Luke Combs crushes 2024 stadium concert tour kickoff at Milwaukee's American Family Field

Luke Combs took to the stage in Milwaukee Friday like a bear roaring out of hibernation.

"First show back in five months — here we go," the country superstar cheered after the third song for the kickoff of his "Growin' Up and Gettin' Old Tour" at American Family Field. The tour's second show, for the only the second time in the city's stadium concert history, includes another night at the Milwaukee Brewers' ballpark Saturday.

Combs clearly relished being back in tour mode, roaming all over the stage and runways, crooning and belting until his face turned heirloom-tomato red for show starters "Must've Never Met You," "She Got the Best of Me" and "Lovin' On You" — the latter two among 13 No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay chart-toppers that made Friday's 27-song setlist.

But I'd wager there were a whole lot of Combs fans in Milwaukee Friday who were more excited for this show than he was.

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The full-volume singalongs were Exhibit A in that argument, but some historical context is important.

Milwaukee is spoiled by the sheer volume of country A-listers who routinely come to town (Dan + Shay were here last week, and Tim McGraw is going to be here next week). Combs, too, came through early in his career for three shows at the Rave and the late Northern Lights Theater; he also opened for Blake Shelton at Summerfest in 2018 and made a Farm Aid appearance at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in 2019.

But that's it. As his trophy case filled up, as the hits kept coming, as he moved on up to stadium headliner status, Combs — very much still at the top of the A-list with a leading eight ACM Award nominations announced this week — had yet to do a major Milwaukee headlining show.

Until this weekend, when he rewarded Milwaukee fans' patience with an impassioned, hits-loaded show and a couple of custom nods to the city — from the blue Brewers ballcap that served as the signature piece of his humble concert ensemble to the lyrical swaps of "Milwaukee" into a handful of songs. That didn't quite work as a sub for Panama as he sang about deep sea fishing for "When It Rains It Pours" Friday — but the cheering crowd made it clear the gesture was appreciated.

And the Milwaukee fans adored the beer-centric portion of Friday's program. Fans got to vote for one of three songs via text to make the setlist Friday, and "Beer Can" beat out "Don't Tempt Me" and "Memories Are Made Of." He paid his respects to hometown favorite Miller Brewing — possibly displeasing any American Family Insurance execs in the crowd when he suggested he still thought of the Milwaukee Brewers stadium as Miller Park — and shotgunned a can of Miller Lite during "1, 2 Many."

And of all the big hits Combs played Friday night, "Beer Never Broke My Heart" had one of the most heartfelt singalongs.

That, and his cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car." The biggest hit of his career, Combs' take is pretty straightforward, letting Chapman's beautiful lyrics and melodies lead the way. But there's still clearly something special about his version, isn't there?

It's the same thing, Friday's show indicated, that has made Combs' such a superstar.

As a songwriter, as a storyteller, he's as polished as any of his peers in heavy rotation on country radio. But there's more soul and vulnerability in his voice, with just a touch of grit, than most of his centrist country star contemporaries.

So Combs, a back-to-back CMA Awards Entertainer of the Year recipient, was as expected a likable, stadium-electrifying party host.

But his ability to make the stadium filled with 41,000 to 44,000 feel small, to make songs feel personal in that space, that was his greatest strength Friday — whether he was crooning "This One's for You" alone on electric guitar while his seven-piece band took a breather, or tenderly belting "Better Together" accompanied by pretty melodies on a piano.

But the most intimate and moving stretch of the night included "Love You Anyway," "Forever After All" and "Beautiful Crazy," which Combs said were inspired by his wife Nicole Hocking, who was in attendance Friday. Combs prefaced the song singing her praises, including how she helped him with his daily anxieties — and expressed remorse for missing the birth of their second son last year while he was on tour in Australia. Calling it the best and worst day of his life, Combs choked up, took a beat, and wiped tears from his eyes. And then he poured all the emotion, all the gratitude that he felt in that highly vulnerable moment into those songs.

As the show hit the hour-and-50-minute mark Friday, and Combs more than earned the right to head backstage for some family time, he struggled to peel himself away from the stage.

Nine minutes after Combs sang the final lyrics of the night's final song, "The Kind of Love We Make," the seats across the stadium were largely empty. But the pit was still full of fans, and Combs was still on that stage, signing autograph after autograph after autograph.

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Cody Jinks, Charles Wesley Godwin and the Wilder Blue opened Friday night's Luke Combs concert

Cody Jinks was a standout at the Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival in Veterans Park last summer, fueled by a hellbent desire to win over the crowd as the event’s lone country act. As the primary opener Friday at a big ol' country show, that kind of pressure was off. And, consequently, Jinks’ fire didn’t burn as brightly, despite solid renditions of tunes like “Fast Hand” and “Mamma Song” aided by a honky-tonk-tuned band.

Immediately winning points with a customized Brew Crew jersey, singer-songwriter Charles Wesley Godwin turned out to be the most animated of Friday's openers, storming the catwalk and banging his head for “Hardwood Floors.” But even in “stadium mode,” Godwin brought intimacy and tenderness to tearjerkers like “Miner Imperfections,” which he dedicated to his father. Godwin may not be at the level of his good friend Zach Bryan yet (who he opened for at Summerfest last year), with stadiums full of people mesmerized by every word, but Friday’s set suggested it could be in the cards. Next up for Godwin in Milwaukee: a headlining set at Summerfest’s Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard June 28, which could prove to be too small a stage for his fanbase.

Alt-country act the Wilder Blue started off the night with a gentle but effective rendition of the national anthem, then kept things mellow for Eagles cover “Seven Bridges Road” and “I’m Your Man,” a new single out Friday that, played live, was more blue-cool than red-hot swagger. The polite but understandably sleepy crowd would have to wait for something, well, wilder.

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6 takeaways from Luke Combs' Milwaukee concert Friday

• At the risk of ruining this for everyone catching a concert at American Family Field in the future (including myself): I once again followed Journal Sentinel reporter Claire Reid's traffic-avoiding tips and drove into the stadium lots from Blue Mound Road. I first hit the brakes at 5:28 p.m., and I was parked by 5:41 p.m. The Journal Sentinel splurged on premium parking this time out, so that cut down on my parking time, but I still was shocked at how quickly I got in. But getting out, there's really nothing drivers can do to avoid that headache. People started filing out in large numbers around 10:50 p.m., but the drive out of the lots around me didn't really clear up until about 12:10 a.m.

• A friend texted me a photo from his seats at Friday's show — with a massive, suspended speaker stack blocking a good portion of the stage, even though his tickets weren't classified as "obstructed view." He debated with customer service to no avail and embraced a positive attitude, and I gathered he was still able to see Combs on the screens clearly and when he'd walk the stage. But given the complications getting to the show and the cost, it's too bad my friend and others seated near him had to deal with that.

• Beyond "Fast Car," there were other covers Friday, including a stirring take of Ed Sheeran's "Dive," a rendition of Brooks & Dunn's "Brand New Man," and a medley of three songs with a few of Combs' bandmates taking lead vocals: Shania Twain's "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?," Train's "Drops of Jupiter" and Dierks Bentley's "What Was I Thinkin'?"

• Combs covered a whole lot of hits, but not every one of his Billboard Country Airplay chart-toppers made the setlist. Left out Friday: "Even Though I'm Leaving," "Does to Me" and "Doin' This." But it was worth cutting one of those to make sure he added unreleased fatherly love song "The Man He Sees in Me" Friday.

• A head's up: Combs’ openers Friday won’t be the same openers Saturday. Expect a more country radio vibe with (in order of appearance) Colby Acuff, Drew Parker, Mitchell Tenpenny and Jordan Davis. And if you get to the lots by 3 p.m., you can see two more acts — Ryan Larkins and Graham Barham — at the Third Base Plaza at American Family Field.

• Most interesting conversation from the pit: A woman near the stage yelled at a security guard, “Next time I have to pee you’re coming with. That was (expletive) brutal coming back in here.” Understandably, the security guard looked horrified.

Luke Combs' American Family Field April 12 Setlist

1. ”Must’ve Never Met You”

2. ”She Got the Best of Me”

3. ”Lovin’ on You”

4. ”My Kinda Folk”

5. ”Brand New Man” (Brooks & Dunn cover)

6. ”One Number Away”

7. ”Houston, We Got a Problem”

8. ”The Man He Sees in Me”

9. ”This One’s for You”

10. ”Going, Going, Gone”

11. ”Beer Can”

12. ”Dive” (Ed Sheeran cover)

13. ”Whose Bed Have You Boots Been Under?” (Shania Twain cover)/“Drops of Jupiter” (Train cover)/“What Was I Thinkin’?” (Dierks Bentley cover)

14. ”Where the Wild Things Are”

15. "Love You Anyway"

16. "Forever After All"

17. "Beautiful Crazy"

18. "Fast Car" (Tracy Chapman cover)

19. "Hurricane"

20. "Cold As You"

21. "When It Rains It Pours"

22. "1, 2 Many"

23. "Beer Never Broke My Heart"

24. "Better Together"

25. "The Kind of Love We Make"

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on X at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Luke Combs crushes tour kickoff at Milwaukee's American Family Field