BARRY LEVINE: Luke Bryan does country New Jersey style

New Jersey goes country? After being born in the Garden State and having lived there for a half-century before moving to Albany, I felt there was a greater possibility of President Trump standing on the U.S.-Mexican border and shaking hands with those entering this nation and wishing them well.

I was wrong, and it took a performer with the talent, personality and charisma of Luke Bryan, a Lee Country native, to have that kind of impact on New Jersey and turn it to country.

New Jersey was one of the hotbeds of rock ’n’ roll, rhythm and blues, and soul music when those genres surfaced on the American scene more than six decades ago. Now, apparently, New Jersey is joining the country craze.

Bryan brought his “Your Country Tour” to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on June 2. MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford is the home of the NFL’s Giants and Jets and can seat approximately 80,000 for football.

The charismatic Bryan performed before 50,000 country fans at the biggest venue the 41-year-old has played.

He performed for two hours on a beautiful New Jersey night, doing his lengthy list of hits backed by a fireworks display.

Bryan started his set with his signature song, “Country Girl (Shake It for Me).” With plenty of Elvis Presley-like hip-shaking, he got the audience energized for what would be a memorable night.

“Where them country girls at?” Bryan asked the throng at the start of his set. “We’re going to get you shaking right off the bat.”

The audience was dancing with him, including a young boy named Bryan who was brought onstage and imitated the Backpack Kid dance. The superstar later invited two girls onstage after noticing a sign that read, “It’s my 8th birthday. Can I dance with you, Luke?”

While singing his 2007 single “All My Friends Say,” he grabbed several Miller Lite beers from a cooler placed onstage. After taking a sip from each one, he gave them to the surprised spectators.

Bryan joked, “I got the right kind of six-pack. That’s a song idea!” He came up with the lyrics on the spot, singing: “I got the right kind of six-pack. I got the right kind of six-pack. I got a little in the front, little in the back. I got the right kind of six-pack.”

Throughout the night, Bryan easily connected with the audience. As he ran around the catwalk, he interacted with the fans below, making faces, showcasing his dance moves or simply pointing and smiling at them.

His energy didn’t waver on songs like “I Don’t Want This Night to End,” “Move” and “Kick the Dust Up.”

On the slower ballads, Bryan included No. 1 “Most People Are Good,” the sultry “Strip It Down” and the poignant “Drink a Beer,” during which he urged fans to take a sip of their drink to remember those they have lost.

Bryan, who currently lives in Nashville, returned alone, with just a microphone and his guitar during his mid-set break, and revealed that he never gets to play guitar and sing by himself anymore.

He segued into a snippet of his first No. 1 hit, “Do I,” before beginning “Home Alone Tonight,” his 2015 duet with Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild.

Saying that he needed a duet partner, he asked if any women in the audience would be able to sing with him. One woman, a pediatric nurse named Michelle, eagerly volunteered, but once she got to the stage admitted that she can’t sing.

“You can’t actually sing, but you can try? You sing karaoke? That’s a little different than what’s going on right now,” Bryan told her. “I need some damn help. You realize I’ve been judging ‘American Idol’ for six months so if you can’t, I’m going to call you out in front of 50,000 people.”

Michelle was forthcoming — she began to sing Fairchild’s part and the crowd responded with boos. The classy Bryan came to her rescue, telling everyone to settle down, and the two eventually finished the song together. It was a comedic part of Bryan’s two-hour show that showcased the singer’s good-natured spirit and why he is a household name.

“Right here tonight, of all the stadiums I’ve had the privilege of playing, this is the biggest crowd I’ve ever played for,” Bryan said as he perused the crowd. “Right here, y’all made it happen. Thank you!”

Bryan’s numbers are overwhelming:

— Earlier in 2018, with “Most People Are Good,” he scored a No. 1 song on the Country Airplay chart for the 19th time. He co-wrote 10 of those smashes.

— He has won the coveted Entertainer of the Year award twice from the Academy of Country Music and twice from the Country Music Association.

— In 2017, while on tour, he performed for nearly 1 million fans, according Billboard Boxscore.

— He sang the national anthem at last year’s Super Bowl and has hosted the American Country Music Awards five times.

— According to Nielsen Music, he accrued 1 billion streams in 2017. Also, a YouTube supercut of him grinding and wiggling his butt onstage has more than 4 million views.

Sam Hunt, Jon Pardi and Morgan Wallen kicked off the show. Hunt — a budding superstar — delivered an impressive hourlong set that included his massive hits “Body Like a Back Road,” “Break Up in a Small Town,” “House Party” and “Make You Miss Me,” as well as new singles “Downtown’s Dead” and “Drinkin’ Too Much.” All of those came ahead of performing his rendition of Billy Currington’s “We Are Tonight,”

Hunt’s set included a stripped-down medley of old-school country hits to “bring the Nashville honky-tonk experience to New Jersey.” His covers included Brooks & Dunn’s “Brand New Man,” Jo Dee Messina’s “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” the Dixie Chicks’ “Goodbye Earl,” Tim McGraw’s “Where the Green Grass Grows” and Garth Brooks’ “Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up).”

Before the “Your Country Tour” concert started, MetLife’s parking lots were jammed with concerrtgoers tailgating. Many of the tailgaters were wearing American flag garb, cooking on grills and drinking beer and, mostly unsuccessfully, trying to dance.

Now that’s real country!

Luke Bryan’s set list:

“Country Girl (Shake it for Me)”

“Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day”

“I Don’t Want This Night to End”

“All My Friends Say”

“Light It Up”

“Someone Else Calling You Baby”

“Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye”

“Most People are Good”

“Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset”

“What Makes You Country”

“Kick the Dust Up”

“Strip It Down”

“Drunk on You”

“Do I/ Home Alone Tonight”

“John Deere Green”

“This is How We Roll” (Florida, Georgia Line cover)

“Crash My Party”

“Drink a Beer”

“Play It Again”

“Rain is a Good Thing”

Sam Hunt’s set list:

“Downtown Dead”

“Leave the Night On”

“Ex to See”

“Take Your Time”

“We Are Tonight” (Billy Currington cover)

“Compose”

“Brand New Man” (Brooks & Dunn)/”Ain’t Going Down” (Garth Brooks)

“House Party”

“Break Up in a Small Town”/”Drinkin’ Too Much”

“Body Like a Back Road”

Luke Bryan’s Top 5 Hits

2007 — “All My Friends Say”

2009 — “Do I”

2010 — “Rain is a Good Thing”

2010 — “Somebody Else Calling You Baby”

2011 — “Country Girl”

2011 — “I Don’t Want This Night to End”

2012 — “Drunk of You”

2012 — “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye”

2013 — “Crash My Party”

2013 — “That’s My Kind of Night”

2013 — “Drink a Beer”

2014 — “Play It Again”

2014 — “Roller Coaster”

2014 — “I See You”

2015 — “Strip It Down”

2015 — “Home Alone Tonight”

2016 — “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day”

2016 — “Move”

2016 — “Fast”

2017 — “Light It Up”

2018 — “Most People Are Good”

Barry “The Old Rocker” Levine is an entertainment writer for the Albany Herald. He can be reached at [email protected].

CARLO ALLEGRI