More than 50,000 fans packed Nissan Stadium for Night 1 of CMA Fest to see performances by Brett Eldredge, Cole Swindell, Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert and Luke Bryan.
But the crowd also got a couple of surprises: both Garth Brooks and Lauren Alaina made unannounced visits to the stage. Garth treated fans to a set of some of his biggest hits, including “The Thunder Rolls,” “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” “The River” and “Friends in Low Places,” while Lauren joined Cole onstage to sing “Middle of a Memory.”
Other highlights from the evening included crowd-favorites “Drunk on a Plane” by Dierks; “Vice” and “Automatic” by Miranda; and Luke closing the evening with a set that featured “That’s My Kind of Night” and “Country Girl (Shake It for Me).”
