Stagecoach wows audience

Country stars dazzle attendees, delivering renditions of their hits all weekend long

Jennifer Mossuto / Asst. Copy Editor / The USD Vista

The 2019 Stagecoach Music Festival included heart-wrenching moments, over 100-degree weather, and most importantly, gathering together another country-loving community for the 13th year in a row. The festival stages became home to new country artists making their debut and also remained a sanctuary to veteran artists such as Jason Aldean, Old Dominion, and Luke Bryan. Each day began with smaller names in the country music world but Friday officially kicked off when Scotty McCreery took the Mane Stage. The American Idol star performed at the hottest time of the day, but that didn’t stop him from enjoying his highly anticipated 6 p.m. set. He performed his newest song “In Between” and ended with the fan favorite and ultimate tearjerker, “Five More Minutes” released back in 2017. 

Following McCreery on the Mane Stage was Kane Brown, known for his No.1 hit “What Ifs” featuring fellow Stagecoach performer, Lauren Alaina. Soon after, Cole Swindell took over the second-to-last set time and did not let the audience’s energy go to waste. As the sun had set, the people joined the crowds and sang along to every song including his popular radio hits “Break Up In The End,” “Middle of A Memory,” and “You Should Be Here.” 

Finally, at 10:15 p.m., headliner Luke Bryan arrived and the general admission audience was packed like sardines. He performed some oldies but goodies including “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” and “Huntin,’ Fishin,’ And Lovin’ Every Day.” During his transitions he was constantly making jokes to the audience while taking numerous shots of tequila and exciting the crowd even more as each shot quickly came and went. At one point he asked everyone in the audience to raise their hands if they “have to piss right now,” leaving the entire crowd with their hands in the air. He then went on to tell them to let it go down their leg because it’s so hot that it would evaporate, then immediately took back his suggestion while laughing hysterically. Bryan also played relatively newer favorites such as “Most People Are Good,” “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset, Repeat,” and his newest single “Knockin’ Boots,” released just this past March, but not before taking even more shots of tequila and leaving the crowd surging with energy and excitement for the following days to come.

On Saturday LANCO, a five-member country band, took over the 6 p.m. set time, constantly encouraging the audience to sing the tunes to their soft country songs including “Born to Love You” and “Greatest Love Story.” Soon after, Luke Combs took the stage, performing with a beer in his hand. Combs took breaks from singing and allowed the audience to sing the lyrics back to him as he performed “Hurricane” and arguably his most popular love song that even non-country listeners have heard, “Beautiful Crazy.” The wind picked up during his set but that didn’t stop him from showing how excited he was to be on the Mane Stage Saturday night.

Saturday’s headliner, Sam Hunt, ended the night with a bang. With bass and drums seemingly louder than everyone else’s, he began with fan favorite “Take Your Time.” As the temperature finally dropped to a tolerable 81 degrees, the people continued to crowd the stage and get as close as possible to the 34-year-old country singer. He ended the night performing Keith Urban’s “Cop Car,” “House Party,” and “Downtown’s Dead.” 

Sunday’s 6 p.m. set began with another American Idol star but first-time Stagecoach performer, Lauren Alaina. She began by bringing a stranger on to the stage, who later introduced himself as Zach. He excitedly jumped onto the stage alongside the beautiful Lauren Alaina and even took up her challenge of doing popular dances on the stage such as the Nay Nay, the Stanky Leg, and even twerking (impressively) toward the end. She noticed he knew all the words to her song “Next Boyfriend” and allowed him to sing a few lines on the stage, shocking everyone with a surprisingly good singing voice. Starting her set off with this enjoyable and original performance not only entertained the audience but showed her charming personality on stage. Alaina performed a “Pitch Perfect” inspired set including a mash-up of cover songs from Aerosmith, Zedd, Backstreet Boys, Sam Hunt, Shawn Mendes, and Shania Twain. She ended her captivating set with some more popular songs, “What Ifs” and “Road Less Traveled.” She continued to tell her story of how she managed two No.1 hits and hundreds of thousands of streams on Spotify when people told her she couldn’t, but she never gave up and preached the message of pursuing your dreams. Between her sparkling outfit, bringing Zach onto stage, and telling her personal stories, Lauren Alaina stunned everyone with the most entertaining performance of the night and completely stole the show. She ended her performance extremely grateful saying, “All I’ve ever wanted since I was three years old was to write songs and have people sing them back to me. This is a dream come true.”

Next to perform on the Mane Stage was Old Dominion, another veteran five-member country band, who expressed their happiness for being able to perform, saying, “We can’t see your faces but we can feel it,” which completely encompassed the entire Stagecoach feel. They performed hits such as “Written in The Sand,” “Hotel Key,” and “Break Up With Him” while the audience screamed every word right back to them. 

Ending the festival on Sunday evening was Jason Aldean, who gave the audience chills as he acknowledged the Route 91 Festival shooting. 

“Last time I saw some of you guys, we got a little cut off,” Aldean said, and then proceeded to sing “When She Says Baby” which was playing when the shooting began at the festival in 2017. He created an incredibly powerful moment as he sang and the entire crowd went silent as they thought of the lives lost, yet rejoiced that everyone had come together once again for the love of music. 

Last but not least was the one performance everyone was hoping to see, the surprise debut from Billy Ray Cyrus and Lil Nas X, who sang new single, “Old Town Road.” They were featured by Diplo during his late-night set at the Palomino Tent alongside other surprise guests, Cam and Sam Hunt.

Stagecoach offered a three-day long festival full of line-dancing, drinking, and good ol’ country music, but the most consistent element was the attendees. While attendees ranged in age from teenager to grandparent, commonality was seen, as everyone was there to have a good time, enjoy some music together, and create memories in the pounding desert heat. As Luke Bryan’s song would say, the weekend had a clear theme: Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset, Repeat.