There was no need to flip over any pianos this time for Morgan Wallen.

The sometimes-controversial, yet ever commercially successful country star had Pittsburgh fans flipping out instead Friday in the first of two nights at Acrisure Stadium.

Wallen made headlines last weekend for dumping his piano during the Denver encore, but there were few issues as the reigning superstar of country music continued his Still the Problem stadium tour.

It’s been a remarkable rise for Wallen, who was named as Billboard’s top artist of 2025, hit the Billions Club on Spotify with three songs and was honored as the RIAA’s highest certified country artist of all time. With those successes in mind, Wallen also took a big hit to his image in 2021, when video leaked of him using a racial slur. He was also arrested and faced felony charges after throwing a chair off the six-story roof of a Nashville bar in 2024.

Despite those issues in the past, receptive fans mostly filled Acrisure Stadium on Friday night. It’s a big step up from Wallen’s last time in Pittsburgh, when he sold out two nights at PNC Park in 2023.

“Whenever I was growing up, my dad was a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan. He still is,” Wallen said Friday. “This has always been a dream venue for me to play, mostly because of my dad and what he means to me. Just the fact that this place and this team means something to him, means that it means something to me.”

Wallen hit the stage around 9:45 p.m., accompanied for the backstage walkout by Olympic gold medalist and Mt. Lebanon native Kurt Angle. A lengthy break after Brooks & Dunn’s set stretched to 80 minutes before Wallen’s show started. On the bright side, the long wait allowed the night to reach pleasant temperatures after early concertgoers had roasted in the sun.

From the beginning of show opener “Don’t We” with Wallen emerging out of smoke, the near-sellout crowd – with a lot of denim, boots and cowboy hats visible – was enthusiastically along for the ride. LED bracelets handed out to attendees helped to create a stadium-wide, synchronized light show throughout the night, and pyro, fireworks and the light show augmented the show.

Newer songs like “I’m the Problem,” the title cut off Wallen’s latest album, and “I Got Better” fit right in, while older hits stirred the crowd, too. Over the 2-hour, 25-minute show, fans were still swaying and singing all the way till the end at 12:10 a.m. Saturday.

But in a show of such large magnitude, there are bound to be some negatives. Whenever Wallen played on the side stages — he did “Chasin’ You” and “20 Cigarettes” at stage right and “7 Summers” and “TN” at stage left — large portions of the audiences could only see via the video screens.

That was also the case for three songs — a heartfelt cover of Jason Isbell’s “Cover Me Up,” “I’m a Little Crazy” and “Wasted on You” — at the B stage at the opposite end of the field from the main stage. (Wallen explained he missed the connection of smaller venues, referencing a 2018 show at Jergel’s as an example.) But Wallen also spent about seven minutes each way walking between stages, slapping fives and signing a few items on the way.

After the trek to the B stage, Wallen’s band rocked through a heavy instrumental with each member getting a video screen spotlight. Wallen returned to the stage after a wardrobe change for a Pittsburgh Pirates jersey featuring Roberto Clemente’s No. 21. The instrumental led to “Up Down,” with openers Gavin Adcock and Zach John King joining in near the end.

Wallen’s contemporary country feels like it can lean more toward the pop side as it did on “Cowgirls,” “Thinkin’ Bout Me” and “The Way I Talk.” He closed his regular set with a fireworks-laded rendition of “I Had Some Help,” his collaboration with Post Malone.

The encore break may have felt like a Steelers Sunday, as Styx’s “Renegade” blared before Wallen returned for a reflective solo “Sand in My Boots” on the aforementioned piano — with no issues. The band also had Steelers jerseys on for the encore, which culminated with “Last Night” and “Whiskey Glasses” from the country radio and streaming giant.

Brooks & Dunn

Country music legends Brooks & Dunn had scored several country music hits before anyone else in Friday’s lineup had even been born.

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From “Red Dirt Road” to “Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You” to the line-dance inspiring “Boot Scootin’ Boogie, the Country Music Hall of Famers revisited their ‘90s country classics in their hour-long set.

“By the way, thanks for paying our rent the past 30 years,” Kix Brooks joked.

The crowd-pleasing “Neon Moon” had a majority of the audience singing along, and a rocking “Hard Workin’ Man” had all of the band’s guitarists gathered far out on the stage.

Brooks said he talked recently with former Steelers quarterback, while Ronnie Dunn joked after their third song, with the sun still beating down, that this was unfamiliar territory: “We’re used to playing in the dark.”

For their finale, Brooks & Dunn’s patriotic “Only in America” featured a trio of U.S. Marines on stage and a blast of red, white and blue streamers into the crowd.

Gavin Adcock

Raucous country rocker Gavin Adcock is no stranger to outdoor shows on the North Shore, having sold out a September concert at nearby Stage AE.

Adcock hit the stage in jeans and a white button-up shirt, tossing a 12-pack of Miller Lite with beers spilling all over. He drank a few, including shotgunning one near the end, and swigged from a bottle of Jack Daniels. He smoked a cigarette ahead of a slow-burning “A Cigarette,” and by the time he played his ninth song, “Last One to Know,” his shirt was completely unbuttoned.

For the final two songs, he went completely shirtless, catching a beer tossed by a crew member, before closing with a gritty “Deep End.”

Zach John King

In his first visit to Pittsburgh, Zach John King felt right at home as he waved a Terrible Towel before tossing it into the crowd.

Fresh off a Grande Ole Opry debut a few weeks back, the 29-year-old King performed his 2024 breakout single, “Wannabe Cowboy,” as well as songs like “Backwoods” and “Life Behind Bars.” He also included a cover of Toby Keith’s “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.”

Missing: Among his No. 1 country songs, Wallen didn’t play “I Can’t Love You Anymore,” “Lies Lies Lies,” “Thought You Should Know,” or his more recent collaboration with Tate McRae, “What I Want.”

The merch: The merchandise options were plentiful with a wide selections of T-shirts ($50), plus a replica ticket ($20), a baseball jersey ($125) and a signed acoustic guitar at $1,000. There were also limited edition Norris bear hats and shirts, with only 250 available per day.

New music: Wallen dropped a teaser to new music on Thursday on social media, which would be his first since the May 2025 release of his “I’m the Problem” album.

Last time here: Wallen played a pair of sold-out stadium shows on Aug. 30-31, 2023, at PNC Park on his One Night at a Time tour. (The Romper Stomper port-a-potty incident made just as many headlines back then.) Wallen also played the then-Heinz Field on June 30, 2018, as an opener for Luke Bryan.

What’s up next: Wallen is back for night two at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday with mostly the same lineup, except Ella Langley replaces Brooks & Dunn. (If you’re looking to go to this one, as of late Friday night, it appeared there weren’t many remaining tickets.) After that, Wallen’s stadium tour hits Soldier Field in Chicago on June 19-20.Wallen and Langley have been performing Langley’s “I Can’t Love You Anymore” on her nights of the stadium tour.

Morgan Wallen setlist

Don’t We

I Wrote the Book

I’m the Problem

One Thing at a Time

I Got Better

Chasin’ You

20 Cigarettes

Heartless

Love Somebody

Dark Til Daylight

Ain’t That Some

Cover Me Up (Jason Isbell cover)

I’m a Little Crazy

Wasted on You

Up Down

Cowgirls

7 Summers

TN

Thinkin’ Bout Me

You Proof

This Bar

More Than My Hometown

Just in Case

The Way I Talk

I Had Some Help (Post Malone cover)

Encore

Sand in My Boots

Last Night

Whiskey Glasses

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