When Dustin Lynch came to New York City back in June as part of the inaugural FarmBorough Festival, he knew right then and there that he had make sure he brought his headlining Hell of 
a Night Tour to the Big Apple. And bring it he did! Selling out the iconic Irving Plaza, Lynch, along with Chris Lane and Tyler Rich, had the venue rocking for three solid hours.
Kicking off the night was Rich, who got the early crowd’s attention with a great solo acoustic performance. His set included mostly original material, including “I Can Teach Ya,” “California Grown” and his first single “Radio.” He also performed a wonderful cover of “Check Yes or No,” in honor of one of his idols, George Strait. Rich, who won the Snagajob contest to open for a Brett Eldredge show back in July, also performed some 90’s R&B – “No Diggity” by Blackstreet and “Pony” by Ginuwine – the first of several mash-ups that would happen throughout the evening.
The crowd was primed for Lane’s set, and “energetic” doesn’t even come close to describing it. While his original material was great, “Cool,” “Her Own Kind of Beautiful,” and “Saturday Night” were a few mixed into his the set, his insane mash-ups that included Journey, Bruno Mars, Kiss, Miley Cyrus, The Weekend, Silentó (just to name a FEW!) and the ultimate 90’s tribute of Backstreet Boys “I Want It That Way” & *NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye,” complete with the video’s choreography, completely stole the show. Lane closed his set with his current single that’s taking Country Radio by storm, “Fix.”
As Lynch walked onto the stage wearing his signature cowboy hat and sung the first note of “To the Sky,” his dream of playing his original material in NYC came true. Not once did his ear-to-ear smile leave his face the entire night. He mentioned that he’s always wanted to get a ‘yee-haw’ back from a NYC crowd, and asked if they would be so inclined, which resulted in a very enthusiastic “YEE-HAW” from the thousands of fans which had Lynch laughing and smiling even wider.
The set continued with crowd-favorite “She Cranks My Tractor,” “Halo” and “All Night” before Lynch performed his own tribute to the 90’s, but, unlike Rich and Lane, his choices clearly came from the genre of Country. His medley consisted of Joe Diffie’s “John Deere Green,” Diamond Rio’s “Meet in the Middle” and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” by Brooks & Dunn. 
Lynch returned to his original catalog, playing songs from both his albums – “After Party,” Sing It to Me,” “Name On It,” “Middle of Nowhere,” and “Wild In Your Smile.” He then performed his ballad “Hurricane,” which led to a passionate version of Garth Brook’s “The Thunder Rolls,” sending the fans into a frenzy as the stage lights almost mimicked thunder and lightning.
Rich and Lane returned to join Lynch for a karaoke game, to which a lucky fan, Rebecca, was picked to spin the wheel of songs three times. Whichever song it landed on, the trio had to sing it, and Lynch kept praying that the needle didn’t fall on Beyoncé. First up was Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep Till Brooklyn,” very apropos considering they were in NYC. The second spin landed on “take a shot with the band,” but since Rebecca was turning 21 in February, a second lucky fan was selected to take her shot while everyone toasted Rebecca (who drank water) to her upcoming birthday. The final spin landed on 80’s rock hit Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me.”
Lynch played his newest single “Mind Reader” followed by the song that started the ball rolling for him, “Cowboys and Angels.” He explained how he wrote the song about the love story between this grandmother and grandfather and delivered a powerful, heartfelt performance of his Certified Platinum hit.
In a night filled with a lot of fun on stage, Lynch brought it out into audience for “Where It’s At” as he crowd-surfed in a giant blow-up rubber boat to close his set.
After saying good-night and thanking everyone for coming and watching at home, Lynch and his band returned for the encore, the tour anthem “Hell of a Night.” The band took their bows and Lynch stayed, solo, on stage as he signed and handed out several set lists to show his appreciation to his NYC fans.
Check out the photos from the night here.
Notes:
–Yahoo live-streamed Lynch’s part of the concert, and he pointed out to the audience the cameras that they might have noticed around the venue. Just as much as Lynch was sure to involve the crowd in attendance, he also addressed the fans watching from home directly into the cameras, truly showing his appreciation for his fanbase.
–The concert fell on the same date as the annual SantaCon in NYC (groups of people dressed as Santa and other holiday figures as they bar-hop). There were several mentions of this event throughout all three artists’ performances during the night.