The Big House was a madhouse during country music superstar Morgan Wallen’s hugely entertaining, rollicking spectacle of a concert Friday night at the outdoor Ann Arbor football palace, the largest stadium in the United States and the third largest stadium in the world.
Zach Bryan kicked off the Big House’s new era as a concert venue last September, with a record breaking crowd in attendance for the country-folk singer’s grand Michigan Stadium inauguration party.
But Friday night’s concert was even more impressive in the way it showed off the venue and its heavyweight might as a concert house. The show felt mega in ways other stadiums in Southeastern Michigan just can’t match, and Wallen was a prime vehicle to help show off all it can do and be.
His two-hour, 15-minute performance was packed with flames, lasers, bursts of fireworks and screaming pyrotechnics that shot from the top of the stage to production towers on the other side of the floor and erupted into the air. In addition, the crowd became a light show all its own, as fans were handed Coldplay-style light-up wristbands upon entry which blinked in color coordinated patterns throughout the night.
Add all this in with a perfect summer evening in the open air and a crowd of somewhere between 75,000 and 80,000 fans — attendance figures were not provided to press — and you had a rockin’ good time, no matter who was on stage.
Wallen, the 33-year-old Tennessean, proved an exceptional host, showing notable growth as a showman and entertainer since his last area performance, in 2023 at Ford Field.
He’s a more commanding and confident performer now, having grown into his stature as a stadium-packing superstar, and he was constantly bouncing around the stage, crouching, hopping, and connecting with his fans, physically as well as musically.
He’s cultivated a bad boy image for himself both inside and outside country music, but on Friday he was gracious and thankful toward his fans. Even though he was, technically, in enemy territory.
“As y’all know, I’m a Tennessee boy through and through, but this place is pretty damn cool, man,” Wallen said early on in the evening. Later he came back to the topic. “I’ve always heard good things about this place, and I’ve learned that they were all true. I hope we don’t have to play y’all in this place anytime soon, I know that.”
He stopped short of saying “Go Blue,” but he did don a Carhartt Block M ball cap on his head, and he came out midway through the show sporting a Glen Rice UM basketball jersey, a throwback to before he was born. (Rice was on the 1989 NCAA Championship-winning Wolverines squad, Wallen wasn’t born until 1993.)
He came to the stage joined by UM legend and current Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, perhaps the best candidate to join Wallen in his nightly walkout ritual. He’s an ambassador for both the Big House and Detroit, and he fits the profile of Wallen’s fanbase: He’s in his 20s and he likes to have a good time.
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Wallen’s fans — a female-leaning crowd dressed largely in cowboy boots and country dresses — turned most of the 26 songs he performed into full-on stadium singalongs, especially hits like “You Proof” and “I’m the Problem.”
Wallen rewarded his fans by taking extra time getting to the other side of the stadium floor for a handful of performances on a B-stage, slapping hands with fans along the way, and climbing staircases into each section along his journey to get up close and personal with his people.
The move came off not as indulgent but as purposeful, and there was something refreshing about the way he was unhurried as he made his way to each new group of adoring fans. He seemed to be taking things in, having fun, and the several minutes of white noise that played as he made his way both to and from the auxiliary stage made the moment feel elevated.
He was joined by his openers Thomas Rhett and Hudson Westbrook during his set on “Cowgirls” and “Up Down,” respectively.
“I Had Some Help,” his 2024 hit with Post Malone, closed out Wallen’s main set, and new track “Been By Now,” which he released Friday, was performed during the encore. (Big House favorite “Mr. Brightside,” by the Killers, was played during the set break and received one of the night’s biggest ovations.)
“Last Night” and “Whiskey Problems” closed the show, as fireworks exploded into the nighttime sky. Wallen will do it all again Saturday night, the second night of his two-night stand. And the question then becomes which artist is next on the docket for the Big House. The building’s got a lot of lost time to start making up for.
