Thomas Rhett, Dustin Lynch + More Put On an Amazing Show in Connecticut

Were you lucky enough to attend the Very Hot Summer Tour this past Thursday (September 19) at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport? If not, I’m here to tell you all about it. If yes, you understand what I’m about to say.

Now listen, I love to fangirl over pretty much any artist I love – ask both my coworkers and my friends, they’ll confirm. But when I saw this lineup come out and I saw Thomas Rhett was going on tour with Dustin Lynch, Russell Dickerson, and Rhett Akins, I thought, wow – what a slam dunk. You just knew this was going to be a show of pure talent. If you’ve ever seen any of these artists perform, they all put on an amazing show, so why not combine all four? Genius. Here are my thoughts as I sat right at the catwalk to watch some incredible artists:

Rhett Akins opened the show. For those of you who don’t know, that is Thomas Rhett’s father. He had a quick, four-song set, mostly covers. His set was fun, though. He mentioned how excited he was to be touring with his son, and he also made the remark that he is sure that his son is one of the best in the industry. (He’s not wrong, in my opinion.)

Following Rhett Akins was Russell Dickerson. Now Russell Dickerson has opened a few shows around here in the past, but I have never been around to catch his full set. This time, I got to watch his full set right from the catwalk, and man was I lucky. What I thought was awesome, was that he started his set from the middle of the catwalk. No one knew he was going to be there, but the lights go on and boom - there he was!

He sang six songs, including both of his hits “Yours” and “Blue Tacoma”. He closed out his set hyping up the crowd to the song “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” to get people on their feet for the next act that was to hit the stage. I’m so excited to watch Russell Dickerson’s career continue to grow. He was so much fun, and was ecstatic to be performing on that tour. I can’t wait to catch him at another show. He is for sure someone I want to see again.

Next up, one of my favorite people in Country Music – Dustin Lynch. I have never seen a bad Dustin Lynch performance, and I don’t think I ever will. His sets are SO much fun. If you disagree, then I’m sorry, but your points are invalid. (Kidding… but not really).

Dustin opened his show with “Seein’ Red”. Dustin can do an entire show of just his hits, and it would take up the entire set list. That is how great these songs are. But this time, he decided to split it up a little bit. Don’t get me wrong, we were lucky enough to hear hits like “Hell of a Night”, “Mind Reader”, “I’d Be Jealous Too”, “Good Girl”, and so many more, but he additionally added in his own personal touch. He went in to talk about how he came about as an artist, and all of his inspirations along the way. He took us into different years, bringing us back. He told the crowd how Alan Jackson was one of his first inspirations, and then covered his song “Chattahoochee”. After that, he went into talking about Tim McGraw, and covered “Something Like That”. Following that, he was saying how he was at a Dierks Bentley show back in the day in the crowd, and Dierks really inspired him. He then went into singing “What Was I Thinkin’ “. He finished his ‘Throwback Thursday’ cover jam sesh by stating that to kick off his career, he got a phone call from the one and only Keith Urban, asking him and his band to go on tour with him, and Dustin went into singing “Somebody Like You” and bringing it full circle, saying that is how his career started. It was so amazing to get a personal touch into his career, and watching him cover songs from everyone that inspired him along the way. Dustin’s performance always blows me away, and this set did nothing less of that. He closed out his set singing “Small Town Boy”.

Next up, the man of the hour (or night). And oh, was the crowd READY. Thomas Rhett jumped out onto the stage opening his set with “Look What God Gave Her”. The second he came on, I remembered why I loved him so much. 1). He’s adorable and 2). Man can he SING and perform. His shows are insane, always. He is always happy, always so energetic, and just radiates the vibe of how much he really loves what he does. Now I haven’t mentioned this yet, but the catwalk for this tour went up the entire floor. Literally. Started at the front of the stage and went all the way to the back of the arena. He used the entire stage the whole show, and interacted with fans the entire time up and down the catwalk. I love when artists are interactive with the crowd, because it gets fans even more excited. He would take peoples phones and take selfies, sign posters, and sing with fans throughout the whole show. We got lucky enough to hear some of his hits including “Crash and Burn”, “Craving You”, “Sixteen”, “Life Changes”, and so many more. After he sang “Life Changes”, he took the next portion of the show to sing at the end of the catwalk, so that the back of the arena was able to have a front row view for a few songs. He went into talking about how these next few songs meant a lot to him. He followed with “That Old Truck”, “Star of the Show”, and “To The Guys That Date My Daughters”. After he finished with the slow songs, he picked the party back up singing “Beer Can’t Fix” and Rhett Akins, Dustin Lynch, and Russell Dickerson all came back out to sing it with him while they all drank beers up and down the catwalk. That was such a fun moment to watch! After that, he followed with “Vacation”, “Marry Me”, “Die A Happy Man”, “Unforgettable”, and closed out the show with “T-Shirt” and lots and lots of confetti / party streamers.

Overall, the show was a blast. Pure talent out of all 4 of these artists. It was awesome watching it. Even though the tour is coming to an end, make sure to catch these awesome artists on their next round of tours they are in. You will not regret it! As for now, I left the show with a giant smile on my face and was already looking up more dates to see when I can go see it again. But for now, that’s all I got. Until it’s time to fangirl over the next show I come across…