Memorable moments from Old Dominion's Wells Fargo Arena show include a surprise and a dog

Old Dominion took the Wells Fargo Arena audience on a trip down “Memory Lane” Thursday night.

The Nashville band gave a short history lesson on the band’s origins, from moving to the Tennessee city to pursue songwriting for more than a decade and later, Old Dominion band members penning hits such as Kenney Chesney’s "Save It for a Rainy Day."

"That allowed us to write songs for our own band so that we could hit the road and go out and meet you guys and play shows,” lead singer Matthew Ramsey said. “That’s been pretty damn good because in a blink of an eye, suddenly we’re the CMA Vocal Group of the Year for six years in a row.”

The Grammy-nominated act performed on Dec. 7 in Des Moines as part of their “No Bad Vibes Tour.” Opening for Old Dominion was country singer Kylie Morgan — whose husband is Cedar Falls native and former “The Voice” contestant Jay Allen — and “Eyes On You” country singer Chase Rice.

Here’s five of our favorite moments from the night.

Four boys learn they’re going to Hawaii during song ‘Hawaii’

Making a sign is the best way to communicate with Old Dominion during a concert, or so it seemed Thursday evening. Song requests were honored with the help of posters waved around by audience members, but one fan had a different ask of the band. During the encore song “Hawaii,” Ramsey was handed a poster from the crowd and held up the sign to the audience.

Written on the sign: “Can you tell our boys they’re going to Hawaii for Christmas."

At the bottom of the sign were four names.

Ramsey called out the names, saying, “Y’all going to Hawaii,” while the crowd cheered in response.

A special song request is performed

Old Dominion took several song requests during their show, including “Paint the Grass Green,” and complimented the audience’s “creative” posters, reading aloud messages that included someone missing their sixth-grade band concert to be Old Dominion’s show.

“That’s big stuff,” Ramsey said.

But there was a request that stood out.

“This lady just finished chemo and would love to hear, ‘How Good Is That,’” Ramsey said as he read the sign. “That is pretty f------ good if you ask me. I’m glad you’re here tonight.“

Good vibes only during the ‘No Bad Vibes Tour’ stop in Des Moines

Old Dominion was quick to set the tone for the night nearly five minutes into their concert, reminding audiences the name of their tour.

“That means, whatever it is that’s stressing you out or bumming you out or bringing you down or pissing you off or keeping you up at night, whatever that s--- is, we forget about that for a while,” Ramsey said.

The first song of the night was “Make It Sweet” from 2018 before “No Hard Feelings,” which is from the 2021 album “Time, Tequila & Therapy.”

A special guest joins Chase Rice on stage on all fours

Rice’s dog, Jack, joined his country star owner for the last two songs of his set. The black labrador is clearly no stranger to the spotlight, if evident by how he laid at Rice’s feet for the duration for the song “Bench Seat”— though not before getting some pats from audience members as he made his way on stage. Jack turned two years old in March, Rice shared in a social media post earlier this year. During the last song of Rice’s set (“Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.”), he let Jack “party.” That meant letting him wander the stage to soak up all the eager hands ready to give the good boy some scratches.

Crowd show Old Dominion love for ‘One Man Band’

“One Man Band” could have been an upbeat, reggae-sounding song, if it weren’t for Old Dominion band member Brad Tursi. Ramsey explained that when they wrote “One Man Band,” they felt they had enough of those upbeat songs in their discography. Tursi recognized the band had something special with “One Man Band,” transforming it into the catchy, slower tune it is now. The song went on to spend 28 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2019. The Wells Fargo Arena crowd showed just how much they knew the song, taking over the chorus with ease.

Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at PBarraza@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Old Dominion band sings hits at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines