The first we see of Luke Combs, the North Carolina-born megastar is walking through the stadium crowd. Cap pulled low, with a bashful look on his face, the stunt is less pap walk, more regular Joe dodging a flashmob on his way to work. Combs is now the highest-selling country artist of all time, but he wears his success with humility: when he finally reaches his saloon-themed stage, with near-70,000 screaming fans before him, he keeps that unassuming presence. “Normally I’d ask how you’re feeling tonight, but I know how you’re feeling tonight,” he smiles.
This week, Combs will perform to more than half a million fans across just seven dates in England, Scotland and Ireland: a remarkable coronation for an artist yet to have a Top 10 single here. Not that you’d know it, from the way the crowd screams every word to his 2016 hit Hurricane, a soft-rock heartacher about running into your ex in a bar, elevated by a cinematic chorus (“moon went hidin’, stars quit shinin’”) that’s closer to early-doors Taylor than any country-bro machismo.
