Riley Green’s Cowboy As It Gets Tour sold out the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) on Friday, June 19. The beautiful summer weather and country music drew over 25,000 fans to the popular outdoor venue in Upstate New York. Riley Green performed with Hannah McFarland, Drake White, and Clint Black.
For saying it was Riley Green’s first time as a headliner at SPAC, it was a hugely successful night. Traffic was backed up for miles as fans waited their turn to park and tailgate. Fans ventured all the way from New York City, Connecticut, and beyond to see the show.
Riley Green’s love of music was in his blood. His grandfather taught him about country music and how to play the guitar from a young age. Riley’s sound is truly a mixture of current country music and traditional country music. He began releasing self-titled EP between 2013 and 2018, until he signed with Big Machine Label Group. Riley’s big break came in August of 2018 when he released the popular song, “There Was This Girl,” that became No. 1 and went double platinum. Since then, his career took off. He has earned several awards including the Academy of Country Music Awards Top New Male Vocalist and Song of the Year for his duet with Ella Langley, “You Look Like You Love Me.”
Hannah McFarland was the first artist to perform. She took the stage with nothing but herself, a microphone, and a guitar. Hannah’s music does a beautiful job of story telling. She was arguably born to be a country singer seeing as she is the daughter of a cowboy and an artist. Hannah first picked up the guitar around the age of 15 and began performing at local venues. The Alabama-native moved to Nashville in 2016 to study music at Lipscomb University on a full scholarship. It’s interesting how social media can catapult smaller, up-and-coming artists, up to major stages quickly. In Hannah’s case, she had shared a video online of her singing a cover of Zach Bryan’s song, “I Remember Everything.” The video gained such traction that it lead to Hannah joining Zach Bryan on stage to perform this very song. Since then, she has been toured with Kip Moore and opened for Kelsea Ballerini and Travis Tritt.
Drake White was next to take the stage. His set was high energy and a lot of fun. Drake and his band were all having a good time on stage and that energy clearly affected the crowd. In 2019, Drake suffered from a hemorrhagic stroke while on stage performing. While the doctors were convinced that he could no longer perform, let’s just say he proved them wrong. Drake has been listed in Rolling Stone’s 10 Country Artists You Need to Know and received the British CMA Awards’ International Song of the Year for his song “Makin’ Me Look Good Again.” His set brought a lot of good energy as he moved around the stage to interact with each of the band members. Drake has also opened for / played alongside major country artists like Luke Bryan, Eric Church and Zac Brown Band.
Then it was legendary country icon Clint Black’s turn to perform. Justin Moore was originally apart of the tour line up, however, he had to back out of the tour recently in order to focus on his health. Clint Black came in to complete the line up for Riley’s tour until Justin is back to full health. Luckily for fans, Clint Black was able to step in and it was really special to see a country music icon perform along side his incredible band. As a young musician, Clint taught himself to play both the guitar and the harmonica. His love of music led him to drop out of high school as a teenager and play in a band with his older brothers. The rest is history. Clint has an extensive list of awards including the Academy of Country Music Award for Top Male Vocalist of the Year and the Country Music Association Award for Male Vocalist of the Year.
Finally, The Duckman took the stage, who did in fact take the stage with his duck call in hand. His set featured a deer antler chandelier and a wooden bar complete with western saddles for “seats.” His drummer, Quinn Stanphill, even had a wooden backdrop complete with hunting trophies. Riley is a known outdoorsmen and the set perfectly fit his aesthetic.
The crowd had a really great energy throughout the entire show. There was a huge range of ages that were represented in the crowd. A good number of people even had fake mustaches to mimic Riley’s or cowboy hats. If you ask some of the fans, they might tell you that the highlight of their evening was when Riley brought out his faithful companion, Carl. Also known as the famous, Cowboy Corgi. Riley’s dog has acquired quite the fan base since he started touring. Fans even bring dog toys to the show to give Green and Carl. He even has his own Instagram page and merchandise.
Riley’s set featured his popular songs including “Jesus Saves” and “Different ‘Round Here.” The crowd of 25,000+ people were singing right along with him. He also performed covers of iconic Toby Keith songs, including “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue,” which the audience went completely nuts over. Later in the set, Riley brought Hannah McFarland back on stage to sing a duet of “Don’t Mind If I Do” in an intimate, acoustic set.
Overall, the Cowboy As It Gets Tour was a fun night filled lots of singing and good energy. From the fans to the staff of SPAC, everyone was happy to be at SPAC on a summer night. Adding Clint Black to the line up really widened the range of country music for fans. There was an era of country music that everyone could resonate with, which made the show that much better.
Riley Green has a few upcoming shows left in the Northeast, including the Darien Lake Amphitheater on August 9. Check out his upcoming tour dates and for ticket information.
Setlist: Different ‘Round Here, If It Wasn’t for Trucks, Damn Good Day to Leave, In Color (Jamey Johnson cover), Hell of a Way to Go, Rather Be, When She Comes Home Tonight, Make it Rain, Jesus Saves, You Look Like You Love Me, Change My Mind, Should’ve Been a Cowboy (Toby Keith cover), Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (Toby Keith cover), Don’t Mind If I Do with Laci Kaye Booth, There Was This Girl, Worst Way, I Wish Grandpas Never Died, Dixieland Delight (Alabama cover)
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