Chris Stapleton Leads All-Star Cast As ‘All-American Roadshow’ Hits Wrigley Field

“Hello, Chicago!” said Chris Stapleton Saturday night on stage at Wrigley Field. “Only took us three years to get here, that’s all. And here comes the weather…” he mused, trailing off.

Despite heavy rain and thunderstorms in the area, Stapleton and company were nevertheless able to squeeze in Saturday night’s stop on the “All-American Roadshow” tour, moving up the start time while canceling a pair of scheduled opening sets by former Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and his group The Dirty Knobs and Chicago-based soul/Gospel singer Mavis Staples (both would take the stage alongside Stapleton for cameos later).

An abbreviated performance by supergroup The Highwomen – a fun play on The Highwaymen which featured outlaw country legends Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson in the late 80s and early 90s – brought Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, Natalie Hemby and Amanda Shires to the Wrigley Field stage.

“Look at this place!” marveled Carlile, taking stock of the 108 year old home of Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs, gazing toward home plate over a sea of fans from the center field stage. “Dreams are coming true right now, y’all! We’re at Wrigley!”

It was a rare full group appearance – the only one scheduled in 2022 – for The Highwomen, who performed a handful of tracks from their 2019 self-titled debut album over the course of about a half hour, a ten piece group augmented by Jason Isbell on guitar.

Carlile turned right, facing Natalie Hemby as she strummed away on “Highwomen” to open the show, flexing her left bicep as the group sang about Rosie the Riveter during “Redesigning Women.”

Clad in blue denim while singing into gold microphones, Carlile, Morris, Hemby and Shires put forth the stunning vocal harmonies that define their only record, the ease with which it appeared they were doing so masking the actual level of difficulty involved in singing on key outdoors on a humid day in a cavernous 40,000 seat stadium built for baseball over a century ago.

“We’re so happy to be opening the show for Chris. And this is legendary,” said Morris into a lead vocal on “Loose Change.” “Maren Morris!” screamed Carlile.

Lighting and speaker rigs swayed disarmingly, the Windy City living up to its nickname Saturday night. Lilting pedal steel kicked off “If She Ever Leaves Me,” Carlile’s love story with a twist.

But the highlight of the set was the group’s always impressive take on “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac, the crowd clapping along the intro as Morgane Stapleton joined them on stage. Shires’ fiddle was fantastic and Isbell stepped forward with one of the evening’s most scorching solos, channeling Lindsey Buckingham during a frenetic finish.

The collaborative spirit that fueled the Highwomen set continued during Chris Stapleton’s performance, one which would include both Mike Campbell and Mavis Staples.

“Listen, I’m not gonna do much talkin’,” said Stapleton, taking the stage early with the threat of bad weather still looming. “But we’re gonna play as much as we can!”

Opening with “Nobody to Blame,” he picked up the pace fast, working in the unbridled rock and roll of “Parachute” next. Known for his work alongside Willie Nelson, harmonica player Mickey Raphael joined in as Stapleton strapped on an acoustic guitar for “Second One to Know.”

“How about some special stuff just for Wrigley Field?” asked Stapleton rhetorically. “We’ve got some weather rolling in but we’re bringing them up here anyway. Please welcome The Highwomen, Mavis Staples and Jason Isbell!”

Smiling widely as a constant beacon of positivity despite the times, Staples took center stage as an ensemble numbering 13 put forth Stapleton’s take on “Friendship,” a song first recorded by Mavis’s father Pops Staples for inclusion on his posthumous 2015 album Don’t Lose This. Isbell channeled Pops’ trademark tremolo sound during his solo.

“First time ever I was on a bill here, I was opening for Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers,” said Stapleton, looking back to a 2017 performance as opening act on what would become Petty’s final tour, another rainy Wrigley affair. “He’s a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, please make way for my good friend Mike Campbell!”

“Oh, it was great working with him. And it’s a great story,” said Campbell during a 2020 conversation, recalling the first time he met Stapleton. “He opened for the Heartbreakers at Wrigley Field. And I met him for a, ‘Hi, how you doing?’ And that was it. Ironically, we’re going to open for him at Wrigley Field,” said the guitarist, looking ahead to a show years in the making amidst pandemic.

Stapleton appears on the debut album by Campbell’s group The Dirty Knobs and Saturday night at Wrigley the pair paid tribute to Petty with an appropriately bluesy performance in the home of the blues, taking on “I Should Have Known It” from Petty’s blues-drenched 2010 album Mojo.

Campbell stayed on for “Arkansas” and Stapleton later welcomed guest Mike Henderson, who tore up slide guitar on a Telecaster during “Midnight Train to Memphis.”

Heading for home on the baseball diamond, piano sparkled on “Cold,” Stapleton breaking out of the introspective song with a snippet of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird,” storms holding off just long enough in Chicago.