Luke Bryan To Play Stadiums

As Luke Bryan prepared to kick off his 2014 That’s My Kind of Night Tour, he held a press conference with some exciting news.  For the first time in his career, Luke will headline stadiums!  Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Chicago.  He will also play multiple nights in several cities.  He will play Washington, DC, Raleigh, St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Atlanta for two nights.  The last night of the tour will be at the Hollywood Bowl.

How did you know it was time for stadiums? “We operate on gut feeling.  We base it around what our fans tell us.  Complacency for me is a sad day.  We love sitting on a bus talking about how crazy that show was, and what we can do for those fans so they’ll come back.  We’re going on prayer and guts.”

Do you notice regional differences with your fans?  “When I moved to Nashville, I wondered how fans in Philly would respond to a guy from Georgia.  Going there and seeing hard working country music fans who were more passionate than the fans I grew up playing to in college bars, it’s such an uplifting experience.  I’m so proud to take my music experience to them.  When you look at Boston and how passionate they are about music, it’s inspiring.”

How long have you had the dream of playing stadiums? “For years, I had some wise people tell me when I moved to Nashville to aim for the stars.  I remember seeing George Strait in a stadium, wondering what I could do to arrive at this moment.  So the dream has been there for years.”

Talk about bells & whistles we’ll see on the tour: “We’re seated on a circular stage that’ll be in the middle of the crowd.  Under this, there are set pieces that’ll change during the show.  You can see we have quadrupled our video screens.  More lights, more speakers, more video, more camera guys, more things to make it a special interactive experience for the fans.”

What is it about the current state of country music to fill stadiums? “I’ve watched it for years with CMA Music Fest, how it gets bigger each year.  Fans realize it’s an amazing experience, and they’re never let down.  As long as you give fans more than they anticipate, there’s room for more country artists to do stadiums.  Ultimately the relationship between artists and their fans is real, and so we’ll always be fan driven.”

You’ve worked to keep ticket prices lower.  Why? “I think the ticket price is the most important thing for me.  I told my promoter to price them to where people can bring their family.  We want everybody to be able to come.  I want my show to be accessible to anybody who wants to see a show, and I want them to leave thinking, ‘I can’t believe I only paid $50 for what I just saw.'”

Joining you this year will be Lee Brice and Cole Swindell.  Talk about them:  “Cole is a dear friend of mine who actually sold t-shirts for me for 3 years.  He always had artist aspirations, and we’re so excited to have Cole out with us this year.  Lee Brice is somebody I respect.  Incredible artist, incredible artist, and it’s going to be an amazing year on the That’s My Kinda Night Tour.”

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