Luke Bryan’s latest platinum hit may suggest that he enjoys the country girls “shaking for him,” but his sold-out show at the Bryce Jordan Center on Friday night showed he was more than happy to do it himself, too.
Through an almost two hour-straight vocal performance, Bryan’s dance moves enchanted the audience. He responded positively to several posters that fans had brought with them, including some stating “Shake it for us, Luke.”
For some Penn State students attending the show, it was not just the music that kept their eyes glued to the vibrant, lit up stage for the duration of the time.
“I thought the entire show was absolutely amazing, and he is so talented,” Kelsie Kautz (freshman-electrical engineering) said. “However, it was his dancing that truly melted my heart. He was like a modern day Elvis.”
Before Bryan had the chance to take the stage for his State College detour of his “Dirt Road Diaries” Tour, though, country duos Florida Georgia Line and Thompson Square performed for the sold out crowd.
Through perfected harmonies and a theatrical performance of Thompson Square’s hit “If I Didn’t Have You,” lead singers, also husband and wife Keifer and Shawna Thompson stole the hearts of the audience members.
With a shy, anticipated kiss, the two ended their set with their hit “Are You Going to Kiss me or Not?” throwing out respective T-shirts to lucky members of the audience.
Although Luke Bryan headlined the show, some spectators enjoyed the opening acts enough to now consider themselves fans of the two country duos.
“I thought they sounded really good live, and had a lot of real talent,” Jess Bagwell (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said. “I had a lot of fun watching them and both were good at pumping the crowd up.”
At 9:30 p.m., the once-loud chatter that filled the anxious BJC quickly turned into loud sounds of cheering and chanting as Bryan, wearing tight black pants and a backwards baseball cap, rose from underneath the lit up stage.
Opening with “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” from his 2011 album “Tailgates & Tanlines” while simultaneously purring at his audience, Bryan kept the energy number after number including some hits from his 2009 album “Doin’ My Thing,” including “Rain is a Good Thing.”
However, the tempo of Bryan’s country music changed abruptly as both Florida Georgia Line and Thompson Square rejoined Bryan on stage, as the background music for Maroon 5’s hit “One More Night” began playing. The country stars proceeded to do a harmonized cover of “One More Night,” as well as Bruno Mars’ “Locked out of Heaven,” changing the pace of the show along with the energy of the crowd.
After a brief period of darkness and Bryan disappearing from center stage, the crowd roared in encouragement as Bryan returned, guitar in hand, stating that “this night isn’t over yet” before playing another one of his platinum hits, “I Don’t Want This Night to End.”
Closing the show with his trademark single, “Country Girl (Shake it For Me),” Bryan’s dance moves were not the only thing that sent the audience into a shock.
As Bryan spotted a woman mimicking his dance moves, he jumped off of stage, running through the crowd, to meet her at her seat and join her dancing and singing the song with the lucky woman, before finishing his last song on stage.
“I still can’t believe you guys sold out the show,” Bryan addressed the crowd before running off of stage. “I know there are a lot of hard-working Americans here that paid for these tickets, and you have allowed me to live my dream. Thank you.”
