Everything about Morgan Wallen is oversized, from his two most recent albums (with 66 songs between them) to his chart success (15 of his 16 singles hit the Top 10 on country radio, with most landing at No. 1) to his many controversies that have somehow only made him bigger (uttering a racial epithet on video, tossing a chair six stories off a Nashville rooftop bar that landed mere feet from a police officer).

So it was fitting that he made his local debut as a stadium headliner Thursday, selling out the first of two nights at U.S. Bank Stadium, the biggest stage in town.

The 31-year-old Tennessee native — who has occupied the Top Country Albums chart for 151 weeks total, second only to Garth Brooks’ 173-week record — wasn’t new to the Vikings stadium in Minneapolis, as he performed a 90-minute opening set for Eric Church there in June 2022, which he mentioned early on in the show. But he was much better, and bigger, Thursday night.

He performed on an expansive stage, complete with a phallus-shaped catwalk that extended far onto the stadium floor and Taylor Swift-sized screens that mostly focused on close-ups of Wallen for the cheap seats. He wrapped the first hour of his show playing four semi-acoustic songs — including his cover of Jason Isbell’s “Cover Me Up” and “Lies Lies Lies,” a brand-new song presumably from his impending fourth album — on a second stage at the opposite end of the stadium.

A large part of Wallen’s massive success is his savvy, both as a song co-writer and song chooser, in finding indelible hooks that transcend genre. He often sidles up next to hip-hop and took the stage to a recorded version of Lil Durk’s “Broadway Girls,” a 2021 hit that featured Wallen on vocals. Elsewhere, he dabbles in any number of sounds, from Southern rock to ’80s heartland anthems to sheer pop confections, like his current hit with Post Malone, “I Had Some Help.”

To be sure, Wallen has improved quite a bit as a performer since he opened for Church and showed little in the way of charisma. He’s figured out how to keep a crowd in the palm of his hand, which helps matters given his sometimes flat vocals. Five songs in and he was struggling to hit some of the notes in “You Proof.”

He also flexed his muscles with spendy staging, from the bracelets handed out to audience members that flashed along to the music (a move he borrowed from Swift and Coldplay) to copious amounts of pyro and belching pillars of flame.

For “’98 Braves” — which features some particularly tortured lyrics that liken a disappointing playoff exit from the Atlanta Braves to a romantic relationship gone wrong — he performed in front of some bleachers as an ode to his time playing baseball in high school. He kept the bleachers around for one of his finest songs, the ’70s-style soft rock ballad “7 Summers.” Later, he crooned “Chasin’ You” and “Man Made a Bar” in front of the porch of a mock small-town house.

Given the size of the sheer crowd and the fact some had been drinking since the first of three opening acts (Bryan Martin) took the stage at 5:30 p.m., they treated Wallen with a surprising amount of reverence, occasionally singing along with the chorus in a polite fashion. As unlikely a star Wallen may be to the uninitiated, his fans absolutely adore the guy.

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INDIANAPOLIS >> Four of America’s biggest swimming stars — including Lakeville’s Regan Smith — doubled up at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials on Thursday night.

Lilly King left with another big prize.

An engagement ring.

Smith, King, Ryan Murphy and Kate Douglass all claimed a second individual event in Paris with their performances in the temporary pool at Lucas Oil Stadium.

But the most dramatic moment came just off the deck.

King’s boyfriend, former Indiana University swimmer James Wells, pulled out a ring, dropped to a knee and asked her to marry him.

She said yes with a kiss and a big hug.

In the pool, Smith won the women’s 200 butterfly after previously setting a world record in the 100 backstroke. Murphy touched first in the men’s 200-meter backstroke, adding to his triumph in the 100 back. And Douglass followed up her win a night earlier in the 100 freestyle with a victory in the 200 breaststroke.

Regan Smith swims during the Women’s 200 butterfly finals Thursday, June 20, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Smith trailed 17-year-old Alex Shackell at the final turn but rallied to win in 2:05.70. Shackell, from suburban Carmel, thrilled the home crowd by claiming an Olympic berth in 2:06.69.

Shackell is heading to the Olympics with her 19-year-old brother Aaron, who made the team by winning the 400 freestyle on the opening night of the trials. Their father, Nick Shackell, represented Britain at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.

Earlier Thursday, Smith posted the fastest qualifying time for Friday night’s 200 backstroke final, her final event of the trials.

Smith, 22, coasted to the fifth-fastest time (2:09.30) in the 200 backstroke prelims, then cut nearly three seconds from that time in the semifinals. Her semifinal time of 2:06.41 was .82 seconds ahead of next fastest qualifier Phoebe Bacan.

Smith narrowly missed out on another Olympic berth in Sunday’s historic 100 butterfly final. Smith swam the fifth-fastest time in history but finished .1 seconds behind runner-up Torri Huske and .31 seconds behind winner Gretchen Walsh.

King rallied to finish behind Douglass, edging Alex Walsh for the second U.S. spot at the Olympics. King had previously won the 100 breaststroke.

Murphy used his stunning underwater technique to hold off Keaton Jones and Jack Akins, finishing in 1 minute, 54.33 seconds. He punched the water in triumph when he saw his name atop the scoreboard for the second time in the meet.

Jones claimed the second spot at the Olympics in 1:54.61, while it was another heartbreaking finish for Akins. He was third in 1:54.78, the same position he had in the 100 backstroke when he missed a Paris berth by two-hundredths of a second.

Douglass dominated the 200 breaststroke, going out under world-record pace over the first half of the race and finishing in 2:19.46.

King was third at the final turn, but turned up the pace on the final lap for a runner-up finish of 2:21.93.

Walsh, a silver medalist in the 200 individual medley at Tokyo Olympics, failed to join her sister Gretchen on this Olympic team. Alex Walsh still has a shot to make the squad in the 200 IM, which begins Friday.

Caeleb Dressel bounced back with the second-fastest time in the semifinals of the 50 freestyle, one night after a third-place finish in the 100 free cost him a chance to defend his Olympic title in that event.

Dressel will need to finish in the top two of the 50 free final Friday night to claim his first individual race of the Paris Games. The tattooed Floridian was one of the biggest stars in Tokyo, winning five gold medals, but he hasn’t been as dominant since returning from a long layoff.

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If the Saints are any indication, Major League Baseball hit a home run in electing to go to a full-time challenge system on balls and strikes in Triple-A games for the remainder of the season.

Starting next Tuesday, the fully automated ball-strike system (ABS) that has been used for half the games will be eliminated. Each team will be allowed two challenges, which is one less than has been available to date. A successful challenge does not cost a team a challenge.

“Everybody loves it,” Saints pitcher Louie Varland said Thursday night at CHS Field prior to the Saints taking an 8-4 lead over Toledo into the eighth inning. “Everybody wants the challenge system instead of half and half with ABS.

“The challenge system is going to make baseball way better. It’s basically a balance of old school and new school, and at the end of the day you want the right calls to be made.”

Pitcher Brent Headrick professed his love for the challenge system and said Twins pitchers who have been on rehab assignments with the Saints quickly became fans, too.

“The zone is definitely tighter with the ABS,” Headrick said, “so they weren’t getting calls they usually got in the big leagues. But pitchers love the challenge system; they can’t wait to use it.”

While Headrick said the challenge system is fair for hitters and pitchers, he feels there are some pitches — such as a backup slider up in the zone — that could clip the zone and register as a strike.

Veteran utility man Tony Kemp, who joined the Saints early in the season after being designated for assignment by the Baltimore Orioles, has been exposed to the challenge system for the first time.

“I’m happy that it will be in the big leagues at some point,” Kemp said. “We, as hitters, work our butts off to know the strike zone’s ins and outs. There have been times in my career when it’s 3-2 (count), the balls off the plate and it’s called a strike, that I wish I could have challenged.

“Instead of going to the ABS, you need to keep an umpire back there. But they need to do a better job of guys being accountable, and I think this is going to be a way umpires can be held accountable.”

Saints shortstop Brooks Lee, who hit a pair of home runs on Thursday, considers himself an “ultra-aggressive” hitter, so he said the change
won’t affect him as much as some other players.

“I try not to get to two strikes,” he said. “I swing a lot, so I don’t get strikes called on me a lot. But it definitely will be good for guys who are more patient.”

Saints manager Tony Gardenhire said he has preferred the challenge system from the start. “Going from three to two is going to be an adjustment,” he said. You’re going to have to be more careful in how you use them.”

Gardenhire said that while he allows his pitchers to challenge a call, he prefers that the decision comes from his catcher. “Catchers are really good at knowing the zone,” he said.

Catchers also have become adept at “framing” pitches, which has allowed them to steal strikes by fooling the umpire, which is another reason why Gardenhire prefers that his catcher make the challenge.

“Our catchers are so good at moving the ball that sometimes our pitchers think it’s a strike,” Gardenhire said, “and the catcher knows it’s not. So I tell our pitchers not to call it, because sometimes they get caught up in some emotions.

“But every once in a while they get one right, so they’re quick to say that they get to do it again.”

Briefly

Lee, who has been on a tear at the plate of late, made his first start of the season at second base. If the Twins elect to call him up this season, he likely would see time at second, with Carlos Correa entrenched at shortstop and Royce Lewis at third.

Matt Wallner hit his 17th home run of the season in the first inning.

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As a Bible study group in St. Paul lamented gun violence in the community and the world, they wondered, “What can we do?”

The Rev. Kirsten Fryer told them about her friend who’s a retired pastor in Madison, Wis., and has taken on the mission of “Guns to Garden Tools.” It’s part of a national movement of taking firearms that have been surrendered and using blacksmithing to convert them into garden tools.

Bethlehem Lutheran Church in the Midway in St. Paul, where Fryer is pastor, and the House of Mercy church are hosting a community event Saturday. Fryer’s friend, the retired Rev. Jeff Wild, will have his blacksmithing forge and anvil to demonstrate how he creates garden tools. There will also be seed planting and garden demonstrations, a community art project and free food.

Biblical verses from the books of Micah and Isaiah inspired the work: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.”

Fryer said of turning guns into garden tools, “What does it look like for us to take this thing that was meant to take life and create something that makes life?”

The churches, which share a building, have a pocket prairie with plants native to Minnesota at their corner on Roy Street and Shields Avenue. They plan to use some of the tools that Wild creates in the garden.

Part of a national effort

Wild was inspired by the book, “Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence,” which was intended by authors Shane Claiborne and Michael Martin to show why Christians should be concerned about gun violence and how they can be part of the solution.

Martin founded RAWtools (it’s “war” spelled backwards), which has programs on turning guns into garden tools.

Wild is affiliated with RAWtools and involved with Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, which trains leaders to organize safe surrender and gun buyback events. They disassemble and make inoperable the guns that are handed over to them.

“We hear some very meaningful stories from people who have experienced trauma because of a firearm,” Wild said. Last year, a woman who surrendered a handgun to Wild told him it was the gun her father used to take his life.

Wild said he’s also struck by the funerals he presided over during his 34 years as a pastor — a dozen were men who died by suicide and half of those were with a firearm.

In Minnesota, firearms were used in 45% of suicide deaths, 65% of homicide deaths and 54% of interpersonal violence homicide deaths from 2015 to 2020, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. People can call 988 if they are in emotional distress or crisis, or the Minnesota DayOne domestic violence hotline at 866-223-1111.

‘Ali’s Garden’

To make the tools Saturday, Wild will be bringing parts from firearms that were surrendered in the Madison area in recent weeks. Bethlehem Lutheran wasn’t ready to take on a gun surrender event this year, but might consider it in the future, Fryer said.

People seeking to surrender a firearm in St. Paul at any time can call police at 651-291-1111 and ask to speak with an officer about it.

Also Saturday, the church will dedicate a garden at the front of the building as “Ali’s Garden.” It’s in memory of Ali Reed, who was fatally shot last June 25 in Minneapolis. Reed, 26, was baptized at Bethlehem Lutheran and his funeral was held there.

“Ali was very much loved by his family and is missed every day,” said his mother, Amber Webber. His life was ended “simply by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. We may never understand why he was murdered. Ali had a kind soul, always willing to help out where needed and without judgment.”

Webber said she sees a need for better gun control and stricter penalties, “so firearms stop being easily accessible to troubled youth and other offenders. The young men out here senselessly shooting and ending the lives of others needs to stop. My son’s life mattered.”

At the end of Saturday’s gathering, the church will hold a Service of Lament for Victims of Gun Violence.

Gun to Garden Tools community event

Where: Bethlehem Lutheran Church in the Midway and House of Mercy parking lot, 436 N. Roy St., St. Paul.

When: Saturday, noon to 3 p.m. for community art projects, seed planting, gun violence information, free gun locks. Blacksmithing demonstrations 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. Ask the Gardener at 1 and 2 p.m. Habanero Tacos truck will be there with free tacos until 2 p.m. Service of Lament at 2:45 p.m. The church is planning to hold the event rain or shine.

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