New York country fans braced the cold weather Thursday (Nov. 29) to head to Irving Plaza for LANCO’s, ‘Hallelujah Nights Tour’. Country newcomer, Travis Denning, was tasked with warming up the crowd as the evenings opening act.

Just before his set, Denning joined NYCountry Swag for a LIVE Swag Session, performing two of his songs live on Facebook for our followers and taking the time to chat about what’s next for the rising artist. Check out the full performance in the video above. Kicking off the Irving Plaza show, Denning’s set did not disappoint. He had a packed room of fans entertained by his musical ability, catchy songs, and stage presence from the first note. After singing his unreleased track, “Heartbeat of a Small Town” potentially from his forthcoming debut album, the singer-songwriter energetically addressed the crowd. “New York City, how the hell are you?! My name is Travis, and it’s damn good to back here with you people,” the artist exclaimed as fans erupted into applause.

Denning went on to sing a few other songs, including another unreleased track, “Good Years” and a cover of Miranda Lambert’s “Kerosene”. Just before leading into his recently released song, “Red, White and Blue”, the singer shared his inspiration for the tune and showed his support for the military men and women, while also acknowledging his Georgia roots, where he shared that he was proud to live near an air force base.

Arguably one of the best moments from Denning’s set was his performance of his top 40 debut single, “David Ashley Parker from Powder Springs”. Fans seemed to know the track, as they sang back the words to the singer, throughout the entire song. This is always a memorable moment, where the artist makes a connection with the audience and turns the crowd into fans, if they weren’t already. Denning ended his opening gig showing much gratitude for the engaged crowd.

LANCO at Irving Plaza, NYC / Photo via @lancomusic on Instagram

Shortly following Denning’s set, Katie Neal and Jesse Addy from Nash FM 94.7 gave the boys of LANCO a warm welcome to the stage. The group sang songs off their debut album, Hallelujah Nights, as well as performed an epic mashup of covers. Their approximately 90-minute performance began with songs like “We Do,” “Win You Over,” and “Pick You Up.” The crowd was soaking in every word, as lead singer, Brandon Lancaster poured his heart out on stage, even swaying their arms back and forth, during “So Long (I Do).”

LANCO really got the party going, when they covered The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside,” getting the audience involved, “There’s a lot of words in this one, so y’all help us sing ‘em.” The crowd obliged, singing along through the entire high energy song. Lancaster explained how the band ended up including this song in their setlist, talking about their humble beginnings, playing at college bars.

“Playing for free, honestly playing for free beer and that’s about it, but that means something though. It means your boys over hear play Mr. Brightside, but ya’ll we know how to honky tonk a little bit alright, so uh, so I know we’re in New York City, but you seem to like country music, so I thought it would be fun to… Can we turn Irving Plaza into a honky tonk for a second, alright?!.”

Immediately following, LANCO joined the crowd on the floor for some entertaining and chilling covers, including country superstar, Eric Church’s “Drink in My Hand” and “Springsteen,” as well as Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’.” LANCO’s connection with the fans was truly evident in this moment, making it a highlight of the night as captured in our Instagram video seen below.

Finally, after playing a couple of other songs off their record, such as, “Middle of Night,” the group said goodnight to fans and left the stage, only to come back for an awesome encore performance of their greatest hits, “Born to Love You,” and “Greatest Love Story.” Lancaster made sure to share his inspiration for the former.

“I found no matter where you go, wherever you’re from, whatever you’re born into… A big city like New York, somewhere a few hours from here, maybe you drove in… No matter what country you’re born into, whatever circumstance you’re born into, it doesn’t matter. If you ever get to find someone to go through life with- to go through the good, the bad, the ugly, the ups, the downs, you’ll find no matter what you’re born into- you were born to love them, so this next song is called ‘Born to Love You’.”

Both LANCO and Travis Denning truly gave New Yorker’s an unforgettable night of music. They will continue playing shows on the ‘Hallelujah Nights Tour’ through the rest of the year and part of 2019. Head to lancomusic.com for more information.

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