American country singer and songwriter Cody Johnson headlined the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday, November 16, during a stop on “The Leather Tour” with openers Braxton Keith and Ashley McBryde.

An hour and a half before the concert was set to start, people were gathered at the gates waiting to get in and the parking lots were scattered with tailgaters prepping for the concert.

A few minutes before 7:30 p.m. Keith took the stage, kicking off the concert with “Honky Tonk City.” Keith and his band continued with “Gonna Come Back as a Country Song” and “Lonely As A Lone Star.” Keith then played “Cozy,” seemingly a crowd favorite.

Following that, Keith played “Under Them Neons” and “A Little Bit Closer” before closing out his set by playing his cover of Eddie Rabbitt’s “Driving My Life Away.” As Keith’s band played him off the stage, he tossed his guitar picks into the pit and announced McBryde to up the anticipation.

Almost half an hour after Keith left the stage, McBryde began her set. She started with “Rattlesnake Preacher” and “One Night Standards.” Next came “Brenda Put Your Bra On,” during which her backstage crew threw four extra large bras onto the stage, two of which were then thrown into the audience.

McBryde continued her set with “American Scandal.” Following that came “A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega” and “The Devil I Know,” both of which had attendees being rolled out of the pit by EMS mid-songs. McBryde also shared how she left home at the age of 17 and started playing in bars at 19. 

McBryde’s next song, “Light On In The Kitchen,” was an homage to moms everywhere as she announced the song saying, “There outta be a Hall of Fame for mamas,” shouting out her own mother as well.

McBryde then took time to introduce the members of her band. McBryde started off with Chris Harris, saying, “Not every band in country music comes with its own Prince Charming, mine does.” Next was Wes Dorethy, Caleb Hooper, Quinn Hill, who has been with her since he was 19, and Matt Helmkamp.

McBryde’s next song on her set was “Tired of Being Happy,” after which she tossed some guitar picks into the crowd. McBryde played “Sparrow” and “Ain’t Enough Cowboy Songs,” her newest release to wrap up her set.

Before leaving the stage, McBryde held up a Penn State Football jersey with her name on the back and the No. 24 as she did Penn State’s famous “We Are” chant.

After McBryde was done, the set up on stage was quickly being moved around in preparation for Johnson to take the stage. “Sweet Caroline” played over the speakers getting the audience hyped up. McBryde’s banner at the back of the stage was pulled down, revealing Johnson’s which had the audience cheering.

As the lights went down around 9:15 p.m., the audience took to their feet. “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” by Big and Rich blared from the speakers, followed by Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee,” which only further grew the anticipation for Johnson to appear on stage. 

Finally, a little before 9:30 p.m., Johnson took the stage. He started his set with “That’s Texas,” in which he swapped the lyrics from “Where every bar is a honky tonk” to “Where Penn State is a Honky Tonk,” during which cheers got anticipatingly louder.

Johnson continued with “Dance Her Home” and “With You I Am.” He then introduced the next song, “Leather,” dedicating it to his friends back home from Texas who had recently passed away.

Johnson also participated in the “We Are” chant before introducing his next song, “Dear Rodeo,” talking about how he used to be a bull rider. Johnson’s next slew of songs included “Nothin’ On You,” “People In The Back,” “Georgia Peaches,” “Me and My Kind,” and “How Do You Sleep At Night?”

Johnson then talked about how his career started. He explained how he was often told “no” and added that country music hasn’t been the same the past 10 years. Before playing the next song, Johnson announced that he would be attending the Country Music Awards next week with five nominations.

Johnson’s next song was “On My Way To You,” followed by another speech as a stool was being brought out. Johnson explained the significance of the stool saying when starting out you’re always sitting on a stool. Johnson had to bring it back for the song “Human,” in late 2020, early 2021 to have a break mid-set after finding out he had a broken neck from bull riding. Johnson used this story to lead into “Human.”

Johnson then took another break from his set to talk to the audience again. He started off by sharing a story from 2016 when he saw on the news “that in Dallas, Texas, a sniper self-proclaimed decided to start taking shots at police officers in Dallas, Texas, and a lot of officers lost their lives that night.” Johnson went on to explain that this led him to put a strip of blue tape across his guitar and speak about the situation that night and decided he would speak about it at every performance he had. During this speech, he paid respect to law enforcement, first responders, and the military, getting everyone to stand and cheer “for the men and women that keep your freedom in this country.”

Johnson continued on with his speech mentioning the recent election and the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson fight from the night before. Johnson spoke about the necessity of unity in America and the importance of “red, white, and blue.” He finished this speech by singing “God Bless America,” as an act of unity, leading to a “U.S.A.” chant in the audience.

Johnson continued his set list with “Long Haired Country Boy,” before taking the time to introduce the CJB, Cody Johnson Band. He started with Joey Pruski, and Johnson notably included that Pruski has only missed one show in 13 years. Johnson continued with Jody Bartula, Harrison Yount, Seth Wilson, Jake Mears, and Miles Stone. Each of them had a short solo after their introductions.

Next on the set was “Dirt Cheap,” followed by a short portion of Jelly Roll’s “Son of a Sinner.” Johnson continued with “The Painter” and ended with “‘Til You Can’t.”

Johnson tossed drumsticks and cozies into the audience as well as signed people’s hats, boots, belts, and even a pink baby onesie with Johnson’s logo.

Johnson and his band left the stage a few minutes after 11 p.m., but the light stayed down and the crowd cheered in hopes for an encore. Just a few minutes later Johnson and his band were back on stage. “Traveling Soldier” was played first after Johnson explained that it wasn’t part of his set list but someone during the meet and greet requested it.

Johnson closed the concert with “Diamond In My Pocket” before leaving the stage again at 11:15 p.m. The lights immediately were back on and the stage set up was quickly beginning to be broken down, letting the audience know they were done for the night.