Chris Young knows how to captivate a crowd. On top of just being a great showman armed with an arsenal of radio hits, the 31-year-old country music star is personable, not afraid to get a little silly and he’s just so charming. Young brought his tour to Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa Thursday night and performed in front of a lively sold-out audience that sang, danced and at times tried to completely drown him out as they belted familiar lines from their favorite songs.
The crew definitely didn’t skimp on bringing in all of Young’s stage production. Multiple semi trucks with his smiling face plastered on the side were parked just outside of the venue. Several see-through risers on the stage, lined with neon lighting, changed colors throughout the set. A large LED backing screen provided Young with a cool entry point, its James Bond-like rotating door right in the middle, where he appeared at the start and got right into the evening with “Underdogs,” a cut on his latest and fifth studio release, “I’m Comin’ Over.”
Last year, when he played this same venue, that album hadn’t been released yet, but he still offered up samples of what would later become his very first record to debut at No. 1 on the charts. Most of his set was filled with singles that have shot to No. 1 over the years, like “You,” “Voices,” “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song),” “Tomorrow” and his latest, “Think of You,” a duet with Cassadee Pope who just played Pacific Amphitheatre a couple of weeks ago.
Young switched things up a bit from his performance last year, adding in a few more songs from his new record including one he sang with country icon Vince Gill, “Sober Saturday Night.” When he asked the crowd who had been at this same show last year, numerous hands shot up into the air and were met with loud cheers. That group didn’t seem too bothered that he played the same two covers the year prior, a playful go of ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man,” during which Young introduced his band members, and his beautiful, well executed version of the late Keith Whitley’s “When You Say Nothing at All.”
He mixed the love songs (“Lonely Eyes,” “Who I Am With You,” “I Can Take It From There”) with the drinking songs (“Save Water, Drink Beer,” “Aw Naw,” “Neon”) throughout the night. The track “Text Me Texas” was thrown into the encore before he finished the set with “Think of You.”
Show opener Ruthie Collins’ turn was also a lot of fun. The Nashville resident stared wide-eyed into the crowd and delivered a heartfelt “thank you” once her set began and she took a moment to talk about what the band had done that day, which included a trip to Newport Beach.
“Ya’ll are lucky to live here,” she quipped with a smile.
She played a few songs off of her debut, self-titled EP as well as a cover of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Collins smartly closed her set with a medley of music from some of her female country music influences and had the audience singing and swaying along as she offered up snippets of “Any Man of Mine” by Shania Twain, Jo Dee Messina’s “Lesson in Leavin’,” “American Girl” and “She’s in Love With the Boy” by Trisha Yearwood and Pam Tillis’ “Maybe It Was Memphis.”
Contact the writer: 714-796-3570 or kfadroski@ocregister.com
