Leon Bridges’ sold-out Fort Worth show was a soulful homecoming | Review

The seats at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth have a decent amount of leg room. But the arena’s groundskeepers might have considered somehow widening the aisles and rows ahead of the Leon Bridges show Friday night.

The dancing in the crowd started sometime during “Better Man,” the third song of the show, and didn’t stop until Bridges left the stage. People were dancing by themselves, dancing with dates, making room for some two-stepping. Everyone was finding a groove.

Bridges, backed by a seven-piece band that included everything from a saxophone to a piano to tambourines, put the funk and soul in Funky Town for an hour-and-a-half-long set of 23 songs.

Oh, and he sold out Dickies Arena, and Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker proclaimed Nov. 15 to be Leon Bridges Day in his honor.

On the last U.S. stop of the first leg of his “Leon” tour, the local singer known for a song called “Coming Home” was welcomed back with a huge Fort Worth homecoming.

Coming Home

The night was a huge celebration of all things Fort Worth.

Taking the stage in a black leather jacket, black pants and black sunglasses, Bridges started the night with “When A Man Cries,” a sad song from his latest album that sounds like a ‘60s soul ballad. But next, the Fort Worth references started early with “Panther City,” all about summers in the Southside and warnings from Bridges’ father about not staying out too late on Rosedale. Bridges’ music is danceable, but the songs are always deeply rooted in places or characters.

Bridges is the most famous singer from Fort Worth currently working (give or take a Girls5Eva song). If the sold-out crowd wasn’t enough proof, the way that crowd sang every word of “River” while dancing to it should be.

Songs from “Leon” made up the bulk of the setlist. The songs on that album are mostly concerned with finding a sense of place, and a sense of peace about that place. Bridges definitely seemed at peace and effortlessly cool on stage, moving and grooving and singing and switching back and forth from instruments with ease. At times it felt like the show could have taken place in a church choir or an upscale club, but the different genres and tones of Bridges’ neo-soul stylings all meshed together. Nobody sat after the first few songs.

By the end of the night, after Parker made her proclamation and opener Charley Crockett joined Bridges for a rendition of “Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind” and all the confetti fell from the rafters, it became clear that while Fort Worth goes by many nicknames - Funky Town, Panther City, Cowtown - it might be time to add one more to the mix: Leon Town.

LEON BRIDGES SET LIST, DICKIES ARENA, FORT WORTH, TEXAS (NOVEMBER 15, 2024)

1. When A Man Cries
2. Panther City
3. Better Man
4. Flowers
5. Coming Home
6. Laredo
7. That’s What I Love
8. Never Satisfied
9. Mariella (Khruangbin & Leon Bridges cover; with Hermanos Gutiérrez)
10. Steam
11. Ain’t got Nothing On You
12. Texas Sun (Khruangbin & Leon Bridges cover)
13. You Don’t Know
14. Bad Bad News
15. If It Feels Good (Then It Must Be)
16. God Loves Everyone
17. Ivy (with Abraham Alexander)
18. River
19. Peaceful Place
20. Smooth Sailin’

Encore

1. Lisa Sawyer
2. Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind (George Strait cover; with Charley Crockett)
3. Beyond

This story was originally published November 16, 2024 at 3:28 AM.

Jake Harris

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

817-390-7237

Jake Harris is the Service Journalism Editor for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has spent nearly 10 years working as a digital producer across newsrooms in Texas. He mainly writes about pop culture and local North Texas happenings and occasionally writes concert reviews.