SAINT PAUL HAILS THE NEW QUEEN OF COUNTRY, LAINEY WILSON.
ZERO WARDROBE CHANGES, ONE QUEEN
There was a small surprise in Lainey Wilson’s sold-out concert Saturday night at Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul. There were zero wardrobe changes for the new Queen of country during her two-hour set. And somehow this detail tells us a lot. Wilson’s show seemed to be the inverse of 2025 Taylor Swift, who has evolved into a walking LLC, having just released a new album full of songs that somehow feel incomplete unless you buy the corresponding movie, merch, docuseries, theme park ticket, live show decoder ring, and watch the million-dollar music video.
It was clear on Saturday, Lainey Wilson isn’t interested in being your country music Barbie. She’s completely content putting on her big girl pants (complete with fun green accents and tassels) and going to work, keeping the focus completely on the music. Yes, Wilson sounds like Dolly and looks like Faith, but there was something blue collar and undeniable generous about her performance Saturday in Saint Paul.
Wilson went out of her way to thank the crowd for giving her a life she never dreamed, while admitting she still feels like the same person. She crowned a cowgirl from the audience who was a loyal fan before the fame, and she brought out her opening acts including 15-year-old Maddox Batson, a country music Justin Bieber—complete with dimples tailor made for Wilson’s audience of moms and daughters. When openers Muscadine Bloodline joined her later, they raved about Wilson’s kindness, saying the culture she’s built “starts from the top.” And while these compliments might have made Wilson blush, it paints a clear portrait that Wilson is the type of down-to-earth star people like rooting for.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Lainey talks openly about being from a town of 150 people, and it wasn’t that long ago, at least on social media, that her butt was more famous than she was.
A guest star role on Yellowstone, and several hits later, Lainey Wilson has reached the summit as the reigning queen of country music. It’s gotten to the point that we should probably just refer to her as “Lainey,” as she’s clearly operating on the plane of Reba, Shania and Carrie, with a potential path to Dolly someday.
Watching Wilson on Saturday night, it’s clear the sky is the limit for her. She has an adoring fanbase dominated by moms and daughters—not a bad market, ask T. Swift. She’s an excellent live performer at the top of her game, with powerhouse vocals big enough for stadiums not just arenas.
BACKLOADED SETLIST
Despite being a dynamic, high energy, live performer; the truth is Wilson’s current set is heavily backloaded. She plays for two hours, but jam packs most of the hits in the last ten songs. While all of the songs sound good at the start, and sound like Lainey Wilson songs, with the exception of “Watermelon Moonshine,” most of the front half of her set blends together.
But just when you’re starting to pull out your tape measure to see how high the Lainey Wilson ceiling might be, she does you one better rising twenty feet high on a podium to sing hidden gem, “Somewhere Over Laredo.” A song that somehow channels all the emotion of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” while being completely its own. Dorothy isn’t in Kansas anymore; Lainey took her to Nashville.
IT’S ABOUT THE SONGS
Wilson’s true strengths as an artist were most on display during a section of the show where her band joined her in the round on a small satellite stage. Her duet with openers Muscadine Bloodline, “Pieces,” providing a nice change of pace while showcasing Wilson’s vocal range.
If you were second guessing handing Wilson the crown as the new Queen of Country, look no further than her song, “Whiskey Colored Crayon.” As heartbreaking as it is lovely, this song is the blueprint for all that Wilson can become.
Wilson is not only a performer, she’s a songwriter on her own hits including the two songs that closed down the night—“4x4xU” and “Heart Like a Truck.” Despite her sudden rise to fame, Wilson was connected to her audience throughout the show. As the evening concluded, and Wilson raised the rafters belting “Heart Like a Truck” to finish the night, it was clear to the sellout crowd in attendance, that while Wilson might wear a C1H cowboy hat, it’s a crown the rest on her head as the new undisputed Queen of Country. And based on her performance Saturday night, it's a throne she won’t be relinquishing anytime soon.
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