Old Dominion brought “No Bad Vibes” — and a special surprise guest — to the party when they kicked off the 2024 iHeartCountry Festival Presented by Capital One on Saturday night (May 4). The star-studded event returned to Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

The reigning CMA Vocal Group of the Year winners amplified the energy in the venue as the first act of the night. Old Dominion — made up of Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Whit Sellers, Geoff Sprung and Brad Tursi — surprised the crowd with surprise guest Ashley Cooke. The “my place” star stuck around after performing at the Daytime Village (even though half of her band and their instruments didn’t make the flight after playing a show in North Carolina the previous night), along with Riley Green, Chris Lane, Walker Hayes, Chase Mathew, and Kelsey Hart.

Cooke stepped in for Megan Moroney, who announced her sophomore album earlier this week and is currently on tour with Kenny Chesney. Old Dominion introduced Cooke to the stage to deliver a rendition of “Can’t Break Up Now,” a heartache collaboration that appears on the band’s 18-track album that arrived in October 2023. Memory Lane also included the hit title track, “I Should Have Married You,” “Some Horses,” “Easier Said with Rum,” “Freedom Like You,” and “Ain’t Got a Worry” with Blake Shelton, among other highlights throughout the track list.

“It was really fun. (They’re) just the best group of guys, and (it was) a really, really fun crowd. And I hope I did Megan Moroney justice. She’s so incredible, so I hope it was even half as good as her version,” Cooke shared with iHeartCountry after exiting the stage.

Old Dominion launched the 2024 iHeartCountry Festival with “Hotel Key,” one of the group’s hit singles and fan-favorites throughout their career. The set also included “Memory Lane,” “Song for Another Time,” “One Man Band” and marked an epic finale with “I Was On A Boat That Day.” Other artists in the lineup throughout the evening included Jason Aldean, Jelly Roll, Lady A, Riley Green, Ashley McBryde, Brothers Osborne, Walker Hayes and Keith Urban. It was all hosted again by iHeartRadio’s Bobby Bones. Relive Old Dominon’s duet with Cooke below:

Anne Hudson