Stagecoach 2022: Thomas Rhett, Maren Morris and Breland close out day one with a party

Thomas Rhett showed up to Stagecoach ready to party. The singer-songwriter and first-time headliner, who reminisced about sharing the Mane Stage with Kenny Chesney back in 2017 and Eric Church in 2014, gave the revved up audience exactly what it wanted: the hits, fun new songs and a familiar country cover that included a celebrity guest.

Rhett came out with “Craving You” and “Look What God Gave Her,” which instantly got the crowd moving. The audience had seemingly tripled from earlier in the day, as sections that were once wide open for patrons to frolic were suddenly packed with people, drinks in hand, swaying and singing along to the music in the dark to close out the first evening of the three-day Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio.

“It feels good to be back in the desert,” Rhett said after calling his headlining turn at the fest a “bucket list” moment.

Country artist Thomas Rhett takes the stage as he headlines on the Mane Stage during the opening day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio Friday, April 29, 2022. It is the first Stagecoach since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist Thomas Rhett performs as he headlines the Mane Stage on the opening day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio Friday, April 29, 2022. It is the first Stagecoach since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

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He blasted through hits like “Life Changes,” “Get Me Some of That,” “Vacation” and a newer track, “Country Again.” He noted that he had written the song “Beer Can’t Fix” with Jon Pardi and then actually brought him out for a duet. It was the second time Pardi, who was originally scheduled to play Stagecoach in 2020, came out during a set. Earlier in the evening, he joined Midland on the band’s new song, “Longneck Way to Go.”

During “Crash and Burn,” Rhett asked those in the crowd to jump up and down along with the song and they obliged. Thousands of heads and hands were bobbing and rolling through the festival grounds like waves. As he began to play Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places,” he pretended to bring up a random fan onto the stage to sing, however, it was singer-songwriter Hardy. The pair were soon joined by actor Ashton Kutcher, who has been spotted at Stagecoach several times throughout the years. Kutcher finished off the song and despite flubbing a few words, he pretty much nailed it.

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The rest of Rhett’s set included “Unforgettable,” “T-Shirt,” “What’s Your Country Song,” “Die a Happy Man” and ended with a big ol’ fireworks finale.

Maren Morris also had a phenomenal run. Taking the stage just before Rhett, she was fun and sassy. She kicked things off with “Circles Around This Town” and reminded the audience that it was five years ago to the day when she made her Stagecoach debut and had the single “80s Mercedes.” She played a few new songs, too, including “I Can’t Love You More” and “Background Music.”

Maren Morris performs on the Mane Stage on the opening day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio Friday, April 29, 2022. It is the first Stagecoach since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A country music fan watches Maren Morris perform on the Mane Stage on the opening day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio Friday, April 29, 2022. It is the first Stagecoach since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A pair of country music fans sway a top a fence as they watch Maren Morris perform on the Mane Stage on the opening day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio Friday, April 29, 2022. It is the first Stagecoach since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country music fans watch Maren Morris perform from a distance on the Mane Stage on the opening day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio Friday, April 29, 2022. It is the first Stagecoach since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A pair of country music fans watch as Maren Morris performs on the Mane Stage on the opening day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio Friday, April 29, 2022. It is the first Stagecoach since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A country music fan uses her phone as a light while Maren Morris performs on the Mane Stage on the opening day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio Friday, April 29, 2022. It is the first Stagecoach since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A pair of country music fans share a moment together as they watch Maren Morris perform on the Mane Stage on the opening day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio Friday, April 29, 2022. It is the first Stagecoach since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A pair of country music fans watch Maren Morris perform from a distance on the Mane Stage on the opening day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio Friday, April 29, 2022. It is the first Stagecoach since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Gabriel Weeks, from Camp Pendleton, and Jackie Liebman, from Fullerton, share a moment together as they dance while Maren Morris performs on the Mane Stage on the opening day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio Friday, April 29, 2022. It is the first Stagecoach since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

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Her husband and fellow Friday Mane Stage performer Ryan Hurd came out for “All My Favorite People.” Earlier in the evening, he played plenty of his hits including “Waves,” but Morris joined him on “I Love Chasing After You” and “Pass It On.”

Morris ripped through “Girl,” “Rich,” “I Could Use a Love Song” and she gave one of her early singles, “My Church,” a pretty, Gospel-style intro. She closed out her set with “The Bones,” a song she wrote that went No. 1 just as the pandemic shut things down. She went on to thank her band and all of the festival crew for bringing Stagecoach back and said that though she never really took it for granted, “never one sliver will be taken for granted again if there ever was one,” she added.

Over at the Palamino Stage, country legend Tanya Tucker was tearing it up with her friends. She took shots of tequila with the crowd and sang songs like “Hangin’ In” and “Walking Shoes.” She also FaceTimed singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, who was scheduled to headline the Palomino on Friday night, but had to drop out of the festival just days before because she contracted COVID-19.

Midland performs on the Mane Stage on the opening day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio Friday, April 29, 2022. It is the first Stagecoach since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country music fans watch as Midland performs on the Mane Stage on the opening day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio Friday, April 29, 2022. It is the first Stagecoach since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

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Back at the Mane Stage, the guys in Midland looked like they were having a blast during their set and also offered some new music with “Two to Two Step,” as well as hits like “Burn Out,” “Mr. Lonely” and “Drinkin’ Problem.” They also covered a Garth Brooks song, “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old),” and Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” which it rocked out in the end along with special guest, guitarist Marcus King, who drew a large crowd over to the Palomino Stage earlier in the day.

Petty’s tunes were a hit, but perhaps the Mane Stage artists should have compared set lists since Jordan Davis had already mashed up “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” with Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” during his set. Since Petty is one of the most covered artists at Stagecoach, not too many seemed to notice or really care anyway. Davis’ set was also pretty solid and included his hits “Singles You Up,” “Lose You,” “Almost Mabyes” and his duet with Luke Bryan, “Buy Dirt.”

Breland performs on the Palomino Stage during the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Friday, April 29, 2022. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Contributing Photographer)

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For the first time ever, Stagecoach introduced the Late Night in Palomino after-party on Friday night and invited out singer-songwriter Breland, who also co-hosted some of the festival livestream on YouTube, to lead the charge.

“I feel good about it,” Breland said of his festival time slot during an interview in the press tent earlier in the day. “The energy that everyone is bringing on this Mane Stage, with Maren and Thomas tonight, hopefully the people will have a little party left in them for me.”

Though his set had some technical difficulties, his personality and talent kept the good times going. He played a few of the songs he’d collaborated with others on including “Praise the Lord,” that features Rhett on record and “Beers On Me,” a collaboration with Dierks Bentley and Hardy. When he began to do a medley of songs by Nelly, an artist he said he respected since he was one of the first rappers to blend hip-hop and country music, the crowd went wild, possibly anticipating a guest appearance. However, Nelly didn’t show up. But Breland did perform their new song, “High Horse,” which also features Blanco Brown.

The Stagecoach Country Music Festival continues at the Empire Polo Club in Indio April 30 and May 1 with performances by Carrie Underwood, Brothers Osborne, Luke Combs, The Black Crowes, Smokey Robinson, Margo Price, Cody Jinks, Orville Peck, Diplo and more.

by
on April 30, 2022

Stagecoach 2022: Thomas Rhett, Maren Morris and Breland close out day one with a party

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