Country Superstar Luke Combs Kicks Off His Record Breaking World Tour in Arlington, and Shares Deep Love for Texas

Country superstar Luke Combs kicked off his World Tour in Arlington, Texas at AT&T Stadium on Saturday, March 25, 2023. It’s the first of his sixteen slated North American stadium shows, all of which are complete sell-outs. In fact, as of this weekend, there are only two international stops with any remaining seats ― but you’ll have to travel to either Hamburg, Germany, or Zurich, Switzerland to snag those.

Seriously, Hamburg and Zurich, what are you waiting for?

It’s the largest tour ever for a country artist, bringing one of the genre’s biggest names to some 39 shows across three continents and 16 different countries. That’s right, a country singer is selling out stadiums not just in Texas and Tennessee, but also in Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, France, and Belgium. That’s how far Combs’ sultry and instantly recognizable voice has traveled so far.

The popularity of Luke Combs cannot be underestimated. He remains the CMA Entertainer of the Year, after receiving that award for the second-consecutive year last November. He’s a member of the Grand Ole Opry and an eight-time CMA, three-time ACM, and three-time Billboard Music Award-winner, with hits including Going, Going, Gone, Beautiful Crazy, and Beer Never Broke My Heart. I’ll bet, just like me, you’re already humming along.

New Music And Gettin’ Old

Combs’ newest album, Gettin’ Old (a companion to last year’s Growin’ Up), was just released on Friday, March 24 ahead of his world tour’s kick-off concert in Arlington. This is where the balladeer really hits his stride, making the most of his powerful vocal range, legendary salty tone, and storytelling prowess. You feel every verse, and it’s easy to make these songs your own.

It’s interesting to put the Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old album covers side by side. On one, you see a youthful smirk on the singer’s face with a honkey tonk in the background. On the newest album, the smirk is gone. His expression on Gettin’ Old has been replaced with a knowing realism, and in the background is a ranch-style home with its wrap-around porch. How quickly priorities change.

“This album is about the stage of life I’m in right now” Luke Combs admits. “It’s about coming of age, loving where life is now but at the same time missing how it used to be, continuing to fall for the one you love and loving them no matter what, living in the moment but still wondering how much time you have left, family, friends, being thankful, and leaving a legacy.”

That’s heady stuff ― a lot to ponder, but Combs takes it all on, over the course of 18 soulful tracks, on his new album. And, the first song sets the stage. It’s called Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old ― one of four album tracks he had advanced prior to Friday’s release ― including Joe (that Combs wrote for those struggling with alcohol addiction and choosing to live a sober life), Love You Anyway, and 5 Leaf Clover, which he released on St. Paddy’s Day.

“A while back my buddy Newdy and I were looking around the clover plot at my house for four-leaf clovers,” Combs says of his new song by the same name. “I eventually found one, but shortly thereafter, he found a five-leaf clover and I thought to myself, ‘Man, how lucky do you have to be to find a five-leaf clover?’”

Kicking Off The World Tour In Arlington

The crowd arrived early to hear a line-up of four other warm-up acts — including Brent Cobb, Flatland Cavalry, Lainey Wilson, and Riley Green ― before the headliner hit the big stage, dressed in his trademark black Columbia PFG shirt, blue jeans, and a black trucker hat branded with Blue Otter Polarized (his sponsored brand of Watauga style sunglasses).

The crowd erupted each time Combs flashed his innocent smile, and he was seen carting around his other notable on-stage prop ― a Solo cup ― but at this show, Combs had switched from his traditional red Solo to blue. They were stacked four deep by the end of the evening. He opened his first tour date with the song Lovin’ On You.

“I put a new album out yesterday,” Luke Combs explained to a knowing audience.

The first selection off his new album was Love You Anyway, which the crowd seemed to already know by heart. They sang back up loud and proud on many of his biggest hits, earning their own solo performances from time to time like on One Number Away. And, when Combs sang his 5 Leaf Clover (which has been out for less than 10 days), and the crowd already knew every line ― the singer seemed astonished, and couldn’t stop smiling in appreciation.

“Here we are 50-something thousand deep at AT&T Stadium,” Combs noted at one point.

So, let’s get the obvious criticism out of the way. It’s too bad that Texas’ only shot at seeing Luke Combs on this tour was in AT&T Stadium, with its notably underwhelming acoustics. It’s a concrete cavern, built for sporting events, unlike Dallas’ American Airlines Center or Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena ― both of which were built with acoustics in mind. That’s why Paul McCartney’s only Texas stop last year was at Dickies Arena instead.

While Luke Combs was a great show, and achieved the goal of one tour stop in the great state of Texas, packing in the fans ― it could have been so much better in a better venue ― one designed for music. Now, back to the show.

“It all started with me and my blue guitar,” Combs reminded his fans, as he donned his famous cobalt blue acoustic guitar for the first time to sing Going, Going, Gone. His name shimmered in inlaid mother of pearl on its fret.

One groom-to-be had all the single women swooning (and all their boyfriends kicking themselves) during Combs’ Forever After All ― as his proposal was spotlighted on the big screen. As if that wasn’t memorable enough, Combs relayed his guitar pick to the happy couple as an added souvenir.

“I’m 33 years old and moved to Nashville nine years ago,” Combs said in the lead-up to his ode to Texas, Houston, We Got A Problem. “The first place I went after I got a record deal was the great state of Texas. I’m not sure if there’s any place on God’s green earth that I love more than Texas.”

It seems Texas agrees. There are few country artists that fans love more than Luke Combs.