Staff photo / Andy Gray A crew on Wednesday at Stambaugh Stadium in Youngstown sets up the framing for the platform where the soundboard and camera operators will be located for this weekend’s YLIVE concerts.

When JAC Live President Eric Ryan and COO Ken Bigley first talked of doing a concert too big for the Covelli Centre, they envisioned Stambaugh Stadium as the perfect venue.

Now YLIVE returns to the stadium for the first time since 2019 and for the first time as a two-day event.

Six acts over two days will perform at Youngstown State University’s football stadium, which hosted YLIVE events headlined by Zac Brown Band (2017), Florida-Georgia Line (2018) and Blake Shelton (2019). After a two-year lull due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it returned in 2022 at Wean Park, which hosted three YLIVEs, including last year’s two-day concert featuring John Mayer and Tim McGraw.

While a two-day festival is a herculean task, Bigley said it generally is easier at Stambaugh.

“Stadiums are set up to handle large crowds and get people in and out,” Bigley said.

That infrastructure had to be created with temporary fencing and other tools at the park. The venue itself also provides a unique viewing experience.

YLIVE is a stadium concert, but it’s far smaller than the stadium shows at Cleveland’s Huntington Field or Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium.

Instead of setting up the stage in the end zone and having some concertgoers sit more than 100 yards away and several decks up from the stage, YLIVE has the stage at the 50 yard line and facing the home team’s stands.

“The overall experience is phenomenal,” Bigley said. “You have that big stadium feel, you’re seeing the huge stage and everything you expect from a big stadium concert, but you’re in a very boutique, intimate setting for a stadium.”

Each night will feature three acts.

Jason Aldean, making his first Youngstown appearance, headlines Friday’s concert. Aldean is one of the most successful country artists of the 21st century. Since his self-titled debut album in 2005, Aldean has had 30 songs top the country charts, and his music has been streamed nearly 20 billion times.

He won the Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer Of The Year Award three consecutive years and is a five-time Grammy nominee.

Opening for Aldean will be another country icon. Travis Tritt is a two-time Grammy winner who had five songs top Billboard’s country singles chart. He’s also appeared in dozens of films and television series.

Added to the bill this week was Sadie Bass, who will get the music started at 6:30 p.m. She competed on season 22 of NBC’s “The Voice” and also appeared on The Discovery Channel’s “The Bassquatch Hunter: Fish Out of Water.”

Eric Church, who sold out the Covelli Centre in 2012, headlines Saturday’s YLIVE. Church won seven ACM and four CMA awards and has 11 Grammy nominations, including one for best contemporary country album for “Evangeline Vs. the Machine,” his most recent release.

His No. 1 singles include “Drink in My Hand,” “Springsteen,” “Record Year,” “Some of It,” “Hell of a View” and “The Only Way I Know,” a collaboration with this year’s other 2026 YLIVE headliner (Aldean) and its 2022 headliner (Luke Bryan).

Opening for Church will be Ernest, who sang with Morgan Wallen on the chart-topping “Cowgirls” and the top 20 single “Flower Shops” and also charted with “Would If I Could,” featuring Lainey Wilson. He’s also had success as a songwriter, co-writing hit singles for Wallen, Sam Hunt and Chris Lane.

Opening Saturday’s show will be Caylee Hammack, making her YLIVE debut six years after originally planned. Hammack was the original opening act announced with Luke Bryan when he was supposed to headline YLIVE in 2020. The middle act on that 2020 lineup was Morgan Wallen, who now sells out stadiums much bigger than Stambaugh.

The first three YLIVE concerts at Stambaugh were sellouts or close to it, with Florida-Georgia Line and Shelton each drawing about 20,000 people. Neither show this year is likely to sell out, but Bigley said he expects about 30,000 over two nights.

“The live entertainment business is in a transitional period,” Bigley said. “Everything is so polarizing right now with the events of the world and everything, and I think all of that impacts people and their buying patterns … That’s been our biggest marketing task. People are buying later, so it’s retargeting people that have looked and maybe haven’t pulled the trigger yet.”

The return to Stambaugh doesn’t mean everything will be the same. JAC sold passes for tailgating lots the first three years. This weekend tailgating at the YSU lots is prohibited, and a pre-party is planned both days on West Federal Street in downtown Youngstown.

“The city always has been very supportive of the event, so as it came up this year, it was, ‘How do they get involved?’ Bigley said. “The central business district, it’s not that far. How do we tie it all together? So the city doing the pre-parties both nights downtown was a way to incorporate the central business and involve these bars and restaurants and really give that feeling of a full downtown event.”

On Saturday attendees can make a full day of it with YSU’s Summer Festival of the Arts starting at 10 a.m., the pre-party starting at 2 p.m. and YLIVE at 6:30 p.m. To encourage people to come early, free parking will be available at the Covelli Centre both days.

“If you park at the Covelli Centre, it kind of rolls nicely,” Bigley said. “You could park at Covelli, walk up to the pre-parties and then right up to the event. I always say it’s better to be walking uphill on the way there than on the way back.”

If you go …

WHAT: YLIVE

WHO / WHEN: Jason Aldean, Travis Tritt and Sadie Bass at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Eric Church, Ernest and Caylee Hammack at 6:30 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Stambaugh Stadium, 577 Fifth Ave., Youngstown:, Ticketmaster.

HOW MUCH: Tickets start at $64.95 for Aldean and $49.50 for Church and are available through Ticketmaster. Two-day passes also are available.

Those with mobile tickets should download them to their Apple wallet or android passbook before arrival. No screenshots will be accepted for admission.

PARKING: Prepaid lots open at 4 p.m. and are sold out. Free parking will be available at the Covelli Centre, and paid parking will be available at various lots in and around downtown Youngstown and in YSU’s Wick Avenue parking deck.

ROAD CLOSURES: Fifth Avenue near Stambaugh Stadium will be closed to traffic from 3 p.m. to midnight on both Friday and Saturday. West Federal Street between Hazel and Phelps streets will be closed from 10 a.m. Friday until 9 p.m. Saturday.

DON’T TAILGATE, PRE-PARTY: Tailgating is prohibited on Youngstown State University property and in its parking lots. The City of Youngstown will have a YLIVE Pre-Party on West Federal Street from 2 to 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Entertainment will include the Conkle Brothers on Friday and Hoss & the Juggernauts on Saturday, and many downtown bars and restaurants will have food and drink specials available.

BAG POLICY: Only clear and see-through bags no larger than 12 inches by 12 inches by 6 inches and clutches no larger than 4.5 inches by 6.5 inches by 1 inch will be allowed inside the park. Exceptions will be made for medical bags and diaper bags.

CHAIR POLICY: Those with general admission tickets are allowed to bring a folding lawn chair with a seat no higher than 16 inches off the ground with a back no higher than 36 inches off the ground. Chair bags / cases are not allowed and should be removed before arriving at the venue.

DON’T BRING: Drones, briefcases, backpacks, binocular cases or any bag that doesn’t meet the bag requirement; wallet chains; professional cameras and recording devices (tablets, laptops, GoPros); food and beverage of any kind; confetti/glitter, weapons (including pocket knives, pepper spray and mace); animals (with the exception of service animals); and other items as deemed inappropriate by the venue.