Alabama native Riley Green brought his signature country flair to a packed Bryce Jordan Center on Thursday night.

The show was part of his 2025 tour “Damn Country Music,” which kicked off last spring. Accompanying him on stage were Hannah McFarland, Drake White & The Big Fire, and Jamey Johnson.

The night began with Hannah McFarland and Drake White & The Big Fire igniting the crowd while they filed in slowly but surely. McFarland hit the stage at 6:45 p.m. and sang classic covers like “Neon Moon” by Brooks & Dunn.

White and his band played some of their hits, including their 2020 song, “Mix ‘Em With Whiskey,” and “Hurts the Healing,” yelling to the crowd while he sang.

“Some things just go better when you mix them with college football,” he cheered. This might not be the year for that chant, Drake White.

His electric band kept the energy flowing even though the arena was just half full. He was happy to see that “country music is alive and well” here in Happy Valley.

Classic country singer/songwriter Jamey Johnson was next up on the stage, where he spent quite a bit of time. He began with his well-known 2000s hits “Keeping Up With the Jonesin'” and “High Cost of Living.”

Good bands were the theme of the evening, with Jamey and his supporting men all delivering stellar performances on the guitar.

Johnson’s flowing silver locks and matching beard added to his presence, and it was clear he was a veteran on the stage.

“Pass me whatever you’re passing around,” he joked with the crowd during one of his songs.

While he played “Mowin’ Down the Roses,” the screen behind him displayed a scorned man riding his John Deere through a perfectly manicured lawn. Nothing says country concert like a good tractor visual, folks.

He continued with his unreleased song, “I’d Rather Be in Jail,” as well as a cover of Chris Stapleton’s 2015 song “Whiskey and You.”

By this point, the crowd was in full swing, something that was only amplified by the addition of a Jamey Johnson T-shirt cannon shooting off the stage.

He ended with George Strait’s “Give it Away,” a song originally written by Johnson. He exited the stage, but that was not the last the crowd had seen of him.

It was a sea of flannels, cowboy boots, and trucker hats while the impatient fans waited for Green to take to the stage. They blasted songs to satiate the crowd like Blake Shelton’s hit, “Neon Light,” but the only light folks were hoping for was the one pointing at Green.

Finally, after almost 3 hours of openers, the place went black, and the mass of fans went wild in anticipation of the headliner.

Riley Green was not the first thing we saw after the lights came back on, but rather, an AI dog drinking champagne in a limo? The visual displays were unique, to say the least.

The opening riff of “Damn Country Music” rang out. Take us to god’s country, Green.

He stopped to play a duck horn (?), which, oddly enough, never came back out— anything to keep the fans on their toes after three opening acts.

He immediately rolled into one of his most popular hits, “Different ‘Round Here” off his 2019 album of the same name.

He raised a shot to the crowd as he yelled, “I appreciate all y’all coming out.” Nothing like that Southern hospitality.

The crowd sang along to every word of “If It Wasn’t For Trucks” and “Damn Good Day To Leave,” before one of his band members headed over to the on-stage bar and rocketed a cold beer across the stage to him. He finished it promptly.

Just like that, Jamey Johnson was back on stage like he never left. Green explained that Johnson is one of his favorite country singers and role models.

The two sang under a spotlight to “Smoke” and “In Color,” the latter being Johnson’s most famous hit and winner of Song of the Year at the 2009 Country Music Awards.

Johnson left the stage while Green picked back up with “Georgia Time,” before inviting fellow Alabamian Drake White back to the stage.

“We grew up fishing the same ponds,” Green said, which garnered cheers from the audience. They were quickly silenced and replaced by boos, though, when Alabama football was mentioned. It’s always nice to see State College unite against a common enemy.

The set continued with “Hell of a Way to Go,” “Rather Be,” and “When She Comes Home Tonight,” the “only love song the band knows,” according to Green.

The crowd went particularly wild during Green’s first number one hit, “There Was This Girl.”

He finished his first set on the main stage with two Toby Keith covers after claiming he could tell he had a patriotic crowd in front of him. This immediately triggered “USA” chants that echoed through the BJC.

After “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” got any true American up out of their seats, Green disappeared from the stage while he band raged on.

He made his way to the other side of the floor, where a small stage with string lights was waiting for him. Hannah McFarland joined him, and they sang “Go Again” and “Don’t Mind If I Do.”

Back to the main stage he went, high-fiving and grabbing every fan in his path while he maneuvered his way over. He ended with 2024 songs “Change My Mind” and “Worst Way.”

Some fans began heading out, but real fans stuck around, knowing he wouldn’t end the show without playing “I Wish Grandpas Never Died.”

Coming back out, and in a Penn State T-shirt, he did just that, and the crowd lit up the arena with phone lights after he asked his technician to lower the spotlight.

Finishing off the spectacle, he played a cover of Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight,” and the previous boos for Alabama football were nowhere to be found as the crowd chanted back every response as is custom during every Alabama football game. Some traditions are too good to pass up.

As the band played on and the crowd cheered, he pulled a young fan onto the stage with him and made his rounds, thanking his band and giving one last shout to his State College fans before leaving the stage.