Lady Antebellum and the Wheels Up Tour Land in Toronto

On a Thursday night that called for rain, the Toronto skies stayed clear and thousands of country music fans crowded the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre to see Sam Hunt, Hunter Hayes, and Lady Antebellum take the stage.

The Wheels Up Tour has been on the road since the last day of February in Olso, Norway, in North America since May 1 in Lubbock, Texas, and made its 25th stop when it came to Toronto on June 18th. It’s Lady A’s 4th headlining tour, and it gave us a chance to cross them off of our “Must See” list of country acts.

The music played from 7:30pm til nearly 11:00pm with Sam Hunt starting things off before Hunter Hayes took his turn, and finally Lady Antebellum gave the Toronto country music fans what they’d been waiting for.

Check our reviews and at the bottom of the post have a look at some videos from the concert that have popped up online…

Sam Hunt

Since the release of Montevallo was released in October 2014, Sam Hunt has been one of the hottest acts in country music. Even before that country fans who were paying attention knew that he was going to be one to watch.

Thursday night Hunt brought his band on stage (2 guitars, drums) to play songs from the debut record and show that he is going to be a star. He didn’t disappoint. With boundless energy Sam Hunt laid down his quick lyrics and smooth vocals while eliciting screams and cheers and sing-along sessions from the crowd.

The biggest thrill for the Toronto audience came when Hunt jumped down off of the stage and wandered up through the stands and to the edge of the lawn to get closer to the bulk of the audience. It was a master stroke for a dude trying to make new fans as the opening act of a major tour.

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Sam Hunt and the Montevallo record, and this set was a great way to see that we’re looking at an artist who is ready to take the next step.

Hunter Hayes

At just 23 years old Hunter Hayes has been on stages playing country music since he was a tiny little boy. And while he’s not a big dude now, it’s easy to see that he’s come a long way since playing Jambalaya with Hank Jr.

Thursday night Hunter brought his caffeine fueled energy to the stage and jumped all over every square inch of it. Armed with a bunch of guitars, a mandolin, a piano (all for him), and a band that didn’t miss a beat, young Mr. Hayes took fans through a selection of his music from Storm Warning and Wanted through Tattoo and 21. He even added in the brand new Where It All Begins (written and released to radio with Lady Antebellum).

Note: I’m not sure if you know this, but Hunter Hayes straight up shreds on an electric guitar. Over and over again he swiftly strummed and picked the strings, showing his chops and convincing me that he belongs in the conversation with Brad Paisley and Keith Urban if we’re going to talk about singer/guitar players.

Between songs (and sometimes during) Hayes stopped to pose for selfies, or grabbed phones and snapped the pics himself, and earned every cheer and scream that came from the sub-30 females in the audience. He sweat, he jumped, he sang, and he played. It was everything we expected from Hunter Hayes after seeing him last summer at Boots & Hearts.

Lady Antebellum

After being thoroughly warmed up by Sam Hunt and Hunter Hayes, Lady Antebellum took the stage at the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto to put on a show.

And put on a show they did.

With a combination of sweet harmonies, fun energy, and interaction with the crowd, Lady Antebellum were everything we were hoping they would be. After waiting 8 years to see them live, we got what we were looking for. And 8 years later, songs like Love Don’t Live Here, Looking For A Good Time and I Run To You sounded just as good as they did when the trio broke through on country radio.

Lady Antebellum Wheels Up Tour Toronto Molson Canadian Amp

With 6 studio albums under their belts there is no shortage of material to choose from on the Wheels Up Tour. And while we did get a heavy dose of the 747 album, Hillary, Charles, and Dave were sure to give their long time fans a sampling of their biggest hits. They also included an amazingly unexpected cover of Shania Twain’s Any Man Of Mine that made the crowd explode and sing-along at the top of their lungs.

But the loudest, sweetest singing from the crowd came in the encore when Lady Antebellum invited the Toronto crowd to belt out the chorus to their biggest hit, Need You Now. It gave me goosebumps last night, and it did the same thing today when I watched the video that we’ve got included in this post.

Lady Antebellum were everything that we want from a headlining act. They sounded great, they gave the crowd just as much love as they got (Charles may have posed for more selfies that Hunter Hayes), and they left us wanting more without leaving us feeling like we didn’t get enough.

If you talk to anyone who was at the Wheels Up Tour stop in Toronto on June 18, 2015 – we’re willing to bet that they had a good time!

Check out these videos and some more pics…