LAINEY WILSON – ROD LAVER ARENA – MELBOURNE – 19.02.2026
Review: Craig Eriksson. Photos: Brett Schewitz
Australia has been blessed with visits from international country music royalty over the past few years with tours by Chris Stapleton, Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Randy Houser, Keith Urban, Jelly Roll, Zac Brown Band and Tyler Childers to name just some of them. Following a period of male-dominated airplay, the landscape of country music is undergoing a significant shift. There is a ‘female revolution’ going on in country music with Lainey Wilson leading the charge, featuring her blend of modern country music and traditional southern roots. Last night country superstar Lainey Wilson performed her SOLD OUT Whirlwind World Tour at Rod Laver Arena with special guests Flatland Cavalry and Kaitlin Butts.
Opening the show was KAITLIN BUTTS who was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahama and is a spirited, self-proclaimed ‘Cosmic Cowgirl’. Kaitlin is married to fellow musician and lead vocalist, Cleto Cordelo of Flatland Calvary. The show started with her fiddler and band performing the intro and KB walked out on to the stage dressed in a modern day white wedding dress, wearing a garter and large white cowboy boots as she sang a Cher cover Bang, Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down), which was a spectacular opening. White River followed and right from the get-go you realise Kaitlin is full of charm, cheekiness is armed with powerhouse vocal abilities and great band. KB played acoustic guitar and sang up a storm on some honky tonk with a cover of Kesha’s Hunt You Down (Dressed to Kill), which had fans dancing in the aisles. Kaitlin performed You Ain’t Gotta Die (to be dead to me) which was a fan favourite and sing-along and finished with a Jimmy Eat World cover of The Middle.
FLATLAND CALVARY are a country / Americana / folk band from Lubbock, Texas that performed an authentic, no gimmicks show with each band member having their time front and centre stage. They are a 6-piece band which includes Cleto Coredero (frontman/guitar), Jason Albers (drums), Reid Dillon (guitar), Jonathan Saenz (bass), Wesley Hall (Fiddle) and Adam Gallegos (Keys), and they’re all masters of their instruments. Flatland Cavalry played two of their latest releases opening with On and On and Never Comin’ Back from their upcoming album Work At Heart. Cleto talked about how some of their songs were played in the Yellowstone series which led into the Mountain Song from their EP Songs To Keep You Warm (2022), which saw everyone light up their phones. Flatland Calvary played two songs from Welcome to Countryland (2021) with Getting’ By and Some Things Never Change. Cleto and the band also performed a heartfelt cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide. They played several songs from their Humble Folks (2016) album including One I Want and A Life Where We Work Out, where Kaitlin Butts joined her husband (Cleto) for a beautiful duet. The band finished their set with the lively Stompin’ Grounds.
LAINEY WILSON is an American Country singer-songwriter and musician born in Baskin, Louisiana, US in 1992 and then moved to Nashville in 2011 at 19 years of age. It took LW nearly a decade of hard work before breaking through in 2021 with her album Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’. Wilson went from living in a camper to become the first woman to win CMA Album of the Year in 2025 with Whirlwind. The album also received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Album in the same year. Lainey Wilson’s album Bell Bottom Country (2022) won a Grammy Award for Best Country Album the year prior too.
Lainey opened her show with the pulsating Whirlwind in dramatic style. The band played the intro while a large glowing red hot horseshoe projected images inside of a storm brewing. Flashes of dark clouds and lightning appeared with wild horses galloping and then a silhouette of Lainey, as she made a grand entrance to the stage emerging directly underneath the horseshoe.
Dressed in her signature retro western style, Wilson looked amazing, wearing a blue cowboy hat, black vest and bellbottoms. It was an impressive opener that set the feel-good vibe for the next 2 hours, in which they played a wonderful 23 song setlist. The heavy country rock song Hold My Halo followed showcasing the incredible band and their musicianship
The band consisted of: Sav Madigan – Fiddle, banjo, pedal steel/guitar, acoustic guitar, electric piano, Matt Nolan – drums, Kevin Nolan – lead guitar/dobro, Tommy Scifres – bass, and Aslan Freeman – guitar
Kaitlin Butts joined Lainey on stage for Good Horses which included Madigan on pedal steel/guitar. Lainey is a huge Dolly Parton fan and this was evident throughout the evening in a number of songs including Devil Don’t Go There. Wilson’s connection with the crowd was wonderful and she announced: “The party is just getting started” and asked everyone “All turn on your cell phones and light it up”, which led into the stripped back ballad Watermelon Moonshine , causing the crowd singing along. Country’s Cool Again was a traditional country song, accompanied by Wrangler Jeans displayed on the backing screen with pictures of Lainey and her band in the jeans pockets. Madigan played some fabulous fiddle during this song. The upbeat Keep Up With Jones featured Freeman and Kevin Nolan performing short guitar solos.
Madigan played electric piano on the intro of the theatrical lullaby Somewhere Over Laredo which cleverly plays off the classic ‘Somewhere over a Rainbow’ by Judy Garland from the movie The Wizard of Oz. Wilson was elevated into the air on a large mechanical pedestal wearing a long white drape which was blowing behind her, which looked absolutely spectacular. During Peace, Love and Cowboys, Lainey found a young girl (Zoe) from the audience and invited her up on stage, gave her a cowboy hat and announced Zoe as “Cowgirl of the night”. Wilson declared her love of Australia and said how she loves our Australian accents and then made a joke saying “I’m not the one with the accent!” (referencing her own very strong Southern accent)
The heavy country rock song Hang Tight Honey was an absolute banger and showcased Lainey’s versatility. Wilson commands the stage and she is so full of energy, confidence and charisma. During Hillbilly Hippie, she went into the crowd high-fiving fans.
The band then left the stage and three bench seats were set up front near the audience. Lainey sat on the bench seat and spoke to the crowd about growing up in a small country town (Baskin) of only 170 people, her mother was a school teacher and her father was a farmer and they lived a humble life. As a young girl, she loved listening to stories on country radio and knew she wanted to tell stories and be a country singer when she grew up. This led into a beautiful solo performance of Whiskey Colored Crayons.
Cleto then joined Wilson on stage for an acoustic cover of the Flatland Calvary song …Meantime. The band returned to the stage and some members sat with Lainey as they performed Counting Chickens featuring Scifres on double bass, Madigan on fiddle and Kevin Nolan playing the washboard while Lainey introduced each member of the band. They then played a raw acoustic version of Can’t Stand Still. Lainey told the crowd, “This is one of my favourite ways to play, just sitting around jamming and playing music together”.
Lainey Wilson then performed her biggest hit Things A Man Oughta Know and told us it wasn’t even going to make it on the album and that its huge success was a nice surprise. Wildflowers and Wild Horses was stunning and the bold, brassy, boot-stomper Bell Bottoms Up I thought was reminiscent of Shania Twain. Call A Cowboy, Bar In Baton Range followed and during the ballad 4x4xU the crowd swung their arms in unison along to the song. The show finished with Heart Like A Truck.
This was a great celebration of country music. Lainey Wilson is the real deal and a superstar performer. Her show was spectacular, so entertaining and triumphant. You could see that the crowd loved every minute of it. For those who are keen to see Lainey Wilson, she is performing a 2nd show tonight at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
Remaining dates:
Friday, 20 February: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, VIC (Second show)
Sunday, 22 February: Adelaide Entertainment Centre Arena, Adelaide, SA
Thursday, 26 February: RAC Arena, Perth, WA
https://www.frontiertouring.com/
SET LIST:
WHIRLWIND
HOLD MY HALO
GOOD HORSES (with Kaitlin Butts)
DEVIL DON’T GO THERE
WATERMELON MOONSHINE
COUNTRY’S COOL AGAIN / ONE MORE LAST CHANCE / GUITARS, CADILLACS, FISHIN’ IN THE DARK
KEEP UP WITH JONES
SOMEWHERE OVER LAREDO
PEACE, LOVE AND COWBOYS
YESTERDAY, ALL DAY, EVERY DAY
HANG TIGHT HONEY
HILLBILLY HIPPIE
WHISKEY COLORED CRAYON (solo)
…MEANTIME (Flatland Cavalry cover with Cleto Cordero)
COUNTING CHICKENS (with band introductions)
CAN’T SIT STILL
THINGS A MAN OUGHTA KNOW
WILDFLOWERS AND WILD HORSES
BELL BOTTOMS UP
CALL A COWBOY
BAR IN BATON RANGE
4x4xU
HEART LIKE A TRUCK
