With CMC Rocks wrapping up over the weekend, the festival of country music comes to an end in Australia for another year. To close out the festivities, Jordan Davis delighted Australians with a national tour just over a year after he supported Luke Combs in stadiums around the country. This time, it was Davis’s turn to headline venues, with the Louisiana-born star garnering a very healthy crowd at Qudos Bank Arena.

As with all the CMC shows, the organisers assembled a fantastic list of openers, with Vincent Mason and Tucker Wetmore rounding out the lineup. Mason performed a very laidback set of country music before Wetmore took to the stage with a brand of country that very much resembled Morgan Wallen, showing off his biggest hits like “Wind Up Missin’ You” and “Brunette”, as well as some interesting covers like Train’s “Drops of Jupiter.”

“This has been some of the most fun I’ve had touring in a long time,” said Wetmore to the sizeable crowd who came early to see him.

When it was time for Davis to take the stage, the crowd were already locked in and ready after the opening acts. When listening to Davis’s set, his rise to superstardom over the past few years was made increasingly clear, with every second song being a huge smash hit. After the catchy, energetic opener, “Ain’t Enough Road”, he captured the audience with a beautiful rendition of “Slow Dance in a Parking Lot”, which had many in the audience up dancing as they reacquainted themselves with the song that introduced many to Jordan Davis in the country music world.

“Tonight is the biggest show I’ve ever played,” said Davis to cheers from the audience. “Sydney, this will not be the last time I’m here. This is the coolest job in the world”

Davis has a very powerful voice and although his music skews pop, there is a heart and soul to his tracks that steers it away from solely being camped within the ‘bro country’ mould which has really started to take over country music. Davis pumped through the songs with over 20 tracks in a set that didn’t even reach 90 minutes which meant that every moment was jam-packed and the audience really got bang for their buck. While often a criticism of country music shows is the tendency for the music to sound the same after a little while, Davis’s show was extremely versatile, often alternating between ballads and more fast paced tracks.

A highlight for the Sydney crowd was when Davis brought out Carly Pearce, who surprisingly is not doing her own sideshows after also headlining CMC Rocks, to perform “Mess with Missing You”. It was a great moment where the two voices blended very well together, with Davis allowing Pearce to shine on the track. He then followed it up with the gorgeous “Tucson Too Late” before surprising the audience with five covers, including “Let It Go”, “3AM” and “Wagon Wheel”, for which he brought out Mason and Wetmore to help him. It was a great way to add some variety to the night and it showed off Davis’s performing and vocal skills as well. He concluded with a power packed ending, with the classic “Buy Dirt” having the whole audience singing along with their cameras up, before closing out the night with “What My World Spins Around”. 

“I really wanna thank y’all for being a part of this,” said Davis. “I want you to know how grateful I am to be standing here tonight, this truly means the world to me.”

Overall, this was a show that was really everything you want from a country music set. It was short, sharp, focused and packed with hits and great musical variety. Davis engaged his audience and delivered a show that really showed the development of his artistry over the last year. While it was sometimes hard to pick up as much energy in Accor Stadium when he supported Luke Combs last year, at Qudos Bank Arena his vocals really shone through and the crowd that were there for him and only him really appreciated the depth of his musicality that was on show throughout the concert. A great night and a great way to cap off Australia’s country music season.

Rating: ★★★★1/2

Jordan Davis – Qudos Bank Arena – 24 March 2026

Photo credit: Patrick Tracy