Thomas Rhett
March 10, 2017
Royal Farms Arena- Baltimore, MD
March isn’t usually considered “concert season” to many country music lovers in the area, as usually, country concerts are celebrated by tailgating, summer nights and dancing in the lawn until your feet started to hurt. Being cold and windy didn’t stop these country music loving fans from having a good time at The Home Team Tour stop in Baltimore MD.
As fans piled into the arena anxiously awaiting for Kelsea Ballerini and Thomas Rhett, upcoming artists Russell Dickerson and Ryan Hurd each played a set to get the crowd warmed up and ready for Kelsea Ballerini and the headliner, Mr. Thomas Rhett.
After two great sets from Dickerson and Hurd, a huge roar of screaming fans filled the arena as Kelsea Ballerini took the stage opening up with one of her most popular singles Yeah Boy. Ballerini didn’t have that long of a set list to play songs from her first debut album The First Time, but she did play the most popular ones such as Peter Pan, Square Pegs and Sirens. Ballerini didn’t just play her own singles she also covered Closer by The Chainsmokers as well as a mash up of James Bay‘s Let It Go, Justin Bieber‘s Sorry and One Republic‘s Apologize that led into her song XO. Ballerini closed the night out with Love Me Like You Mean It.
Approximately around 9:30 all the lights inside the arena went out, and a huge spotlight beamed down at the end of the catwalk displaying an silhouette of the man of the night, Thomas Rhett. As the opening song came to an end immediately Rhett went into the second song, South Side and was already at the head of stage with his band. It was hard to keep up with him as he went from one side of the stage to the other. The production of this show was unreal, the lighting in sync with the music really made the night so much fun as it was bright and colorful.
Rhett played a twenty one song set list, mostly made up of his own material but he didn’t limit his set list to just his own songs, he threw in a handful of covers such as Round Here by Florida Georgia Line and Parking Lot Party by Lee Brice. Songs that Rhett played of his own were hit after hit including TShirt, Die A Happy Man, Get Me Some Of That and Vacation. Usually artists save their most popular song to close out the night, but Thomas Rhett had something else in mind, he ended his set with a cover of Bruno Mars’ 24k Magic, which had the whole arena off their feet dancing and singing at the top of their lungs. What a great way to end the night! Who said you cant mix the cold and country together! Thomas Rhett definitely brought the party to Royal Farms Arena!
Review by: Alyssa Howell
Thomas Rhett
Ryan Hurd
Russell Dickerson
Kelsea Ballerini
