The House of Blues was a sea of flannel shirts and Coors Lights on the night of Sam Hunt’s sold-out show. The country artist performed an hour and a half long set following his opener, Native Run.
Hunt’s popularity grew after the release of his first studio album, “Montevallo,” this past October. Before his own album was released, Hunt wrote songs for other country artists including Keith Urban’s “Cop Car” and Billy Currington’s “We Are Tonight.” Hunt kept a few hits for himself, including “Leave the Night On” and “Take Your Time.”
Hunt opened his set with a short acoustic number that warmed up the crowd for bigger songs. After the first song, Hunt ditched the guitar and simply sang for a good part of the set. Without the guitar, Hunt interacted with the crowd as much as he could, even coming off stage to get as close as possible at some points.
His encounters with the crowd brought a ton of energy. Hunt also covered popular songs from other artists, including Drake and R. Kelly’s “Bump N’ Grind.”
Crowd favorites were Hunt’s number one singles “Leave the Night On” and “Take Your Time.” Hunt also performed “We Are Tonight” and “Cop Car,” which sounded more authentic coming from him since he wrote them.
The liveliest song performed was undoubtedly “Raised On It.” Hunt independently released the track in late 2013, and it has an anthemic feel to it. The song is about the importance of the early, fun memories you have from your hometown.
Another notable performance of the night was Hunt’s “Ex to See.” The crowd shouted every single lyric of the angsty track along with Hunt.
It’s easy to see why Sam Hunt drew such a large college crowd to a country concert. His songs have an easy-going country quality to them, but are still as catchy as any pop song on the radio.