Country star jokes New York venue is as rural as it gets: ‘We out here’

Luke Bryan in Concert at the Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview

Luke Bryan concert at the Empower FCU Amphitheater at Lakeview. Bryan was preceded by Adrien Nunez, Ashland Craft, and George Birge . Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.comdennis nett | dnett@syracuse.com

Luke Bryan sings about small towns and country living, but one Upstate New York venue might be too country, even for him.

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, recently named the best outdoor concert venue in the U.S. by USA Today readers, got some good-natured ribbing from the country star during his May 29 performance there on the “Country On Came On” tour.

In a video from the May 29 concert, posted to TikTok by @ybn.fazo, told the crowd about trying to get food for his son while in town, and failing.

“This is like my eighth time I believe, and you know what I always forget, there ain’t s--- here,” he said. “This is the countriest a-- venue that I play.”

The crowd cheered as Bryan continued the story. His 14-year-old son, Tate, who’s currently on tour with him, was craving fried chicken. So, like many of us do, Bryan turned to Google — and discovered the nearest fried chicken was 45 minutes away.

“When you’re 45-minutes from the nearest fried chicken, you’re in a country-a-- place,” Bryan told the crowd. “There was no DoorDash, there was not even a nugget. We out here.”

He added that he went golfing while in town, and even that felt remote.

“No one was there, because we’re in the country. There were no tee times. We had a gas-powered golf cart,” Bryan said at the end of the video.

Monster Golf Club at Resorts World Catskills later shared photos of Bryan hitting the course during his stay.

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is located in the small town of Bethel, population 3,959. It sits on the original site of the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair and now hosts major concerts in a modern open-air amphitheater surrounded by scenic farmland. The nearest city is Middletown, about 45 minutes away.

Bryan’s Bethel Woods stop was one of two Upstate New York shows on his tour. He also performed last week in Syracuse to a sold-out crowd at the Empower Federal Credit Union at Lakeview.

Upcoming concerts at Bethel Woods include “Weird Al” Yankovic, Def Leppard, Cyndi Lauper and more.

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