Russell Dickerson joined Darius Rucker and Lady Antebellum as the Summer Plays On Tour stopped at Hartford's Xfinity Theatre.
Two of the biggest names in country music teamed up Saturday night as three-time GRAMMY award-winner Darius Rucker and seven-time GRAMMY award-winning trio Lady Antebellum brought their co-headlining Summer Plays On Tour to Hartford. The show was an all-night sing-along as the audience was given a setlist full of number one hits and fan favorites.
Darius Rucker
Rucker took the first of the two headlining spots, kicking off his set with Homegrown Honey (which was co-written by Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley). The Charleston, South Carolina native has notched nine number one hit singles as a solo artist and he played every one of them for us in Hartford, including his most recent, For The First Time. His set also provided a bit of nostalgia as he performed a couple of his Hootie & the Blowfish hits from the mid-90’s: Let Her Cry and Only Wanna Be With You.
Darius Rucker in Hartford on July 28, 2018. Photo by Shawn St. Jean.
Charles Kelley joined Rucker on stage to perform his latest single, Straight To Hell. Before they started though they talked about playing golf together in Connecticut earlier in the day. “[Charles] shot 79, I shot 77, and I lost $500,” said a disappointed Rucker, as Kelley pumped his fist in celebration.
Rucker closed out his set with one of the biggest jams of the night, Wagon Wheel (which actually features Lady Antebellum on background vocals on the album).
In a recent press release on the tour Rucker said, “Charles, Hillary and Dave have been such good friends to me over the years – we even toured together once before during the summer of 2012. It’s always exciting to be out on the road with our fans, but I knew it would be even more special with Lady Antebellum being part of the tour too.”
Lady Antebellum in Hartford on July 28, 2018. Photo by Shawn St. Jean.
Lady Antebellum
Comprised of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, and Dave Haywood, Lady Antebellum’s set featured some of their biggest hits from the past decade.
The multi-platinum trio kicked off with their 2017 single You Look Good. You know that when nine songs out of a fourteen song set are number one hit singles, the crowd is going to be really engaged. The energy level both on stage and throughout the amphitheater was amazing for their performances of Bartender, Downtown, American Honey, and of course Need You Now.
When the Summer Plays On Tour was initially announced Kelley said, “Darius is one of our closest friends, and so we just feel really excited to get to share this tour and those memories on and off stage with him. There’s no doubt that it’s going to be a total blast and we’re thrilled to have Russell out with us too this summer.”
The Finale
Lady Antebellum and Rucker knocked it out of the park with the finale, taking the stage together to perform the Hootie & the Blowfish smash hit Hold My Hand. The crowd went crazy for this one, dancing and singing from the pit to the lawn. Russell Dickerson then joined them for two more songs. First up was a cover of Deana Carter’s Strawberry Wine, which Scott said was one of her favorite country songs. The show ended with a massive jam session of Lady A’s Love Don’t Live Here:
Russell Dickerson
Triple Tigers recording artist Dickerson is the opener for the tour, and quite honestly he’s the perfect person to get a crowd all fired up. His high energy set featured songs from his debut album, Yours, including his current single, Blue Tacoma, as well as his first number one hit, the title track Yours.
Russell Dickerson in Hartford on July 28, 2018. Photo by Shawn St. Jean.
The Summer Plays On Tour returns to the tri-state area this weekend with shows at PNC Bank Arts Center on Friday, August 3rd, and Jones Beach Theater on Saturday, August 4th. The tour will make a total of 28 stops, wrapping up in Bristow, Virginia on October 6th.
Check out our exclusive photos from the Hartford show below:
Lady Antebellum
Darius Rucker
Russell Dickerson
Were you at the show in Hartford or have you seen any of these artists perform live elsewhere? Let us know what you thought of the performance in the comments section below!
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