Florida Georgia Line cruised into Fenway Park Friday night and what a show they put on for the sold-out crowd. This was the country duo’s very first headlining stadium show (continuing on to Minneapolis and Chicago later this summer) as part of The Smooth Tour. Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley have come a long way in just five years since their breakout single “Cruise” hit the top country charts taking on a new approach with a haute remix combining country music with hip hop artist Nelly that took the song to the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 list. Since then, the superstar duo continues to crush records as the first and only country act to achieve RIAA’s DIAMOND certification (10 million copies sold) for their breakout smash “Cruise,” which holds the record for the longest #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and is the best-selling digital country single of all time (SoundScan). Since their breakout in 2012, the band has also earned honors from the AMA, ACM Awards, CMA Awards, Billboard Music Awards and CMT Music Awards.
The Friday night Fenway show featured a high octane performance with not only Nelly but pop boy band sensation the Backstreet Boys (featured on Florida Georgia Line’s 13th #1 smash, platinum-certified “God, Your Mama, And Me”) and breakout country musician Chris Lane. Hubbard started off by thanking the crowd saying, “Four years ago, we played the House of Blues right across the street, took a tour of the stadium, and dreamed of one day playing here. Thank you Boston for making our dream come true with our very first sold out headline stadium show.”
They kicked off the show with “Anything Goes” and moved onto “It’z Just What We Do,” before moving onto “Smile” while the crowd roared the favorite “Confession.” Ballads included “Dirt” and the three-time platinum-certified lead single “H.O.L.Y.” [#1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart for 18 straight weeks, which the country duo dedicated to their wives. They also performed the platinum-certified hit “May We All” (featuring Tim McGraw, who was not in attendance as he and wife Faith Hill were performing the same night over at the TD Garden).
The encore performance had everyone on their feet when the Backstreet Boys joined Florida George Line onstage for their platinum hit ballad, “God, Your Mama, And Me,” which ended in a surprise plaque presentation to celebrate the song’s #1 on country radio airplay charts (the first time the Backstreet Boys have contributed to a country single). The crowd went wild when Nelly returned to the stage for “Hot In Herre,” along with Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back),” and Florida Georgia Line and Nelly’s diamond-certified hit “Cruise” that finished off with a massive fireworks finale.
