Music

With the stage being in the center of the arena, Bryan szx forced to enter through the dense crowd (by way of a slim pathway blocked off for him and his band). “Let’s go!” screamed an announcer as Bryan made his way down the path, illuminated by fans’ phone lights capturing the moment. With his band in place, and already playing the opening chords to “Overtime,” Bryan stepped on with his guitar already strapped on. “How’re we feeling, Los Angeles?” he asked a roaring crowd before diving right into a punchier version of the hit. “Thank you so much for being here,” he said soon after. “I hope everyone’s having the best evening of their life.”

“Nobody knows this, but I wrote this song in Los Angeles,” Bryan said of “Fifth of May,” a song that cites Western Kentucky and East L.A. Early on he flubbed a line, but jumped right back in, saying with a smile, “I told the boys I wouldn’t mess up tonight and I already did, I’m so so sorry.”

After the song ended, Bryan opened up a bit more, telling fans: “I started this music shit four years ago… I had no idea I’d end up here tonight.” Later on, while introducing “Nine Ball,” he shared yet another little-known story about how Matthew McConaughey ended up in the music video. After revealing his girlfriend, Brianna LaPaglia, came up with the idea, Bryan told her: “You’re f—ing crazy, no way that’s going to happen.” But, he sent a DM anyway and soon enough, McConaughey called Bryan to tell him one thing: “Alright, alright, alright.” 

Of all of Zach Bryan’s stellar collaborations, he placed two of the biggest back-to-back in the setlist, performing “Dawns,” which features Maggie Rogers, before “I Remember Everything,” which features Kacey Musgraves and scored Bryan his first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. While Bryan began “Dawns” acoustically, singing under a single spotlight with his rasp only accompanied by his own guitar, the song ended in a freewheeling jam session for which Bryan hopped into his guitarists’ sphere of cymbals. And despite the emotional intimacy of each record, the songs conjured up impassioned singalongs from the arena, proving that even the most tender of duets can sound right at home performed solo on an arena stage.

Though neither Rogers nor Musgraves joined Bryan on stage (both have previously performed their duets with him on tour), he did welcome The War and Treaty on stage for their collaboration “Hey Driver.” As Bryan told the crowd, “Usually when we sing this we sound like s–t, but we’re in luck tonight.” The married duo opened for Bryan (and will again tonight, Monday, June 3), and delivered a rousing and soulful set of their own, during which they debuted three new songs. “We’re working on a new record,” shared Tanya, who later asked the audience if they should include one of the new songs on the project. And who knows, perhaps they will team back up with Bryan for a duet on their album this time.

After performing “Quittin’ Time,” Bryan ignored that title’s implications by returning to the stage for a final song, a never-ending rendition of “Revival.” As Bryan allowed each member of his band to show off their skills, introducing them before requesting that they “prove it,” he was joined by even more friends on stage: his girlfriend sang along with influence Jake Shane (@passthatpuss) and toward the end even Tate McRae joined in on the fun, dancing and laughing with the two as t-shirt cannons fired off into the crowd. “That’s all we got, Los Angeles,” said Bryan, before diving back into the song full-force, declaring with utmost certainty: “We’re having an all night revival.”