Luke Grimes makes his return to Utah with a musical performance at The Complex

Cowboys and cowgirls packed The Rockwell at The Complex this past Friday night eagerly awaiting Luke Grimes – not as Kayce Dutton, the fan favorite character from the hit series Yellowstone, but as a country musician.

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When the band took the stage and started performing the opening number the stage was entirely backlit, casting silhouettes for the audience to see, which led to a roar going through the venue as the music began.  At the beginning of the second song the lights came up, revealing Grimes and the band which caused the audience to cheer again.

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Early in the set Grimes remarked to the crowd, “Man it’s good to be back here.  This place was like a second home to me for a few years.  I worked on a TV series here- maybe you’ve heard of it, Yellowstone.” Judging by the reactions and cheers it’s safe to say that everyone there was a fan of the show and the man standing on stage before them. 

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Grimes was a natural on stage easily blending in stories and personal banter with the crowd.  Between songs and bantering with the crowd Grimes reflected on some of his songs and apologizing for the sad ones while promising not to make the sad acoustic part of the show last that long, before remarking that Country music has a long relationship with sad songs though. One such moment where Grimes reflected on his song writing that struck with the crowd was when he told the tale of what inspired “South on 75.”  The song was inspired by a trip to Nashville that he took with his wife when he decided to take music more seriously.  While driving South on 75 he was thinking to himself “Oh my god what am I doing?  I’m this goofy actor guy who’s gonna go do music now and everyone is going to judge it,” said Grimes.  “Then I looked over at my wife and she’s just looking out the window, enjoying the moment with no negative thoughts whatsoever and I thought two things.  First I want to be like her, and second I already have her so I already won and that’s what this song is about.”  That moment of opening up about the song connected deeply with the audience and added more emotional weight to the performance. 

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Grimes charisma carried the rest of the night demonstrating his ability to captivate an audience not just as an actor but also as a musician.  By the end of the night, it was clear that Grimes is carving out a place for himself in Country music by using his experiences and grounding his music with a troubadour’s authenticity.