Pop Break Live: Brett Young “Five, TOUR, Three, Two, One Tour” with Morgan Evans and Ashley Cooke at The Met in Philadelphia, PA on Friday April 21, 2023.
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Country singer Brett Young stopped in at The Met in Philly on 4/21. This highly anticipated tour kicked off in Ohio in March and wraps up at the legendary Greek Theatre in LA. Ashley Cooke and Morgan Evans were both added as supporting artists.
There was a long line outside the venue an hour before the doors even opened. Many fans donned their cowboy/cowgirl hats and their country garb. There was a great energy upon entering the Met and you could feel this was just going to be one of those special nights.
Emerging artist Ashley Cooke, who signed with Big Loud Records a year ago, opened the show. She played some of her popular songs that included “Back in the Saddle,” “It’s Been a Year,” and “Already Drank that Beer.” She had a big surprise for the audience, so when headliner Brett Young came out onstage to join her on her song “Never Til Now,” he was met with loud screams! The fans must have loved that he was wearing a red Philadelphia 76er‘s shirt with Joel Embiid‘s number as playoff fever in Philly was at fever pitch that weekend.
Cooke’s sound is refreshing and she has a real knack for writing songs with a catchy hook and really nice melodies that stick with you. Even though she is considered an up and coming artist, she had this great stage presence that actually you’d expect from a well seasoned artist who’d been around for a while. You could tell the crowd really enjoyed her performance and she got a great response from them at the end of her set.
Australian Country star Morgan Evans performed next. He won the ARIA in 2019 for Best Country Album for Things That We Drink To and has won multiple music awards since. The charismatic singer and his backing band put on a really entertaining set. It was the perfect mix of slower ballads and some of the great anthemic rockers he plays. His energy was boundless as he was all over the stage during the night and was smiling from ear to ear during the entire set. He reminds me of a young Dave Grohl, a performer who lives and breathes music and has always shown the audience how much he loves doing what he does. Evans backing band was just incredible and one lucky member of the band got to have the entire audience sing happy birthday to him.
Life Upside Down, Evans’ new EP dropped that night. He treated fans to two songs off that release, “On my Own Again” and ” Little Mama,” the later had the the audience up and dancing. He also played fan favorites “Day Drunk” and “Young Again.” One of the biggest highlights of the entire night was on “Things that We Drink Too.” It turned out to be epic as it didn’t take the crowd long to recognize the chords to the last chorus of Coldplay’s beautiful song “Fix You.” Those who knew it sang loudly. It was a “moment.”
Singer-songwriter Brett Young has been turning heads way before his stellar self titled debut studio album in 2017. He was honored the following year at the ACM Awards and named Best New Male vocalist of the Year. I guess it was a sign of things to come as he followed that up with a string of 7 #1s! He has been lauded by many as a really talented writer.
Young walked out on stage wearing a custom Philadelphia 76ers Jersey which had #11 on it, which was his college baseball number and the crowd just ate it up. Whether it’s a romantic ballad or a high energy anthemic song, he always hits the mark. His vocals throughout the set were flawless. He sang a lot of his hits and fan favorites that included “Mercy,” “You Didn’t,” Lady,” “You Ain’t Here to Kiss Me,” “Not Yet,” “Catch” and “This.” One of the highlights was when he was joined on stage by Morgan Evans on the Tim McGraw cover, “Don’t Take the Girl.”
Something else that stood out was his obvious connection with the crowd. He was funny and mentioned Philly cheesesteaks and fans loving his sad songs. He told many other stories during the night. He came off very endearing. He and his wonderful band ended the night with “Sleep Without You.”
