Tyler Hubbard at The York State Fair, York, PA, July 28, 2023
Written and Photographed by Sharon Sipple
Click Here for More Photos of Tyler Hubbard
Click Here For Photos of Megan Moroney
Tyler Hubbard brought his solo tour to The York State Fair in York, PA Friday, July 28th. If the name sounds familiar, it should. Tyler was one half of the wildly successful duo known as Florida Georgia Line. Brian Kelley and Hubbard played their last concert together as Florida Georgia Line in August, 2022. Both are now pursuing solo careers. I was a big fan of Florida Georgia Line, so I was curious and anxious to see what Tyler Hubbard had to offer as a solo artist.
The day started off as one of the hottest days of the summer. The weather forecast originally called for a great day with showers late evening. Mother Nature had other ideas. About an hour before doors, the skies opened up and it rained like I have never seen it rain. Right before doors, the rain stopped and the crowd started filing in. Megan Moroney, whose first album “Lucky” debuted in May, 2023 opened the show. She started off with the title track of the album Lucky. She made it through 3 songs before the show was paused for lightning in the area. After about a 20 pause, Megan resumed her set. She did a very admirable job of coming back out after the delay and keeping the energy going. She threw in a cover of Taylor Swift’s “Picture to Burn”. She wrapped her set with Tennessee Orange.
The crowd was excited for Tyler to take the stage. He hit the stage at 9:15 with “Baby Gets her Lovin” from his 2023 Debut album titled “Tyler Hubbard”. This was followed by a few more songs from his debut album. The crowd was very receptive to his solo music. There was a good mix of folks that were very familiar with his new material and those that were being introduced too much of his solo stuff for the first time. Tyler then talked briefly about his time with Florida Georgia Line and expressed his gratitude for the success that brought. He then launched into “Cruise”, which is one of the most popular FGL songs. He also played the “Meant to Be” which was the FGL/Bebe Rexha duet. These hits, plus his first solo hit “5 Foot 9” really got the crowd going. They responded by singing along loudly to each of these songs. Tyler also spoke about how amazing and humbling it is to hear a song that you helped write play on the radio. He mentioned that it still brings tears to his eyes when he hears “You Make it Easy” which was written by Hubbard, Brian Kelley, Morgan Wallen and Jordan Schmidt. Then he did an impressive cover of it. The remainder of the show consisted of songs from Tyler’s solo effort. He wrapped the show with his latest single “Dancin in the Country”.
I was very impressed. Tyler did an excellent job of mixing the new with the old. I was glad to see that he did acknowledge his FGL roots. I also think this helped to engage some of the audience that up until that point wasn’t familiar with the new music. Tyler is an expert and working the stage. He rarely stopped moving. He made a point of making eye contact with fans, even getting down to bump a few fists. I can’t finish the review without mentioning Tyler’s band. They are all very solid, strong musicians. I felt that as the show went on, they got stronger and by the time they got to “Dancin in the Country”, they all left loose and were having a great time on stage. If you get the opportunity to see Tyler in concert, by all means go!
