Why country music’s Luke Combs said his Penn State concert is ‘something I’ll never forget’

Luke Combs performs at Beaver Stadium on his Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old tour on Saturday, April 27, 2024. ABBY DREY adrey@centredaily.com

By Halie Kines (Centre Daily Times) April 28, 2024 — Beaver Stadium was a concert venue for only the second time in history on Saturday, where country star Luke Combs performed in front of 80,000 people as part of his Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old tour.

Toward the beginning of his 23-song set list, he commented on the attendance and the personal significance of it.

“Not only am I always — me and these guys, my whole band and crew — so thankful to be able to step out here every night in front of you guys, we never take it for granted,” Combs said, adding the attendance was 80K. “But I just thought y’all would like to know, this is the biggest show I’ve ever played in my whole life. This is something that I’ll never forget.”

For more than an hour and a half, Combs played through his many hits. He kicked off the show with “The Kind of Love We Make,” and changed lyrics in several songs to reference Penn State and Beaver Stadium. Other crowd favorites were “Forever After All,” his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” “Hurricane,” and his encore, “Beer Never Broke My Heart.”

Before singing “Fast Car,” he shared a special moment he had with a young fan from San Diego, Jocelyn, before the show. “She battled cancer for a long time — she’s cancer free now — ... Jocelyn told me that she has raised $100,000 at a lemonade stand for cancer research,” he said. “That’s pretty special stuff and I’m going to match that, I’m going to double it. Jocelyn, now you’ve raised $200,000 for cancer research.” He dedicated “Fast Car” to her, as she told him it was her favorite song.

After his encore, Combs led a “We Are” chant. “We love you, State College; we’ll be back,” Combs said as the show ended.