Chris Stapleton’s No Frills Show Thrills Fans in Nashville [Review]

At times, there's a campfire quality to Chris Stapleton's set on the All-American Road Show Tour. Elsewhere, one feels like he or she is watching a garage band.

Spacious venues like Bridgestone Arena aren't always the best fit for selections from his catalog, but even when important lyrics in songs like "Cold" and "Fire Away" get lost in the rafters, he's still able to project unparalleled emotion. Add in a world class band, and thrilling a sold-out show looks pretty easy.

Friday night's (Aug. 9) show in Nashville stayed true to a set list he'd written down for much of this summer's tour. There were a few deviations — "Worry B Gone" was added and "I Was Wrong" was scotched during the first half of the two-hour show — but when it came to his hits, the hitmaker provided what fans wanted.

Surprisingly little has changed for the 46-year-old since he broke through in 2015 except crowds getting bigger. He defies the axiom that staying the same is going backward.

A Chris Stapleton show is a couple's show. You bring your wife or your boyfriend, and when songs like his current single "Think I'm In Love With You" begin, you join hands or arms and sway to the beat. Purists may pick "Joy of My Life," "What Are You Listening To" and a daring cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" as highlights.

Fans will remember who they sang "Tennessee Whiskey" with and what came to mind singing "Fire Away." Long pauses between songs give the set a certain looseness that's hard to come by. "An Evening With Chris Stapleton" would also make a fine name for this tour, even if cuts like "Arkansas" and "Parachute" provide some rowdy.

The intimate nature of his music frays a little bit when blasted across a hockey arena. "Second One to Know" is an example. The driving, punkish rock song feels like something you should hear smashed against a smokey club stage. From several hundred feet away, that impulse fades.

Fans know not to expect a spectacle on the All-American Road Show Tour. His stage literally rolls out after sets from Nicki Lane and Marty Stuart. A wooden backdrop, mirror ball and heavy curtains provide a '70s lounge look for his band to work beneath. There's no video package, extensive light show or smoke to add theater.

When you can sing like Stapleton, the subterfuge is not needed, and vocally, he was in top form during the first of back-to-back shows in Nashville. This isn't the kind of performance that leaves one wondering what he'll do for the next tour, because it's probably going to be very similar.

First timers and anyone who just loves a night of pure country music will get what they came for, however.

Billy Dukes is a Senior Editor and Executive Producer of Video Content at Taste of Country. He specializes in country music interviews, trend analysis and the Secret History of Country Music. Additionally, Billy covers Yellowstone, 1923 and related television shows through the Dutton Rules podcast. To date, he's written more than 13,000 articles for Taste of Country and produced over 3,000 videos for the Taste of Country YouTube channel.