Not a bad strategy. Before both Zach Bryan and Morgan Wallen plotted their respective massive international tours over the past few weeks, Luke Combs got the party started with the announcement of his giant My Kinda Saturday Night Tour. Covering two continents, eight countries and including 16 shows, the tour features stops across iconic stadiums across the nation, including the likes of Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, and Wembley Stadium in London, U.K. Beyond the high profile stadium stops, another key feature of the My Kinda Saturday Night Tour is the star-studded set of openers. If you’ve been following Combs in any capacity, especially touring-wise, over the past couple years, you’re keen to the fact that the “Beautiful Crazy” singer has a long-history of pulling some of the most exciting young, independent artists along with the likes of fellow superstars. Employing the likes of Zach Bryan, Flatland Cavalry, 49 Winchester, Cody Jinks, Charles Wesley Godwin and more, Combs has been ahead of the curve when it comes to finding young talent early. This time around on the My Kinda Saturday Night Tour, Combs is still continuing the trend of picking up early on young, talented artists with the likes of Ty Myers, The Castellows, Thelma & James and more. With that being said, however, Combs is also packing the supporting cast with superstars and long-time headliners such as Dierks Bentley and Thomas Rhett, in addition to the likes of Irish pop rock band, The Script. Of course, this selection of openers is an intentional move from Combs, who hand-picks each and every one of his openers as of late. In a recent interview with Cody Allan and Sirius XM, Combs would reconfirm the fact that he once again chose all the aforementioned openers for the My Kinda Saturday Night Tour, noting the fact that his management and label don’t pick for him and the artists selected are those whom he’s a fan of already. “[They’re] guys who I think are great guys and guys that I’m a fan of first and foremost.  I pick all my openers. People ask me that all the time, like, ‘Do you get to pick the openers?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, yeah, I get to pick the openers for sure.’ It’s not like someone’s like, ‘You’re taking this guy.’ I guess there maybe are people that don’t really care about the openers. I just can’t image that, but I guess there are maybe people that just put whoever on there.” The North Carolina native would follow that up by diving deeper into the selection process of the aforementioned Bentley and Rhett, both of whom have a long-history of successful headlining tours at arenas, amphitheaters and more. For Combs, the fact that both Bentley and Rhett have the established stage presence to put on a great headlining show forces him to push himself harder to deliver a good set for the audience. Noting in particular just how good the “What Was I Thinkin'” singer is, Combs would praise Bentley before remarking that you can’t phone a performance after a set from him. “But for me, I really like to curate the experience. I know Dierks puts on a great show. I know TR [Thomas Rhett] puts on a great show, like I know these things. I can know, if I’m out there, the crowd’s gonna be fired up. And it’s gonna make me work to have to put on a great show. You know, you can’t phone it in playing after Dierks. You can’t phone it in playing after TR. The crowd’s gonna be expecting a certain level, so it keeps me honest and that’s exciting.  As a two-time CMA Entertainer of the Year, it’s safe to say that Combs has his live performances down to a science at this point. With that being said, however, it’s fascinating to see his approach to his massive My Kinda Saturday Night Tour this time around. Watch here: @clubcombs @Luke Combs curates his own tour openers #lukecombs #music #interview #country #tour ♬ original sound – Club Combs My Kinda Saturday Night Tour Dates March 21 Allegiant Stadium – Las Vegas, NV April 4 Scott Stadium – Charlottesville, VA April 11 Jack Trice Stadium – Ames, IA April 18 Notre Dame Stadium – South Bend, IN April 25 Ohio Stadium – Columbus, OH May 2 Neyland Stadium – Knoxville, TN May 9 Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium – Norman, OK May 15 Lambeau Field – Green Bay, WI May 16 Lambeau Field – Green Bay, WI May 30 Parc Jean-Drapeau – Montreal, QC June 5 Rogers Stadium – Toronto, ON June 6 Rogers Stadium – Toronto, ON July 4 Ullevi – Gothenburg, Sweden July 7 Accor Arena – Paris, France July 11 Johan Cruijff ArenA – Amsterdam, Netherlands July 18 Slane Castle – Slane, Ireland July 19 Slane Castle – Slane, Ireland July 25 Scottish Gas Murrayfield – Edinburgh, UK July 31 Wembley Stadium – London, UK August 1 Wembley Stadium – London, UKThe post Luke Combs Says Bringing All-Star Openers On Tour Forces Him To Perform Better – “You Can’t Phone It In Playing After Dierks” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.