Saturday August 30th, 2025 was a very busy day to be in West Virginia. It was the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, a West Virginia University home football game in Morgantown and a Marshall University football in Georgia, but another event had people coming from all over, crossing state lines, to visit the city of Huntington, the event was the country music artist Zach Bryan performing at Joan C. Edwards Stadium at Marshall University. It was the first major sold out concert held at this particular stadium, and the staff, audience, and crew did a very fantastic job making it a memorable night for all who attended. Zach Bryan just got off of his very successful “Quitting Time” Tour last year and has selected specific stops for a small list of shows this year, and Marshall was one of the lucky ones chosen. The opening acts were “Petey USA” and “Trampled By Turtles” both having a unique and wonderful sound in their own right. After they performed Zach Bryan and his band performed an electrifying set for the denim and cowboy boot filled crowd, opening with the song “Overtime” and playing other popular hit songs all while thanking the crowd and showing his appreciation after almost every song. At the end, as part of his encore, he walked through the crowd and performed a crowd favorite song, Revival, on a smaller B-stage set up right in the middle of the crowd on the floor that lasted for possibly more than 10 minutes as he announced his band, ending in a firework display. As previously mentioned this was the first major full-scale concert this specific stadium has ever held and it was a very big revenue boost to the area, as well as a great way for others to see the beauty of what the mountain state has to offer, all while being a thank you and a welcome to all of the Marshall University students who just started their college courses recently. All through the audience almost all night, as well as on social media, I heard the same comment, “I hope they do more concerts like this here!” as I can’t say why Zach Bryan chose to perform in Huntington, whether it be his friendship with West Virginia native country singer Charles Wesley Godwin, his friendship with actor Matthew McConaughey who starred in the movie “We are Marshall” as well as Zach Bryan’s music video for his song “Nine Ball” or if the city had an impact on him when he visited for a Marshall football game ( I didn’t realize he had so many ties to West Virginia!) I can say, as so many other West Virginians, we are happy to call West Virginia home and we take every chance we get to show off the beauty and qualities of our state, wherever it be under flashing string lights hung high above a sold out crowd of strangers all ending up at the same place to enjoy a common interest in live music, or showing someone the scenery and mountains we have to offer. Zach Bryan has hopefully opened the door for many other artists to perform at this venue in the coming years and seeing the happiness and pride in the audience and Huntington locals alike, I personally can’t wait to see who will perform at the stadium next.