Highmark Stadium has been around since August 17, 1973 and everything is pointing to the ‘The Cowboy Rides Away Tour’ being the last one ever to be held at the famed Stadium. The tour is led by the King of County in George Strait. He was accompanied by one of the biggest names in all of music in Chris Stapleton and up and comer Parker McCollum. For me, there are a lot of memories tied into attending concerts here going back to June 19, 1988 (almost 37 years to the day) where I saw the Monsters of Rock show. Fast forward to today, and you couldn’t ask for a more beautiful day of weather to accompany this amazing lineup of musical artists.
To kick of the festivities was Austin Texas’ own Parker McCollum. McCollum is getting ready to unleash his 5th studio effort titled ‘Parker McCollum.’ This was a big show for McCollum as it was day before his 33rd Birthday. He also wished all the fathers out there a Happy Father’s Day! McCollum packed a punch for his shorted 45 minuet time slot. He wasn’t afraid to dip into the upcoming unreleased disc by incorporating some new songs into his set. “Hope That I’m Enough,” “Big Sky” and “Killin’ Me.” I thought the set went over extremely well!
Up next was Chris Stapleton. Stapleton played a sold-out show for the WNY area last summer at Darien Lake PAC. I was very curious on how the show would be different. It was a completely different show in my opinion as I thought it was more upbeat and rocking. Having Mickey Raphael as the harmonica player is truly a secret weapon. Probably one of the most well-known harmonica players on the planet (formerly played with Willie Nelson). He really adds a new dynamic to the show. Stapleton ripped off some gems right from the get-go in “Bad As I Used to Be” and “Midnight Train to Memphis.” His wife Morgane joined his about a third of the way through the set. They sang a few tracks including “Think I’m in Love With You,” in which Stapleton dedicated to her. Stapleton closed his show with a terrific rendition of “Tennessee Whiskey.” Stapleton really brought out his southern rocks roots for this set and it was a superb performance by him and his band!
Finally, the King of County took the stage at about 9:15pm. It’s been over 13 years since he played the WNY area (KeyBank Center in 2012) and 25 years since he played the stadium. The sparsely played “Twang” opened things up. Strait remarked that he was surprised by seeing so many cowboys in the Buffalo area as the band segued into “How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls.” The Weight of the Badge was showstopper. First, Strait said something that resonated with me and hope it did with others. The badge is light until you put it on. They showed video of local law enforcement while they played the song. It was defiantly a very patriotic moment as most (who could) stood in applause throughout the song. A few songs later a representative from the Military Warriors Support Foundation came out to help Strait give away a mortgage-free home to wounded veteran. This is part of an ongoing effort where Strait has now helped give away 125 homes, with the goal of reaching 150. He welcomed Chris Stapleton out for 3 songs including a new song called “The little Things” off his new record called ‘Cowboys and Dreamers.’ Strait also added some of his most popular songs in “Amarillo by Morning” and “All my Ex’s Live in Texas” (the later during a 5 song encore) making this a complete set as you can get. Even though Strait said he wouldn’t address the crowd and let the music do the talking, he did on occasion address them and gave few shout outs to the “Bills Mafia.” Another rarity is that Strait played past the 11am curfew (11:20pm to be exact). There must have been in agreement put in place for him to do that. That is usually agreeing to pay any union fees for every minute past curfew. Kudos to Strait for not cheating the audience and delivering a full quality set.
For me personally, this was more than show. Yes, you had some amazing artists and beautiful late spring day in mid June but putting a final bow on this place was what it was about for me. I think with everything combined, it made for a great send off if is indeed, the last ever concert held at Highmark Stadium.
George Strait setlist:
Twang
Check Yes or No
Run
How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls
I Can Still Make Cheyenne
Here for a Good Time
Three Drinks behind
Waymore’s Blues (Waylon Jennings cover)
The Weight of the Badge
The Little Things
Ocean Front Property
Cowboys Like Us (with Chris Stapleton)
You Don’t Know What You’re Missing (with Chris Stapleton)
Honky Tonk Hall of Fame (with Chris Stapleton)
I saw God Today
The Fireman
The Chair
Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) (Waylon Jennings cover)
Every Little Honky Tonk Bar
MIA Down in MIA
I’ll Always Remember You
Give It Away (Bill Anderson cover)
Amarillo by Morning (Terry Stafford cover)
Troubadour
Unwound
Encore:
Codigo
All my Ex’s Live in Texas
Pancho & Lefty (Townes Van Zandt cover)
Take Me to Texas
The Cowboy Rides Away
Chris Staplelton
Bad As I Used to Be
Midnight Train to Memphis (The SteelDrivers song)
Arkansas
Worry B Gone (Guy Clark cover)
Nobody to Blame
Millionaire (Kevin Welch cover)
Parachute
It Takes a Woman
Think I’m in Love With You
White Horse
Cold
Starting Over
Second One to Know
Hard Livin’
You Should Probably Leave
Fire Away
Broken Halos
Outlaw State of Mind
Tennessee Whiskey (David Allan Coe cover)
Parker McCollum setlist:
What Kinda Man
Handle on You
Stoned
Young man’s Blues
Hope That I’m Enough
Big Sky
Pretty Hart
Killin’ Me
Hell of a Year
To Be Loved by You
Meet You in the Middle
I Can’t Breathe
Burn it Down
Photos by Bill Wippert
We would like to thank Joseph Connor from EB Media PR for the tickets to review the show.
