Dustin Lynch’s Party Mode Tour Is Living Up to Its Name: Backstage Bourbon, a ‘Splash Zone’ + More
If you name your tour "Party Mode," you'd better be ready to deliver. Fortunately, Dustin Lynch is a pro, and he's doing exactly that on the road in 2022.
During his decade-long career to date, the singer has put out five albums, charted eight No. 1 singles on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, played countless festivals and toured with some of the biggest names in the genre. He's even mounted his own Las Vegas pool party, the Pool Situation.
Now, midway through his 2022 Party Mode Tour, Lynch says he's keeping the good times rolling — both onstage and off.
"Oh, it's so much fun," he tells Taste of Country. "We kicked off the show and had a lot of big moments that we were hoping would connect in certain ways, kinda take the crowd for a ride, and after trying it out on them the first few times, we realized that all of our preparation is paying off. I've never had so much fun onstage."
Lynch is also something of a bourbon hobbyist — "I think I drink more bourbon than I play golf, if that means anything," he jokes — and he's bringing a little taste of his hometown to every city he visits on the Party Mode Tour, as a longtime partner of George Dickel Tennessee Whisky.
Both the singer and George Dickel hail from Tullahoma, Tenn.
"Not only the same hometown, but literally, the same holler," Lynch points out.
Most recently, he's been favoring Dickel Bourbon, which came out in June of 2021.
"That's what we've been drinking on the road, and has been a fan-favorite at my man cave at my house," he shares.
As for the importance of keeping a bar backstage while he's on tour?
"It's kind of baked into what we do. With touring around, a lot of what we do is entertain and host those in the industry," Lynch says, joking that it's easier than lugging a golf course around. "We've pretty much made friends/family in every city we stop at, so there's always a big group of people backstage. We like to provide a place for them to have fun and enjoy, and it provides us a platform to bring them some new beverages that they maybe haven't heard of, to see what they think."
Onstage, Lynch is also bringing something new to his tour stops.
"I've never seen my crowds have so much [fun], just enjoying the out-of-nowhere, off-the-wall stuff that we're pulling," he details. "It's a show I haven't seen anyone do, and I've been around country music for a while, and seen a lot of concerts. This is a very unique show that I'm really proud that we came up with."
For one, thing, it's interactive: Lynch's set incorporates a "splash zone" where some fans get to share the spotlight.
"It's not just people watching us the whole time. We're very inclusive, and some of our fans get to be part of the band," he says. "I don't wanna give too much away, but we've never done anything like it."
The Party Mode Tour runs through mid-May, concluding with a stop in Avila Beach, Calif.