Photos: Luke Combs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium

June 15, 2023

Chris Ortiz,

Luke Combs. // photo by Chris Ortiz

On June 10, Luke Combs and company took the stage at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium for a single evening. The bands, which included Brent Cobb, Flatland Cavalry, Lainey Wilson, and Riley Green, all in the opening lineup for Combs, brought every bit of energy to the stage as the fans cheered them on.

Unlike any of the other superstars that I have covered in that area of music, from Garth Brooks to Reba, Wynonna to Carrie, and back to Dwight, this fan base was different; younger, more of a party-going crowd. As I was looking around the parking lot walking up to where I was to enter for the show, it reminded me more of a huge frat party, with all of the cornhole games set up, grills, Bud light cans being shot-gunned, and young 20-somethings all decked out in what looked like new flannels and clean white cowboy boots, not the same mud kickers that I was used to seeing. This group of youthful cowboys and cowgirls appeared to be nothing like what I remember growing up, out in the country, on a small plot of 15 acres in Northeastern Kansas.

Flatland Cavalry. // photo by Chris Ortiz

Most notable to me were the six-piece band Flatland Cavalry and the 2021 Academy of Country Music’s New Female Artist of the Year, Lainey Wilson. Flatland Cavalry, hailing from Lubbock, TX, brought more energy than one would expect from an opening act, utilizing the entire stage, as well as the runways, to bring their show to the masses, with lead singer Cleto Cordero, who used every moment of the bands time on stage to engage with the crowd, being singing at the foot of the runway to giving high-fives to the outstretched hands of adoring fans.

Lainey Wilson. // photo by Chris Ortiz

Yellowstone actress Lainey Wilson, with all of her boho fringe, lit up the stage with a backing vocal track highlighting major announcements and audio clips from the awards she won during her time in the music scene. She, like Cordero, made full use of the stage provided to her, and the crowd ate it up.

Riley Green. // photo by Chris Ortiz

The show wasn’t without a little controversy, however, with situations like Riley Green noticeably changing lyrics in his song “I Wish Grandpa Never Died” from “And coolers never run out of cold Bud Light” to “And coolers never run out of cold Coors Light,” putting his foot down on the beer’s stance with the LGBTQ+ community, seemingly unaware of the Coors brand’s sponsoring of several Pride events in its home state of Colorado.

The other situation that the vast majority of the people in attendance enjoyed was during Comb’s set, when NFL Superbowl Champion and KC Chief Quarterback Patrick Mahomes rushed onto the stage, beer cans in hand, and shot-gunned one with the singer in the middle of his set, only to rush back off stage quickly. This event was planned, as the two met behind the stage prior to Carolina Panthers’ fan coming out for his portion of the show, donning a Kansas City Chief’s ballcap. The beer shotgunning has since caused an online petition with nearly 50,000 signatures demanding that Mahomes, the 2x Super Bowl-winning Quarterback, stop “teaching children how to drink beer.”

Luke Combs