Review: Country star Hardy rocks hard for sold-out Pittsburgh concert

As country music star Hardy wrapped up his show at Pittsburgh’s Stage AE, he pointed to Acrisure Stadium just off in the distance: “We’ll see you at that stadium in a few years maybe.”

If Hardy keeps putting on shows like he did Thursday night, that “maybe” will turn into an absolutely.

The Mississippi country rocker leaned more rock than country — while never turning his back on those southern roots — in a sold-out show for more than 5,000 fans.

With smoke rolling and lights flashing, Hardy hit the stage and blasted into “Sold Out,” a song that could fit right in on a nu metal album. Then came his hunting anthem, “Kill S*** Till I Die,” and “Jack,” which covers the good and bad of alcohol. Then, after he strapped on his guitar, came two breakup songs, “Boots” and “Truckbed.”

After those five up-tempo songs to start the show, Hardy slowed it down with “Unapologetically Country As Hell,” playing it on an acoustic guitar with a pink and black bra — one of at least two that wound up on stage — hanging off.

Dressed in black jeans, a cutoff black T-shirt and a black trucker hat, an energetic Hardy had the crowd loudly singing with him on literally every song as they raised their beers and cellphones in the air.

Some country musicians and fans have shunned Bud Light this year because of a partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Earlier this year, fellow country singer Riley Green tweaked the lyrics in his 2019 hit, “I Wish Grandpas Never Died,” changing “And coolers never run out of cold Bud Light” to “And coolers never run out of cold Coors Light.”

But Hardy’s song, “One Beer,” which features the lyric, “It’s just a Bud Light, but ain’t it funny what one beer can turn into?,” remained in its original form Thursday.

Hardy then ran through some of his deeper cuts acoustically, concluding with “Signed, Sober You,” with the crowd singing the majority of it. “I can hear everybody’s northern accent,” Hardy joked after the song.

After “A Rock” came his most recent hit, “Wait in the Truck,” a tale of revenge after domestic violence that features Lainey Wilson, whose parts played on the video screen. They also added a cover of Puddle of Mudd’s “Blurry.”

Before playing “Red,” with opener Dylan Marlowe joining on vocals, Hardy mentioned that he had spent time in Pennsylvania (Carlisle, to be specific) earlier in his career and was surprised by the people. “I was like, holy (crap), there’s rednecks up here!”

Hardy dedicated “Give Heaven Some Hell” to first responders and those who put their lives on the line every day, and afterward, he lamented that some radio stations wouldn’t play it because they deemed it to be sacrilegious, a sentiment he disagreed with. “I know what a (expletive) radio song sounds like,” he said.

And indeed he does, as Hardy has written or co-written songs for the likes of Dierks Bentley, who had a No. 1 hit with “Beers on Me,” as well as Morgan Wallen, Florida Georgia Line, Cole Swindell and Jameson Rogers.

That led into “Radio Song,” a song that is unlikely to ever find airplay on the radio as it’s more Limp Bizkit and less Cracker Barrel biscuit. “The Redneck Song” featured a cameo appearance from Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett, who’s making a habit of showing up at local country shows.

A quick encore break allowed Hardy to make a wardrobe change, donning a Steelers jersey with No. 69 and Hardy on the back. He closed out the night with “Rednecker” followed by “God’s Country,” a song he wrote but made famous by Blake Shelton.

Finally, “The Mockingbird & the Crow” ended the concert, a song straddling the line between country and rock, just like Hardy did all night.

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Blame My Youth set the stage for the show, getting the crowd pumped with 25 minutes of anthemic rock songs and dozens (or more) of celebratory middle fingers from singer/guitarist Sean Van Vleet.

Then came Marlowe, a rising star who first gained fame with a country cover of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License.” While Blame My Youth brought the rock, Marlowe delivered bona fide country tunes like “Record High,” “Grew Up Country” and “Last Night Lonely,” a song he wrote that Jon Pardi made famous.

Ironically, Hardy had been scheduled to play a Pittsburgh stadium this year, as he was set to open for Morgan Wallen on June 14-15 at PNC Park before Wallen pushed back those shows to August because of a vocal injury. (Hardy is not a part of the rescheduled dates, as he’ll be starting his solo fall tour.)