Luke Bryan Plays For 30,000 Fans in Downtown Nashville Show

Luke Bryan celebrated the opening of his Luke's 32 Bridge Food + Drink restaurant on Monday night, [...]

By Gayle Thompson

Luke Bryan celebrated the opening of his Luke's 32 Bridge Food + Drink restaurant on Monday night, Sept. 10, by performing in downtown Nashville in front of more than 30,000 fans. For the Georgia native, there wasn't a better way to acknowledge one of his biggest career achievements so far, with a six-story bar in the heart of Music City.

"What an exciting, exciting day for me, and my family, and my friends, and all the people in my world," Bryan shared with PopCulture.com and other media in the hours leading up to his performance. "It's very exciting being here. I never could have imagined driving down Broadway and seeing my name in neon, and just seeing really everything that's going on on Broadway, and how exciting that is.

"From when I moved to town," he continues, "just watching downtown grow and now to see everything that's going on in the whole city, but certainly around here, and to have a little stamp, a little fun down there with tourists, and fans, and music fans – I can't believe it's all come about this way."

luke-bryan
(Photo: Getty images/John Shearer )

The Georgia native has certainly come a long way since he left home to try and find success as a musician.

"I never will forget moving to Nashville," Bryan says. "And the first few things you do, is you go to the Grand Ole Opry, you go to the Ryman, you go to Music Row, you go to Broadway. And you see the famous honky tonks that you've read about for years. A couple of months into town, I played a couple acoustic shows at Tootsies, and The Stage, and I remember just how fun it was just sitting on the stage having tourists walk in and listen to you play a few songs and then you get a publishing deal, a record deal and all that. Next thing you know you're able to turn everything into this."

Bryan, who has a degree in business, hints that he might explore other business opportunities as well.

"The sky's the limit in this world of what we can do in bars," says the singer. "As I treat my music, and my brand, and how I make albums, I want this bar to be a little piece of that. And I want it to evolve as my music career has. And I want, every year, this bar to have something new, and something different.

"And I think if we're not constantly thinking about what can we do to make it more exciting for people coming here – I think it's just like the music business," he adds. "In a bar either you've got to constantly change with your surroundings and you have to do in music. So it's gonna be fun watching this place fill up during Titans games, and hockey games, and all of the other things that are coming to Nashville. It seems like every time we turn around there's something big and new coming. And I feel really blessed to be down here and be a part of it."

Bryan was joined on stage by Ryan Hurd to sing Bryan's current No. 1 single, "Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset" (which Hurd co-wrote), as well as Bryan's good friend, Cole Swindell, who sang "Ain't Worth the Whiskey," as well as a cover of Tim McGraw's "Where the Green Grass Grows" with Bryan.

Photo Credit: Getty images/Scott Dudelson

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