Luke Combs comes to the Southern Hemisphere with a swag of rave reviews for his shows this year, and while these are stadium-sized events it seems that the US country music superstar does everything to involve his audiences and make them feel an important part of the whole experience.
“Regardless of the subject matter (true love, drinking, fast cars, losing a brother to the California lifestyle in the deeply moving “Where the Wild Things Are”), thousands of people sang along because he made them see themselves in every line,” Azcentral.com stated about Combs’ show at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale Arizona in June.
“As Combs admitted in the course of dedicating three songs to his wife, who happened to be in attendance at the stadium, he does a lot of love songs. And he does them well — in a way that clearly resonates with his adoring public. You could see that in the couples staring lovingly into each other’s eyes while singing his songs at what seemed to be full volume in each other’s faces, a scene that played out many times on the video screens as Combs performed.”
From humble beginnings Combs has achieved the country music version of the American dream. When he was recently asked, however, by CBS News about who he is and what he means to his fans he displayed the down-to-earth nature that has gained him such stadium-sized followings all over the world.
“Gosh man, I’m really not very different than them. I’m a decently-average-looking-guy-to-below-average-looking guy,” he laughed. “Let’s be honest here, you know what I mean? I don’t take myself too seriously.
“When I started playing music, it was me and a guitar and a song and somebody that wanted to hear it. Whether that was three people in my living room or 50,000 people in a stadium, it’s always been about the connection between me and whoever’s listening.”
Whoever’s listening amounts to 29.9 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone. A decade ago Combs released three independent EPs, before signing to Columbia Nashville and releasing his debut album, This One’s for You, which topped the Billboard country chart and hit #5 on the Hot 100.
The rise had well and truly begun and with his second album, What You See Is What You Get, released in November 2019, he again topped the charts. The COVID era slowed things a little release-wise, but Combs has issued three albums in the last two years – 2022’s Growin’ Up, 2023’s Gettin’ Old and his fifth studio album, Fathers & Sons, which was released in June.
During this time Combs has topped Billboard’s country airplay chart 17 times and was named Entertainer of the Year twice by the Country Music Association.
Preceded by the single, “The Man He Sees in Me,” Combs’ new album is a love letter to fatherhood.
His sons Tex and Beau – the latter born when Combs was last on tour in Australia in 2023 – were foremost in his mind, especially reflected in the song “Whoever You Turn Out to Be.”
“Whatever they decide to pursue or whoever they decide to love, it doesn’t matter to me,” Combs explained. “Like, as long as they’re happy and they’re fulfilled in their life, that’s what I care about.”
While Combs’ career was already soaring last year, his cover of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 hit “Fast Car” added to the perfect storm he has created. It was a song he had loved since he was five years old.
“It’s always been one of my favourites,” he told Smooth Country’s Eamonn Kelly earlier this year. “I covered it in college and just kind of continued to play it around the house or whatever and did a video of it in 2020 during the whole lockdown thing.
“And I just figured, why not? It’s been such a big part of my life that I just figured it would be cool to do an official version of it.”
Combs’ version of “Fast Car” won him Single of the Year at the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards and he duetted the song with Chapman herself at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in February, a performance he described on Instagram as being “a defining moment in my career.”
Naturally it’s become a huge highlight among fans when he performs it each night, as highlighted by the Utah Concert Review’s summation of Combs’ show at the Rice-Eccles Stadium back in May: “I couldn’t believe how loud the crowd was during ‘Fast Car.’ They sang every word of that heartbreaking song. It was my favourite moment of the night and easily one of my favourite concert moments ever.
“To hear Luke Combs sing that song in a huge stadium with a huge audience singing the song back to him, in the year or so that the song completely blew up for him was a memory for the ages,” the review continued. “I wish the song could have gone on and on. I felt frozen in the moment and yet it seemed to fly by. He sounded great. The audience sounded amazing. Even now I can’t get over how much I loved that highlight.”
Combs’ concerts have become renowned for their seriously strong support bills and his forthcoming visit to Australia and New Zealand will be no exception.
From the US he’ll be bringing along Jordan Davis (who has had five US country #1 singles) and Nashville star Mitchell Tenpenny. Tamworth’s Lane Pittman, who supported Combs on his 2023 arena tour and whose debut EP recently reached #1 on the ARIA Country Album Charts, will open proceedings.
With all Australian tour dates now sold out, it means that Auckland’s Eden Park on January 17th and 18th is the only place left to see Luke Combs next year. Tickets are on sale now from frontiertouring.com/lukecombs.
