(EBM) Morgan Wallen made a triumphant return home to Knoxville for his first night at Neyland Stadium, where he not only became the 4th music artist to perform at the venue in its 103 year history, joining Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, and the Jackson 5, he also had a treat for fans when he brought out special guests Eric Church, as well as HARDY and ERNEST. EBM sent over the official recap below:
With "Welcome Home Morgan" signs and neon displays installed across the city in hotel lobbies, restaurants and bars, the anticipation of Morgan Wallen's two nights at Neyland Stadium was palpable across Knoxville the days leading up to his homecoming. The East Tennessean matched their excitement from the jump as he charged down the gauntlet making his first-of-two weekend walk-outs flanked by the 2024 National Champion Tennessee Volunteers baseball team and Coach Tony Vitello - trophy in hand. Registering 114 decibels, the crowd of 70,000+ enthusiastically welcomed them all home.
Fans showed up early on Friday, Sept. 20 as gates opened at 4:30 pm, many donning orange and white, filling in both pits lining Wallen's signature "MW" stage backed into the endzone.
The current 7-time CMA Award nominee opened his 26-song set with upbeat "Ain't That Some" and "I Wrote The Book" before stating how monumental this weekend is for him.
After pausing to take the moment in, Wallen shared, "I really appreciate that warm welcome, that means a lot to me. The last time I was in this stadium I was watching Tennessee kick Alabama's ass. I can't think of a better way to follow it up than to be here playing two sold-out shows this weekend. This is one of the most special days of my entire life and I'm very glad you guys chose to spend this weekend here with me - it means a lot.
"Before we get any further I want to make sure you make some noise for my band and crew who show up here early in advance to make sure we get to play the music y'all love. I have a lot of people here who mean a lot to me," he added. "I've got my little boy here, both my grandmothers here, my mom, my dad, my sisters, my nieces. I have been very fortunate to do a lot of great things over the last few years, but I know that this right here is going to be extremely hard to top as one of the coolest things I've ever gotten to do. We're gonna play a lot of songs tonight, I threw in a couple extra songs that I don't normally play. I didn't even ask about the curfew, so we're just gonna play as long as we want to tonight."
Wallen once again added his unreleased song "Love Somebody" to the setlist for the night, revealing its release date to fans from the stage. (out Friday, Oct. 18). Twelve-songs-in, Wallen welcomed the first entertainer he ever saw in concert in his hometown, Eric Church, to his acoustic stage for the Dangerous cut "Quittin' Time," before being joined by HARDY and ERNEST for "Up Down" and "Flower Shops"/"Cowgirls," respectively, back on the main stage.
Over two hours in, the electrifying show came to an appropriate close with a full-fledged fireworks show as he concluded with "The Way I Talk," and with the crowd repeating "I just live the way I talk."
In anticipation of the run, The Morgan Wallen Foundation donated $140k to Gibbs Youth Sports (GYS) yesterday during a press conference held at Neyland Stadium. The donation will go toward renovating Ruritan Park, which serves students from Gibbs High School, where Wallen attended, and surrounding areas in Knox County, allowing GYS to rebuild the inside of the fieldhouse to offer indoor fielding and batting options for local recreation teams. Renovations include batting cages and machines, as well as pitching lanes and a fielding area. Currently there are no facilities like that in the Gibbs/Corryton area.
Wallen returns to Neyland this Sunday, Sept. 22 for a second sold-out show with HARDY and ERNEST.
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