LUKE COMBS MAKES FRIDAY NIGHT AT ROGERS STADIUM MEMORABLE FOR THE MASSES
Luke Combs
Friday night
Rogers Stadium
RATING: *** (3 out of four)
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What you see is what you get with country-music star Luke Combs – also the title of his second album in 2019.
And what you see is pretty great judging from Combs’ first of two back-to back-shows at Rogers Stadium on Friday night in front of 50,000 fans.
Now touring on behalf of his sixth record, 2026’s The Way I Am, the North Carolina singer-songwriter appeared to enjoy us as much as we enjoyed him.
“I like the vibes in Toronto,” he said towards the end of his two-hour show. “We’ve been hanging out here the last couple of nights and you guys have it figured it out.”
Well, the 36-year-old married father of three clearly doesn’t live here, but he’s about as relatable an artist as there is dressed down in a New York Knicks baseball hat, a navy short-sleeved buttoned down shirt, and khakis.
He could just as easily be behind the wheel of a Chevy truck on a dirt road or out on an enormous stage playing to an audience whose size still seems to blow his mind as he explained while introducing Tell ‘Em About Tonight .
“I dreamed of this,” Combs said.
Oh, and did I mentioned it rained – more like a fine spritz – for about half of the show?
No matter, said his hearty fans, who buckled down with rain jackets or ponchos.
Kicked off My Kinda Saturday Night
Combs’ current My Kinda Saturday Night tour kicked off with that song of the same name and you definitely got the sense concertgoers couldn’t wait to sing each word to every tune as the night progressed.
Whether it was older tunes like Hurricane , Forever After All , Better Together , Beautiful Crazy , Cold As You , 1,2 Many (which saw opener Dierks Bentley and a Toronto Raptor (or two?) come out and take a swig mid-song), Beer Never Broke My Heart , or newer gems like Back in the Saddle , the Combs’ faithful were there to play and have fun and join in the crowd singalongs.
As one woman’s T-shirt said: “Giddy up!”
Then there was Combs’ memorable cover of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 hit Fast Car from his fourth album, 2023’s Gettin’ Old, which found the two musicians perform it together for a touching Grammy Awards opening in 2025.
On Friday night, Combs called it his “first favourite song,” as he opened his encore with it.
With a style best described as laid-back, Combs let his soulful voice, songs and bandmates be the stars of the show along with occasional fireworks and firebursts.
One cool moment saw him introduce the members of his exceptional backing band, The Wild Cards – bassist Mat Maxwell, drummer Jake Sommers, multi-instrumentalist Kurt Ozon, and guitarists Tyler King, Jamie Davis, Korey Hunt and Dustin Nunley – by getting them to play a snippet of a cover song in a medley.
So we got to hear a bit of Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train , Maroon 5’s She Will Be Loved , Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean , Aerosmith’s I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing and Tim McGraw’s Something Like That .
Combs is scheduled to return to Rogers Stadium on Saturday night playing to a total of 100,000 fans over two nights, setting an attendance record for a country headliner in Toronto.
SET LIST:
My Kinda Saturday Night
Lovin’ on You
Hurricane
She Got the Best of Me
Tell ’Em About Tonight
One Number Away
Miss You Here
Back in the Saddle
Must’ve Never Met You
The Kind of Love We Make
Sleepless in a Hotel Room
Rethink Some Things
Forever After All
Better Together
I Ain’t No Cowboy
Wish Upon A Whiskey
Remember Him That Way
Be By You
Beautiful Crazy
Crazy Train / She Will Be Loved / Billie Jean / I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing / Something Like That
Alcohol of Fame
Cold as You
When It Rains It Pours
1, 2 Many
Beer Never Broke My Heart
ENCORE:
Fast Car (Tracy Chapman cover)
Where the Wild Things Are
Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma
2026-06-06T19:14:58Z
