Recently, Riley Green played the Food City Center in Knoxville, Tennessee on his Ain’t My Last Rodeo Tour. Things were going great for the Jacksonville, Alabama native until he played “Hell of a Way to Go.” However, he knew what he was walking into when he added the song to his setlist.
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“Hell of a Way to Go” is one of Green’s most popular tracks. The studio version currently has more than 44 million streams on Spotify alone. The live version of the song is the most popular track from We Out Here: Live with more than two million streams. In short, it’s a fan favorite. However, the chorus contains some lines that he knew wouldn’t go over well in Knoxville, home of the Volunteers.
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Like any other college town, Knoxville residents take their sports seriously. For many in the area, few things are more sacred than UT football. So, when Green sang about watching Alabama—a longtime rival of the Vols—beating Tennessee, the crowd erupted in boos. The “Different ‘Round Here” singer didn’t just take in stride, though. He welcomed the reaction.
Riley Green Celebrates Being Booed by Knoxville Crowd
Green didn’t go into his show at the Food City Center blind. He knew full well that “Hell of a Way to Go” would get a visceral reaction from the crowd. He introduced the song by saying, “I’ve been both dreading and really looking forward to playing you all this next song. All I can say is this right here: I am not an Alabama fan myself.” Then, he told them, “If y’all feel the need to, just give me a big ol’ loud boo, go right on ahead.”
Everyone sang along until he got to the final line of the chorus. Sittin’ a lake like glass / Catchin’ largemouth bass / just my boy and me. / Or maybe on the fifty-yard line / Watchin’ Alabama beat the hell out of Tennessee.
After two rounds of deafening boos, Green stopped playing to address the crowd again. “I’ll be honest with y’all, I’ve never been booed by this many people before,” he told them. “But I’m gonna tell y’all the truth, it don’t bother me one bit. This would be a hell of a way to go, getting booed by this many country music-loving Tennessee fans.”
Then, he showed the Knoxville crowd some love. “One night only, I’m gonna do a little bit of a lyric change and let y’all have your moment. Truth is, I wrote this song in 2022 and y’all did beat Alabama that year,” he said. Then, he changed the final line of the next chorus to Maybe on the fifty-yard line / Alabama gets their ass whipped by Tennessee and the crowd went wild with cheers.
The Third Saturday of October 2022 marked the first time the Vols beat Alabama since 2006. It’s a victory that fans of the Big Orange are still savoring.
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