The American Music Theatre in Lancaster welcomed “Drunk Me” singer Mitchell Tenpenny on Friday, March 27.
A night of country music with a little bit of rock took the theater by storm for the evening. Opening up the night was an acoustic set from up-and-coming country singer Jake Banfield. He definitely seems to have a bit more of a pop/rap country style in his singing; however, when put in an acoustic setting, he absolutely killed it and showed how much talent he has.
The former college basketball star opened up about his mental health and how music really brought him out of a dark place. He then played a song that is very meaningful and dedicated to his mom, “Hall of Fame.” That was my favorite track he played. Truly, a great opening act for the headliner.
Tenpenny then took the stage around 9:05 p.m. and played until about 10:30 p.m, opening up the electric show with his 2021 song “To Us It Did.” A fun song to open up with, however, I think a song to be brought back to the setlist to open shows with is “Good Place” off of his 2022 album “This Is The Heavy.”
Some songs that I was most excited to hear that I hadn’t heard from Tenpenny were “Therapy” and his single that dropped the day of the concert, “Speed of Light.” Which is a song about his wife about their distance, which comes after his 2025 song about his and his wife’s distance “Same Moon.”
Tenpenny’s wife, Meghan Patrick, is also a music artist. She’s also touring all the time, so they have instances of being in Mississippi or in Tennessee and having to deal with being long-distance. However, it was just announced that the couple will be welcoming their first child into the world this upcoming fall, so I think “Speed of Light” was released with their first child’s impending arrival.
Tenpenny is also a fan of doing covers at shows, with songs like “Ride wit me” and “This Is How We Do It.” Which is always a fun section that artists do at their shows, and Tenpenny, as always, made it a blast.
The highlight of the show was definitely Tenpenny’s acoustic set, where he sang a song that hasn’t been a setlist song since early in his career. “Mixed Drinks,” which was a February 2018 single that finally got the recognition it deserved at the Lancaster show. This song is a personal favorite of mine, so it’s amazing to hear a song I never thought I would hear live.
Tenpenny always ends his shows with his songs “Alcohol You Later” and “Drunk Me.” The live version of “Alcohol You Later” will always be so much better than the studio version. All three times I’ve seen him, I’m blown away more and more.
My only qualm is that a theater is not an ideal venue for Tenpenny, as he has large pyrotechnics and lots of bass in his songs that drown out his voice in some songs he sings. So for the future, he should stick to small arenas and outdoor venues.
