‘Loser’ Post Malone rocks Albertsons Stadium in record-setting Boise concert
As Post Malone strolled the catwalk wearing blue jeans, a big belt buckle and an even bigger grin, questions hovered like pyro smoke over a packed Albertsons Stadium on Tuesday.
Like, what exactly does this global superstar (and Utah homeowner) find so intriguing about Idaho? He’s visited Boise State before, attending last year’s Mountain West football championship. And he’s been spotted at Treasure Valley bars and restaurants.
Can we call him Goalpost Malone? Local lore says he autographed a goalpost torn down after that BSU game. It reportedly wound up with a fraternity.
And would Idaho Gov. Brad Little win more young voters if he considered a couple of Posty-style tattoos on his cheeks? After all, he posed happily with Malone in a photo shared on social media last December.
Unsolved mysteries.
What was quickly revealed was the answer to the Big Ass Question — the one that helped convince 36,000-or-so concertgoers to drop big bucks to see Malone’s Big Ass Stadium Tour with fellow face-tatted-rapper-turned-country-singer Jelly Roll.
Could Posty live up to the gargantuan hype?
This was not a historic Idaho moment on the level of Garth Brooks’ two-night stand in 2019. Those were the first major concerts ever held at Albertsons Stadium, which hasn’t exactly made it a habit since.
Still, Malone’s show was epic.
Powered by fireworks, genre-hopping hits and his genuinely infectious personality, Malone appears to have set a state record for the largest-grossing single-day event in Idaho history.
On most arena tours, Jelly Roll would headline. Like last summer, when he performed for 8,605 fans at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. As a warm-up act in a stadium, the big man exploited his hour to the fullest. (Not nearly as big of a man, though. Jelly Roll has lost nearly 200 pounds!)
His emotive, rasp-tinged voice drove hard-chargers and familiar, country-infused hits such as “Need a Favor” and “I Am Not Okay.” Humble to a fault between tunes, Jelly Roll was all about gratitude, hope, redemption and “God’s grace.” And when he covered Brooks’ classic “Friends in Low Places” near the end? It ripped the metaphorical roof off the open-air stadium. Perhaps Jelly Roll knew Boise State’s concert history? Very possibly not.
Post Malone was born on the Fourth of July. This detail made perfect sense moments into his two-hour headlining set. Flames erupted into the sky so forcefully that nosebleed-section concertgoers felt the heat blasts on their faces. Fireworks exploded high above the stadium. Pyro shot up not just from the stage during this show, but also from the rear of the stadium.
A mainstream music enigma, Malone mixed his early hip-hop-influenced career with his recent “F-1 Trillion” country album stardom. He delivered everything fans of either era might crave — more than two dozen songs. And he worked the catwalk like a seasoned pro, simultaneously holding a red plastic cup, a cigarette and a microphone while reaching out to greet ecstatic fans.
Overly polite, Malone must have addressed the audience as “ladies and gentlemen” a bazillion times. While dropping f-bombs another F-1 trillion.
One minute he rapped, “I’ve been ****in’ hoes and poppin’ pillies” while thousands of Idahoans sang along in bliss to “Rockstar.” Other times he delivered inspirational between-song chats about never giving up on your dreams.
When Jelly Roll joined him onstage for the hit “Losers,” their gratuitous, mutual man-crushing bordered on sappy. Except they poured their love and empathy onto the crowd, too. “If you’ve ever felt like a loser,” Malone said, “that makes ****in’ three of us tonight, ladies and gentlemen.”
It was easy to grasp why Malone’s fans adore everything about him. The self-deprecating goofiness. (He balanced a beer cup on his head while singing the start of “Circles.”) His unusual “goat vibrato” vocal flourishes. (They grow on you — seriously!)
He just seemed so nice.
Malone dedicated “Yours” to his 3-year-old daughter. And to all the mothers and fathers in the crowd, he added. And to all the sons and daughters. But especially to his little girl, he decided.
He also mentioned (more than once) that on July 4, he’ll “be 30 ****in’ years old” — this dental grill-wearing pop sensation who’s performed at the Grand Ole Opry. (It’s been a decade, Malone confessed, since he broke through with “White Iverson.” And, yes, he sang that one at this show, too.)
None of it makes sense. Yet all of it made sense.
By the time Malone rode into a skull-crushing final lap — a heavy metal-laced treatment of the aforementioned “Rockstar,” then “I Had Some Help” and “Sunflower” — concertgoers had to be drop-dead exhausted from singing along. Or maybe it was just shell shock.
Then came the grand finale. A levitating stage that magically appeared at the back of the stadium floor. Another brain-melting fire-and-strobes blitz. A massive hit for Malone — a smash called “Congratulations.”
It was a fitting title for the end of a hugely successful night.
Albertsons Stadium desperately needs to do more concerts. Malone’s performance made that clear.
Good luck following Posty, though.
This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 3:00 AM.