him. It has only been a few weeks since ‘Montevallo‘ was released but the sold out crowd knew every word to every song. It was very apparent that Sam was appreciating everything the crowd was giving to him and he was having a great time on stage. Boston was Sam Hunt’s first real stage show as he was one of the acts for the Country Strikes Out ALS show that benefited Pete Frates this past year at the House of Blues. After a sold out show at the Hard Rock Cafe in September, and another sold out show last night coupled with an incredible performance, the city of Boston and New England, as a whole, can’t wait for his show at the House of Blues in February!

As the clock approached 8:45, and you happened to look to the right of the stage, you may have seen a young man standing on top of chairs and the short wall taking pictures with concert attendees. Well, that was the next artist, Charlie Worsham. Charlie is known for going into the crowd before his show, saying hi to fans, and taking pictures. The only reason he stopped taking pictures with fans was because his set was about to start. Worsham started his night with ‘Rubberband,’ which is the title track off his debut album. After performing ‘Young To See,’ Charle proclaimed that Boston is the only other place he would call home, as he was a Berkley College of Music student and remembers when his parents dropped him off on the corner of Boylston and Hemenway. He also said that he may have a buzz since he had some Sam Adams over lunch and “you all are some of the greatest damn country fans I’ve ever see in in my whole life.” And that comes after he spent his summer on Brad Paisley’s Country Nation World Tour!

Charlie then went into an energetic and spirited cover of Bruno Mars’ ‘Treasure’ which had the crowd singing and dancing as well as a cover of the Kings of Leon’s ‘Sex On Fire,’ which was another crowd favorite. The Mississippi native finished his set with two songs on his debut album, titled ‘Trouble Is’ and ‘Make Me Want To.’ Throughout Charlie’s set, his energy and crowd interaction were off the charts. At one point he jumped off stage and traversed over the short wall and the arm rests on the chairs in one of the rows of seats. He also posed for photos with fans in front of the stage throughout the night. But one of the most apparent things about his performance was his pure musical talent. Worsham is a wizard on the guitar and may be one of the most talented all around artists in country music. With his stage presence, energy, and great music, Worsham will be a staple in country music for years to come.

As Charlie Worsham’s set came to a close, the crowd started getting restless as they waited for Kip Moore to take the stage. Cheers came from the crowd as Kip’s famous backdrop with his arms out to his sides, took over the back wall of the stage. After a few minutes of a dark stage, the crowd got loud as they saw the familiar outline of Kip Moore take the stage with his guitar. Wearing his famous red trucker hat, cutoff flannel shirt and jeans which Dierks Bentley would say were dried on ‘Luke Bryan level heat,’ Kip began his set with ‘Wild Ones’ and ‘Crazy One More Time.’ It was apparent from early on that the night would be a giant sing-a-long which was definitely seen during ‘Reckless’ and ‘Beer Money.’

As the sound of ‘Up All Night’ began ringing through the speakers, Charlie Worsham joined Kip on stage with his guitar. And after performing ‘Up All Night’ as well as ‘Back Seat,’ Kip treated the sold out crowd to a few songs off his new album which will be out in 2015. He explained to the crowd that it has taken him awhile to put the new album together because he was really putting his all into it. He didn’t just want songs for people to listen to on the radio on their way home but instead questions that meant something and hit home. He explained that he came up with this song as he was doing some songwriting and his trio of Jack Daniels, coffee, and cigarettes came into play as he was smoking a cigarette and watched the cloud of smoke on a cold day. That song ended up being ‘Heart’s Desire,’ and was one of the few songs off the new album Kip would perform this night in Boston. Other news songs that he would play would include ‘Come and Get It’ and ‘Dirt Road,’ which is already a hit with Kip’s loyal fans. But in between those songs, Kip also performed ‘Fly Again,’ which corresponds with his three stages of a breakup, to which he had to explain to this crowd. Stage one: sad. Stage two: pissed off. Stage three: just don’t give a $h!t. And while it was funny, there was also a soft moment as Kip interacted with a female fan who just got out of a relationship and he actually leaned down and kissed her! Needless to say, she probably already forgot about her ex!

But one of the most exciting moments for the sold out crowd was when he was introducing ‘Dirt Road.’ For years, Kip has expressed his love with the city of Boston. He loves playing here and he loves just being in the city. But this night was special as he told the crowd that he was talking to WKLB Country 102.5 music director Ginny Rogers before the show about how much he loves the city to the point where he is thinking about moving to Boston next summer! Immediately and undoubtedly, Kip had hundreds of women in the crowd dreaming about running into Kip at their local coffee shop and falling in love. Hey, you never know! But probably the loudest part of the night came when Kip Moore brought Sam Hunt back on stage. Together, the two artists performed a rendition of ‘Cop Car,’ which was recorded by Keith Urban but was a song that Sam had written. (Sam’s version, and our favorite version, can be found on ‘Montevallo‘).

As the night neared its end, Kip entertained the crowd with ‘Young Love’ and a very raw, emotional, and acoustic version of ‘Hey Pretty Girl.’ As he sat on a stool with his guitar and the song came to an end, he changed the lyrics to, ‘a pretty little girl, and probably because I’m moving here, a Boston wife,’ to which screams could be heard all over the theatre. When the song came to an end, the lights came up, and all Kip could say was ‘thank you.’ He kept thanking the crowd for coming and for showing him all the love and support that they were this night. It was apparent that he was overcome by emotion as he thanked the crowd.

There was only one way to end the night with Kip Moore, and that’s with ‘Somethin’ ‘Bout A Truck.’ As the song began playing, the crowd began singing from the first word to the last and never missed a beat.

When Kip Moore left the stage, nobody left their seats. There was no way Kip would end his night in Boston like that. The crowd wanted an encore and they got it! Kip returned to the stage for an encore which mixed his song ‘Faith When I Fall’ and Tom Petty’s ‘Free Falling,’ to which Kip again changed the lyrics, giving them a Boston theme. ‘Loves Jesus, and probably the Red Sox too. She’s a good girl, crazy about Elvis. Loves horses and the Celtics too.’