Some summer amphitheater shows are built less around spectacle and more around the kind of songs people have carried with them for years. That was the feeling at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre as Train brought a full night of familiar hooks, big crowd moments, and easy nostalgia to the Atlanta area with Barenaked Ladies and Matt Nathanson along for the ride. From Nathanson’s relaxed opening set to Barenaked Ladies’ sharp humor and singalong-heavy run, the night had a loose, upbeat flow before Train took the stage and turned the evening into a full-on summer crowd celebration.
The lawn at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre was still baking off the day’s heat when Matt Nathanson wandered out with a full band behind him, and he treated the shed like his living room. He told the crowd how happy he was to be out of Florida and into Atlanta, the kind of line that gets an easy cheer but felt genuine coming from a guy visibly relieved to be somewhere with a breeze. Before his third song he said it was for his significant other, the way you’d introduce someone at a dinner party, no big fanfare, just fact. Then he warned everyone that it had the word “fuck” in it, apologized because he knew there were kids out there, and cracked that he’d be covering everyone’s future therapy bills. It got a real laugh. Nathanson’s set was loose and conversational in a way that set the tone for the whole night: nobody up there was trying to prove anything, they were just glad to be playing.
Barenaked Ladies came out and the energy jumped immediately, mostly because their bass player Jim Creeggan was fired up from the first note, bouncing around like it was still 1998. They dropped in a snippet of the Muppets’ “Mah Na Mah Na,” which is exactly the kind of goofy left turn BNL fans expect and love, and the crowd sang along without missing a beat. “If I Had $1,000,000” turned into the biggest singalong of their set, thousands of people yelling about Kraft Dinner in the Georgia humidity. They also tore into a cover of “Highway to Hell” that had no business working as well as it did, but the crowd ate it up. BNL’s whole set felt like a party you’d stumbled into rather than a show you paid for, which is a compliment.
Then Train took the stage for a set built entirely around the twenty five years since Drops of Jupiter, and frontman Pat Monahan looked genuinely moved to be marking that anniversary in front of a sold out amphitheater. They opened strong with “She’s on Fire” and “50 Ways to Say Goodbye,” working through “If It’s Love,” “Whipping Boy,” and “Calling All Angels” before Monahan brought Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies back out for “Meet Virginia” folded into “Country Roads,” tossing in a few improvised lyrics about Atlanta that got a roar from the crowd. “Pennsylvania Turnpike” kept the pace up, and then came “Mississippi,” which Monahan called his favorite song off the actual Drops of Jupiter album, delivered with the kind of quiet pride. He also mentioned the new record is only about two weeks out from release, which explains why the crowd treated the newer cuts with curiosity rather than familiarity.
Watching a father hand his kid that kind of spotlight in front of thousands of people was the most human moment of the night.
“Marry Me” led into Monahan announcing it was time for the reception, his cue to shift the whole set into party mode, and the Journey cover “Stone in Love” is where the night turned into something closer to a family reunion: he brought his 14 year old son out to play guitar on the song, and watching a father hand his kid that kind of spotlight in front of thousands of people was the most human moment of the night, no polish on it at all. “Save Me, San Francisco” turned the lawn into a sea of beach balls, “Angel in Blue Jeans” kept things sweet, and “Mad Dog in the Fog” got a nice bit of context: Monahan explained the new album is named after a tiny San Francisco spot where Train used to play for free back when nobody knew their name, and Matt Nathanson came back out to sing it with him, which felt less like a guest slot and more like two old friends trading a memory in front of an audience.
From there it was hit after hit. “Play That Song,” “Bruises,” “Hey, Soul Sister,” and “Vacation” kept the whole amphitheater singing, and “Drive By” folded into a “Hey Jude” singalong that had grandparents and kids belting the same words. They closed, of course, with “Drops of Jupiter” itself, the song this whole tour is built around, and it landed exactly the way you’d want a 25 year old song to land: familiar, a little worn in, and still able to make a full amphitheater go quiet for the verses and loud for the chorus.
People love to make jokes about bands like Train. Fair enough, jokes are cheap. But jokes don’t sell out amphitheaters in the middle of July on a Tuesday, and loyalty like this doesn’t happen by accident. If you get the chance to catch this tour in Charlotte, Raleigh, Snoqualmie, or Columbia, go. Bring the kids, bring your parents, and don’t be surprised if you end up singing along to a song you swore you didn’t know all the words to.
Train Photo Gallery
Barenaked Ladies Photo Gallery
Matt Nathanson Photo Gallery
Setlist
- She’s on Fire
- 50 Ways to Say Goodbye
- If It’s Love
- Whipping Boy
- Calling All Angels
- Meet Virginia / Country Roads
- Pennsylvania Turnpike
- Mississippi
- Marry Me
- Stone in Love
- Save Me, San Francisco
- Angel in Blue Jeans
- Mad Dog in the Fog
- Play That Song
- Bruises
- Hey, Soul Sister
- Vacation
- Drive By / Hey Jude
- Drops of Jupiter
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Live photography by Chris Collett for No Flash Needed. © 2026 No Flash Needed. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without written permission.
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