By: Kerrick Shaw
The Fall season brought cool temperatures, leaf-covered sidewalks and another year of Luke Bryan’s Farm Tour.
Bryan wrapped up his 15th iteration of the Farm Tour just 20 miles from Greensburg in Smithton, Pennsylvania, on September 28. The tour had only six shows in total and took place over the course of nine days, starting in Grantville, PA, on September 19. The tour featured special guests Conner Smith, The Peach Pickers with Rodney Clawson, Tucker Wetmore and DJ Rock.
Four of the shows were held at never-before-played family farms, including the Smithton show at the Cunningham Family Farm.
Luke Bryan’s stage set up on the Cunningham’s Family Farm.
Photo Courtesy: Brooke Ropchock
“I enjoy going to concerts, I like to go to at least a couple country concerts a year,” Learning Support teacher Mr. Luke Ewing said. “Going to the Farm Tour was something I haven’t done before, so I was really excited to experience it.”
Several roads were closed and only available to local residents in anticipation of the heavy traffic from nearly 20,000 fans attending the show. Mr. Ewing said this led to “turnarounds,” “overflows” and long waits for parking.
With the overwhelming attendance and through the help of the tour’s presenting sponsor, Bayer, Bryan has been able to provide over nine million meals to Feeding America food banks since 2015 with his hashtag campaign, #Herestothefarmer.
“He mentioned at the concert, if you post the show, to use the hashtag,” Ewing said. “He comes and plays at these farms and in doing that he’s really able to give back; you don’t see a lot of artists do that. He’s helping a lot of people out.”
On the day following the Farm Tour’s end, PPG Paints Arena was packed full for the fifth annual $uicideboy$ Grey Day tour.
Since its first run in 2019, Grey Day has been combining rap and hardcore genres with its long list of supporting artists over the years, some of which have been smaller artists from $uicideboy$’ record label, G*59.
“I had so much fun with everyone around me,” senior Brenna Kohl said. “The experience was great. The energy, the music and seeing the career they’ve built for themselves was so good to be a part of.”
For this 41-date arena and amphitheater North American tour, $uicideboys$ were joined by Denzel Curry, Pouya, Haaper, Shakewell and Ekkstacy. The tour began in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 7 and wrapped up in Lincoln, Nebraska on October 11.
“The openers were good, but I was most looking forward to the boys themselves,” Kohl said. “The people I was with loved the openers though, so I was glad to dance and try to sing along with them.”
This year is their fourth time visiting Pittsburgh during the Grey Day tour, but only the second time they’ve played PPG Paints; the first two shows instead being at Stage AE.
“They gave a great show with such a large crowd and really expressed their emotions in the music,” she added.
On the same day, Billie Eilish kicked off her Hit me Hard and Soft tour in Quebec City, Canada. The tour has 83 total shows; the North American leg ends mid-December, and the entire tour will last until late July of 2025.
Eilish stopped at PPG Paints Arena on October 13 for her ninth show this year, supported by Nat & Alex Wolff.
“I’ve heard so many good things about her concerts and it completely lived up to my expectations,” senior Carlie Wilcox said. “It was my second big concert of an artist I’ve been listening to for years. It was amazing.”
Similar to Bryan’s efforts to give back, Eilish is committed to making a difference with environmental impacts. A portion of all ticket sales during the North America leg will go to REVERB, a nonprofit organization trying to educate and engage musicians and their fans on environmental sustainability.
Every show will have two REVERB Eco-Villages, a place for fans to help take action for the planet, at the main entrance.
“I wanted to go because the music itself was meaningful, too,” Wilcox said. “Some of her music is sad and some is exciting; she really made you feel the music with her. The performance she gave with each song made the show unforgettable.”
Pittsburgh has over 100 more concerts coming throughout the remainder of the year and into next. Upcoming Stage AE shows include Ken Carson and Tucker Wetmore on Oct. 22 and Nov. 9 respectively. PPG Paints Arena has almost 20 upcoming shows such as Iron Maiden playing on Nov. 8, Rod Wave on Nov. 12 and Justin Timberlake on Dec. 14.
“We have the golden opportunity to see any kind of concert we could want with Pittsburgh only an hour away,” Ewing said. “Having all these venues so close is awesome.”
The Lions' Den 