Luke Combs’ Brisbane shows bring a whole lot of country to the city

Award-winning US singer-songwriter Luke Combs and his fans are set to take over Brisbane for the January long weekend.

As part of his tour of Australia and New Zealand, Combs will play in front of a packed house at 52,000-seat Suncorp Stadium on Friday and Saturday nights.

And fans keen to get a bird’s-eye view of their hero didn’t leave anything to chance, shrugging off Brisbane’s 37-degree heat to queue for hours before the gates were due to open.

Luke Climes and Jessica Mitchell, both from Morayfield, and Sally Farquhar (right) from West End queue outside Suncorp Stadium on Friday.Credit: Louise Harris

For superfan Luke Climes from Morayfield, it was his sixth Combs concert, and he says the tickets to this sold-out gig were “by far” the hardest to come by.

Still, he was happy to hand over his $300 to see Combs, who has won six Country Music Association Awards – twice voted entertainer of the year – and four Academy of Country Music Awards.

Combs is known for the songs Beautiful Crazy, When It Rains It Pours, Where the Wild Things Are, and his more recent cover of Fast Car, which he performed with original artist Tracy Chapman last year at the Grammy Awards, for which he has been nominated for three – in 2023, 2024, and next month.

Luke Combs is leading the country crossover into the mainstream. His last Australian tour was one of the fastest selling in 2023.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Combs, who was joined on stage at one of his New Zealand concerts by All Blacks players for a “shoey”, is the first country artist to headline a full stadium tour in Australia, and he wanted it to start in Brisbane.

Brisbane fans will have free public transport on buses and trains from midday through to the last service on both nights, with additional trains scheduled for Roma Street and Milton stations after the concerts.

Dedicated shuttle buses will also run between Ann Street, Carindale, Chermside, Eight Mile Plains/Upper Mount Gravatt and The Gap.

Gates open for both concerts at 4.30pm and the show starts at 5.30pm, with support acts Jordan Davis, Mitchell Tenpenny, and Lane Pittman entertaining the crowd before Combs takes the stage.

Amid the ongoing debate over venues for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Queensland government has changed laws to allow Suncorp Stadium to add more concerts to its already packed schedule.

Combs’ visit – specifically, the potential ticket revenue and broader economic boost from having two concerts close to the CBD – prompted officials to push back a previously scheduled Roar game to a Tuesday night in April.

Brisbane missed out on a Taylor Swift concert during her most recent tour, prompting calls for the Games to be used to deliver a larger stadium capable of hosting even bigger concerts.

While the government awaits a review of Games venues, it has overhauled the body that runs its stadiums and engaged an expert panel to recommend measures to support live music and hospitality venues and the nighttime economy.

After Brisbane, Combs will travel to Sydney and Melbourne, where he also has two concerts scheduled for each city.

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