Morgan Wallen‘s piano flip in Denver looked like pure frustration.
The moment went viral after the country star’s piano malfunctioned during “Sand in My Boots” at Empower Field at Mile High in May.
Now, Wallen’s creative director, Justin Clough, is explaining what was actually happening onstage — including why the people underneath the stage thought something much worse had gone wrong.
What Really Happened With the Piano?
During the May performance, Wallen couldn’t hear the piano through his in-ear monitors, making it difficult to play. He eventually stood up and sang part of “Sand in My Boots” a cappella as the crowd went wild.
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But Clough offered another important detail during an appearance on the In the Trenches with Spidey Smith podcast: The piano had partially come off the lift beneath it.
“The piano comes up and down on a lift, and I think it was like he was moving it back onto the lift,” Clough said. “I think it had moved off the lift and then he just moved it.”
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Wallen also wasn’t particularly upset when he came offstage. “He wasn’t upset about it. That’s what’s so funny,” Clough said. “He came off stage like kind of laughing.”
The Crew Thought the Stage Was Collapsing
The piano created a much bigger scare underneath the stage.
About five crew members were below the roughly five-foot stage operating the lift, but they couldn’t see what was happening above them. When they heard the crash, they thought the stage itself was collapsing.
The guys that were under there, he was like, ‘Dude, they were freaking out!’ They thought the stage was collapsing! All they could hear is just s–t crashing down under the stage.
Fortunately, the stage and other equipment were fine, and crew members quickly came out to clear the piano.
HARDY Had the Perfect Joke
The piano incident became such a viral moment that HARDY couldn’t resist giving Wallen a hard time.
According to photographer Tanner Gallagher, HARDY texted Wallen the next day: “Hey, man. My mom needs a piano moved tomorrow. Just wondering if you could you come help?”
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Wallen has also joked about the incident himself, both online and during subsequent shows.
What looked like a spectacular onstage meltdown was apparently much less dramatic from Wallen’s perspective. He was dealing with a piano that had shifted off its lift, couldn’t hear himself playing, and ultimately laughed about the whole thing.
The people underneath the stage, however, had a very different experience.
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Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
