Hunter Hayes Gives an impressive performance for his flying solo tour: season 2
Photo by Nimsi Coronado
On Saturday, April 20th, Hunter Hayes brought people of all ages, styles, and relationship statuses together under the roof of the Aztec Theater for night 7 of his “Flying Solo Tour: Season 2”. The night opened with a warm acoustic set from Queeva. The Chicago-raised singer was accompanied on stage by George Washburne, with whom she has performed since she was 14. The duo performed a handful of Queeva’s original songs, along with a few covers. Couples in the crowd enjoyed slow dancing and swaying during a soulful rendition of Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect”. The 19-year-old crooner also played her own version of “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, introducing the song by reminiscing on how she listens to the song when she visits her parents' home country of Ireland in the summers. The crowd was fully warmed up, singing along to the iconic tune with her, and she wrapped up the set by playing her newest single “Be So Lucky”.
Photo by Nimsi Coronado
Hunter’s voice flowed through the speakers as he surprised fans by playing a preview of his unreleased track “Best Part”, which will be released Thursday, April 25th. At nine o'clock sharp, Hunter walked out to an excited crowd, and the show took off. Hence the name of the tour, Hayes was playing the set entirely on his own, surrounded only by instruments, a vocoder, and a looper pedal. After a couple of songs, the singer took a moment to speak to the crowd, acknowledging the show was taking place on Record Store Day. He expressed his excitement about having an LP of his own being a Record Store Day exclusive for the first time in his career. He went on to say that at a record signing event earlier in the day, someone requested he play a certain song at his show that night, and that he was going to honor that request, which segued into the third track of the night, “Wild Blue”.
The energy was palpable, a feat not easy to accomplish when performing completely solo. In this setting, the Louisiana-born singer was able to showcase his talents that built his career: his strong vocals, instrumental proficiency, and storytelling. His light and sound crew, whom he affectionately dubbed the “flight crew” to fit the theme of the tour, were the humble backbone of the show, with Hayes periodically communicating with them to keep the show running smoothly. After “If You Change Your Mind”, a sultry melodic tune, he effortlessly transitioned into “Sober”, taking a seat at the vacant drum set after looping a few guitar chords. The crowd erupted into cheers and enthusiastic stomping and clapping at the introduction of the dynamic energy brought by the drums.
Photo by Nimsi Coronado
At the halfway point of the show, Hunter went a bit off-script and let the crowd decide what kind of song he would play next: a heartbroken tune or a love song? After an overwhelmingly louder round of cheers for the heartbreak option, Hunter happily caved in to the result, performing ‘All You Ever’, and teasing the couples in the crowd by joking, “I’m happy for you, but I hate you”. However, everyone was happy with the result in the end, as the crowd illuminated the theater with cell phone flashlights raised and swaying. One song later, Hunter welcomed four fans on stage, who had been selected randomly, and performed a medley of songs they each selected. This moment highlighted what made this show even more special; it truly was all about Hunter connecting with his fans. Between the shouts of “We love you!” from the crowd, to the anecdotes he shared about conversations with fans, Hayes couldn’t have placed more of an emphasis on the gratitude he holds for those who support him, and this direct format of playing songs they want to hear captured that sentiment perfectly.
As the show neared the two-hour mark, Hayes ended the night with his two biggest hits, “I Want Crazy” and “Wanted”. The audience was absolutely electric, giving the absolute most of their energy, and Hayes did the same. As he walked off stage to an exploding standing ovation and the crowd exited, the cold, rainy street outside was now abuzz with intertwined couples and excited friends chattering.