Morgan Wallen has rapidly established himself as the leading star of modern country music, and that doesn't look like it's going to change any time soon. With 11 number one singles and three albums under his belt, he's continuing to win over audiences on both sides of the pond as part of his One Night At A Time tour. After making his triumphant UK debut at The O2 back in December, last night he was back for an even bigger show headlining BST Hyde Park as part of a star-studded country line-up on Independence Day.
After doing his now-traditional filmed walk to the stage to ‘Broadway Girls' and new collaboration ‘Whiskey Whiskey', Wallen arrived around 8.30 to thunderous applause, whoops and cheers. He opened with ‘Ain't That Some', from his third album ‘One Thing At A Time' (released earlier this year), which featured his trademark rapid-fire delivery, raspy drawl and plenty of country twang alongside distorted screen effects and the first burst of fire of the evening. The whole crowd was singing along at top volume from the off and they didn't let up for the next two hours, instantly lifting the energy and setting up for a blistering night of music.
One thing which particularly stood out to me was how much Wallen played to the crowd. He could frequently be seen crouching down to interact with audience members at the front row and waving to people, as well as making use of the big screens for various effects during his songs, such as swirling picture frames depicting scenes from his career alongside live footage during the knowing, anthemic ‘I Wrote The Book'. Throughout the set he thanked the audience for their support and it was nice to see that despite his stratospheric success, he's managed to remain humble – you could clearly tell that getting support from the UK audience really meant a lot to him. He even made a very smooth recovery from a minor on-stage slip during ‘You Proof', cracking jokes about it afterwards and coming across as relaxed and breezy.
For me the show's highlight was its acoustic section midway through. After a short piano intro whilst Wallen made his way through the crowd and onto the walkway, accompanied by his guitarist Dominic (who'd delivered a killer solo on ‘Everything I Love' earlier in the night), he opened by talking about working his way up through venues before asking the crowd to put their phone lights up during his performance of ‘Cover Me Up'. Whilst personally I'll always prefer Jason Isbell's original, there's no doubt Wallen has made the song his own and the audience absolutely responded, with people being hoisted up on shoulders to get a better view as they sang along to the delicate, tender ballad. He followed that with ‘Thought You Should Know' – which he dedicated to his mum – and brand new single ‘Lies Lies Lies', which had a dark, atmospheric feeling that's really enhanced by the simplicity of the arrangement and a bittersweet vibe to the lyrics. To close the section, Wallen took to the piano to play ‘Sand In My Boots', which I felt really highlighted his versatility and strengths as an interpreter of songs, as well as how he can hold an audience in the palm of his hand without needing all the bells and whistles. I also loved seeing him show his softer, more introspective side on other acoustic tracks throughout the set, such as ”98 Braves' and the yearning ‘Chasin' You', whilst ‘Wasted On You' had a sneer and vitriol about his delivery that worked perfectly with the song's lyrical twist.
That said, there was still plenty of flash worthy of a big show, from the shower of green sparks early on during ‘One Thing At A Time' and more bursts of fire on ‘Heartless' to the fireworks over the stage in ‘Up Down', with its thrumming intro and extended band jam (who were excellent by the way) and a raucous collaboration on ‘Cowgirls' with special guest ERNEST. Elsewhere, Wallen had lyrics bouncing along on the big screen during ‘I Had Some Help' – not that the audience needed those to be fair! – and encouraged the crowd to join in on the one-two punch of ‘This Bar' and ‘More Than My Hometown' that saw people tossing hats, shoes and various other items into the air.
After closing his main set with a rollicking rendition of ‘Whiskey Glasses', Wallen left the stage to a volley of applause before the audience began chanting for his return. He happily obliged with a three-song encore, starting with the playful, tongue-in-cheek ‘Thinkin' Bout Me' before going into his monster hit ‘Last Night'. Drawing the biggest cheer of the evening – if that was even possible given how rowdy the crowd had been up to that point – every single person in Hyde Park was belting out the song and you could see from the look on his face that he was genuinely so grateful. He wrapped things up with ‘The Way I Talk', which featured everything from a London namecheck to an on-stage burst of sparkle and yet more fireworks (and fire!).
Overall Wallen absolutely stepped up to the Hyde Park stage and showed the audience just what the new wave of country stars looks like – and the fervour they can inspire from an audience. In his own words, it was ‘badass and extremely loud' and he delivered a thoroughly engaging performance with great showmanship throughout, ticking all the big hit boxes whilst offering enough variety to keep things fresh for fans who attended his previous London show. The new music also marks an interesting next step and I'm genuinely intrigued to see what direction he'll go next. But it's very clear that the sky is the limit for him, and I'm sure that his next show will be even bigger and more spectacular.
Set list: 1. Ain't That Some 2. I Wrote The Book 3. One Thing At A Time 4. Everything I Love 5. '98 Braves 6. 7 Summers 7. You Proof 8. Cover Me Up (Jason Isbell cover) 9. Thought You Should Know 10. Lies Lies Lies 11. Sand In My Boots 12. Up Down 13. Cowgirls (with ERNEST) 14. Chasin' You 15. I Had Some Help 16. Heartless 17. Wasted On You 18. This Bar 19. More Than My Hometown 20. Whiskey Glasses Encore: 21. Thinkin' Bout Me 22. Last Night 23. The Way I Talk Performance date: 4th July 2024
See Morgan Wallen live in the UK and Ireland this September (with Larry Fleet and Lauren Watkins):
Thursday 5 September – OVO Hydro, Glasgow
Saturday 7 September – 3Arena, Dublin
Sunday 8 September – 3Arena, Dublin
