From the moment he hit the stage at Caesars Windsor on Sunday night, country star Dustin Lynch got the capacity crowd certifiably “Lynchified”.
As soon as the PA started playing the Beastie Boys hit (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!), the crowd at The Colosseum was on its feet with fists pumping and vocal chords revved up and ready to roar. It takes a lot of guts to crank out The Beastie Boys as an intro song at a country concert, but clearly this wasn’t your grandma’s country show – this is the new breed of country that combines pop and rock elements to create an exciting experience for both the eyes and ears.
The 32-year old hitmaker started with the country-rocker Here We Come from his new album Current Mood. Lyrics like “Cocked and locked yeah, here we come” only got the crowd more excited as the show began. The stage was fairly rock and roll as well, with a high drum riser, hundreds of lights drowning the stage and a giant LED screen dead centre. And the icing on the cake was Lynch’s amazing smile, which he held steadfast throughout the entire show. He’d be a great candidate for a Colgate commercial, should the toothpaste makers need a killer smile in the future.
He quickly jumped into a pair of number one radio hits from his 2014 CD Where It’s At – Hell of a Night and Mind Reader, leading the way into a night of hits and surprises. Lynch plowed his way through tunes from all three of his albums, but the biggest came about mid-show when he played a medley of songs from artists he previously had the opportunity to tour with – at that point fans were treated to about eight minutes of Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line. Clearly, he’s a man that isn’t afraid to show off his influences and friends.
More influences continued to show themselves throughout the show, with nods to Usher mixed in with the new song Back On It from Current Mood, a bit of Flo Rida’s My House which mixed well with his own rap-like Where It’s At, and a full out country-rock version of Def Leppard’s Pour Some Sugar on Me, which began with the band playing a few famous classic rock riffs.
Just like when the show began, Lynch closed with a couple more number one radio hits – Small Town Boy and Seein’ Red, both from the new album.
The whole concert felt a little bit like a summer country festival, with plenty of sing-along opportunities, lots of beer chugging and a hell of a lot of good music throughout the night – and for a cold November evening in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, it doesn’t get much better than that.
All photos by Dan Savoie
Setlist:
Here We Come
Hell Of A Night
Mind Reader
I’d Be Jealous Too
Where It’s At / My House (Flo Rida)
State Lines
Cowboys And Angles
Love Me or Leave Me Alone
Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line Medley
New Girl
Back On It
Why Not Tonight
Rock Medley / Pour Some Sugar On Me (Def Leppard)
Small Town Boy
Seein’ Red
