Morgan Wallen Brings the Dangerous Tour to Usana Amphitheater
September 13, 2022
Photos by David Lehr.
This past Saturday night I took a drive that usually takes me about an hour and most of that is because I live about 50 minutes away from my destination. Well, on this drive I got there and then waited in traffic for almost another hour just to get into the parking lot of my destination. Others told me they waited in traffic for even longer than that to get in. That destination was Usana Amphitheater in West Valley City, Utah.
I, along with 20,000 other people lucky enough to get in, were there to see country music sensation Morgan Wallen on his Dangerous Tour. 20,000 of us were lucky enough to get in but there were quite a few more who made the drive hoping to score tickets at the venue. I passed quite a few groups of people who were there asking everyone who walked by if they had tickets for sale hoping to get one.
I have been to sold-out shows at Usana before, but this show was different. It seemed more packed, and the energy level at this concert rivaled that of any other concert I have ever been to. The only event in Utah that would have topped this excitement energy level this year would have to be the Garth Brooks concert and that’s a maybe topped, because this crowd was ready for a show and full of energy.
The good news for this crowd was that Morgan came to deliver a show also and it didn’t disappoint. He performed an energy packed, 24 song set that had everyone on their feet singing along, dancing and pumping their fists in the air to every song at the show. There wasn’t a moment that the energy dipped in the slightest. At one point, Wallen stood at the center of the stage just staring out for what seemed a good couple of minutes and the crowd did not stop cheering and hollering while he just stood there. He then told us all we would have to forgive him if he stopped to take all of this in and then going into a story about how he got started and that he appreciates all of us and how much it meant to him. Now lots of artists will give this same speech night after night but with Wallen you just believed the guy whole heartedly and you could see how much this all truly meant to him. At other times throughout the night, he took the time to tell us stories that would lead into the songs he would sing. Before he performed “Somebody’s Problem” he told us the story of how he and Ernest were driving together, and his car was cut off by another driver. It turned out to be an attractive lady driving that car and he and Ernest talked, and Ernest told him she looked like somebody’s problem and that’s how the song came to be. He also took the time to tell the fans at Usana how that venue has always been special to him which received a roaring approval from the crowd in response. During this story he told us how when he came here before he penned a couple of his songs while sitting on his tour bus before and that the crowd is always great every time he comes.
Aside from the stories the performance is what filled the night with energy. Wallen may only be a few years into the music scene, but his library of sings is filled with chart toppers and fan favorites. The opening number "Up Down" set the mood for the whole night and even slower hits like "Sand in my Boots" had everyone on their feet. I don’t think I stopped singing along the whole night and I noticed that no one around me did either. This concert will be hard to beat and I’m sure that Wallen’s future concerts will only get better as this guy has a bright future ahead of him.
