Over 200,000 music fans gathered at the Louisville Fairgrounds this past Thursday through Sunday for the music festival Bourbon & Beyond. The record-breaking numbers from the festival were assisted by the huge names welcomed into Louisville: Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers, Dave Matthews Band, Whiskey Meyers, Cody Jinks, Sting, Matchbox Twenty and many more artists came to perform. The headliners were heard were heard around the city (literally). 

Zach Bryan 

Country music and global sensation Zach Bryan was one of the biggest names to arrive at Bourbon & Beyond. It was estimated by Wave3 news that Saturday’s headliner gathered a shocking 60,000 fans. “It was amazing. He played every hit song he has made, and it was a blast to sing along to them,” said Trinity senior Aaron Welch. Bryan fooled the fans with an encore. When he returned, he played his hit song “Revival” for 20 minutes straight while highlighting each member of the band with a solo. This was a show that was so impressive the music touched everyone in the crowd’s soul. 

Tyler Childers 

Kentucky native Tyler Childers drew an impressive crowd for a late Sunday night performance. Childers played a massively long show playing almost 20 songs. The stage set was changed for the theme of every song he played. Childers played hit song “House Fire”, and I heard a fan while walking out that the song was heard from the Jeffersontown area. “Tyler was glad to be home in Kentucky and performed a lot of his top hits,” said Tyler Childers fan, Danny Willoughby. 

Dave Matthews Band 

Dave Matthews Band returned to Louisville in style last Friday by drawing huge numbers of fans. Matthews played an array of songs in his famous style of transition music. Matthews had an unreal closing set where he mashed his “All Along the Watchtower” with Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”. “It was a perfect ending to a great night,” said super-fan Dave Lanham about the closer. A big band never disappoints when they return to Louisville.

Bourbon & Beyond was filled with 100 musical acts and they were all great shows. Surprisngly, I didn’t hear any bad comments on any shows the entire weekend. Bourbon & Beyond is a great opportunity for the smaller bands and artists to perform and gain new fans, and that’s what they did. Zach Bryan revived the crowd; Tyler Childers lit the crowd on fire, and all the others were heard around the 502 area for four days straight. Bourbon & Beyond was a huge opening festival for what is up next for the city: Louder Than Life.