Davenport Man Goes Viral After Moline Luke Bryan Concert
July was a pretty big month for Colin Gould of Davenport – his birthday, a big party for the Bix 7 race going by his house, a country music fest in Wisconsin, the last Steamwheelers home game, and the biggest of all, a sold-out Luke Bryan concert.
It was the last event, July 10 at Vibrant Arena at The MARK, which earned the humble, friendly 32-year-old national attention. (See a video here: Luke Bryan and magic Mike 😆 in Moline illinois Vibrant Arena at The MARK july 10th 2026 – YouTube.)
A July 13 story on americansongwriter.com was headlined: “ ‘Our Redneck Magic Mike’: Diehard Luke Bryan Fan Turns an Unforgettable Onstage Moment Into Free Tickets for Life.” Gould has been all over social media and many other media outlets locally and nationally.
An alum of Assumption High School and St. Ambrose University, Colin is the third generation of his family to run the Religious Supply Center store in the Village of East Davenport, near where he lives with his wife Lexie, and their 15-month-old son Carver. July 10 was the fourth time he’d seen Luke Bryan, and the first time at the Moline arena. He got his parents to babysit Carver.
Luke Bryan with Colin at Vibrant Arena, July 10, 2026.
“They saved us a bunch, you know. They’re big on, you two get out of the house,” Colin said on Monday, Aug. 3. “They think it’s important that we have nights to ourselves still.” One of his favorite recent concerts at the Moline arena was country star Kenny Chesney there with his dad in May 2023.
“He’s a legend,” Colin said of Luke Bryan. “I think to me it’s the longevity of just— a lot of his songs take me back to— some songs do that to you. It’s, I listened to that growing up, and I just remember riding along in my car when I was a young kid. The song ‘Buy Dirt,’ come on, that’s the dream, you know, go buy dirt, build a house on it, get a wife and kids, and just stuff like that.”
The cutout of Luke Bryan hugging Colin that Lexie made for his 32nd birthday party at their home.
Through a friend who got Colin the Bryan tickets, he got to a private reception before the show for about 30 people, where the singer-songwriter did a few songs.
In the arena, “we were pretty much eye level with him when he was standing, which I think helped the connection there,” Colin said of their seats on the right side of the stage, near one of the big screens. While they were dancing in the stands, he accidentally knocked Lexie into the aisle, and she fell, which apparently caught Bryan’s attention.
Luke Bryan with Colin at Vibrant Arena, July 10, 2026.
“He stopped the music and then he started looking our direction, and that kind of scared me a bit,” Colin recalled. “Then he points in our area, points at me and Lexie. I didn’t really know what was going on. Then I look up and see us on the big screen. Then he played it again, ‘I Wanna Rock Right Now,’ and then I danced again.”
Lexie said Bryan called Colin up on stage, saying “I need to meet this son of a bitch.”
“Maybe I was a little drunk because I thought he was talking about Lexie. And then I didn’t want to go up, and then Lexie kind of grabbed me, and then the guys behind me, I remember they were shoving me to go,” he said. “That’s kind of when I psychologically blacked out just from just the fear of going up there in front of, what, 13,000 people?”
“I just didn’t know what was gonna happen,” Colin said. “Then immediately I give him a little high five and go in for a hug, and then he shoves that away, pushes that off, then I’m extremely shaken by that, more than I already was.”
Dancing for thousands
Bryan asked him some questions, and started singing again, as Colin danced, including leaping to the ground, doing the worm, which shocked Lexie.
“I just didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to just stand there, so I started dancing,” he recalled. “Then I did the worm, and that’s kind of when the chorus hit of ‘Shake It for Me, Girl,’ and then the crowd kind of went crazy.”
“It was totally the first time I’ve ever seen that. Seriously, I’ve never seen him do the worm ever. I’m like, holy crap, I didn’t even know you could do that,” Lexie said, and Colin responded: “Now everywhere I go, they ask me to do it.”
“So I’m like, where did that come from? It was so funny,” Lexie said, noting his “go with it” vibe is pretty normal. “I mean, obviously the drinks kind of help a little bit, but usually he’s very outgoing,” she said.
One of the posters made commemorating Colin’s life-changing night seeing Luke Bryan in concert.
Bryan also sang “Footloose,” and Colin showed off some fancy footwork. He was on stage about 10 minutes altogether (about two-thirds into the show, which went until midnight), and he did share a hug at the end with the star.
“It just went back to like nothing happened,” Colin said of the unreal concert, noting Bryan promised him free tickets to his shows for life, when he got back to his seat. “He just went back to singing songs like in his concert, and I was like, what am I supposed to do right now? My heart’s going.”
Colin Gould and his son Carver (who wore the “32 Beers” T-shirt) at the Steamwheelers game on July 25, 2026.
“It’s just so interesting reading all these comments,” he said of the online photos and stories (one YouTube video of him has 22,000 views). “People from Florida and Texas and all over the country just saying, that’s so cool and so badass, man. And you look like the life of the party and you had the time of your life and all this. It’s really awesome, awesome heartfelt comments.”
Because of his newfound arena fame, Colin was asked back about two weeks later to be the Steamwheelers’ honorary captain for their last home game of the season, on July 25 at the arena. He got to do the coin toss to start the contest.
Colin on stage with country star Luke Bryan at the sold-out show July 10, 2026 at Vibrant Arena at The MARK, Moline.
“I led the team out and did the coin toss, and then we did some fun games like catch one of those chickens in a bucket basket and silly games like that,” Colin said. “They put me and my family, up in a suite there, which was really fun. And then I brought some friends. It wasn’t sold out. It’s probably half filled, which was still cool. But it was a different experience, you know. I walk out and they announced my name. They did like a highlight of the concert on the screen, just introduced me, and then they announced me, and then I ran out.”
He noted that people locally have asked for his autograph and to pose for selfies.
Colin hugs Luke Bryan as the crowd goes wild at Vibrant Arena July 10, 2026.
His friends and family “think it’s real cool and they tell me it couldn’t have happened to someone better,” Colin said. “But they like to give me crap about dance moves and stuff like that, you know. It’s all in love. But it’s been awesome, especially for my parents. They’re soaking it all up.”
A Rockford radio station got him free tickets to the Country Thunder music festival (July 16-19) in Twin Lakes, Wis., which featured Riley Green, Keith Urban and Lonestar. Colin and his family took his parents for all day Saturday, which they loved. “A lot of my buddies have gone, but I had never been. It was a really cool experience,” he said.
Colin and Lexie Gould with the Quad City Steamwheelers’ mascot on the Vibrant Arena football field.
The importance of 32
Lexie made a life-size cardboard cutout of the concert hug photo, which they displayed at Colin’s 32nd birthday party on July 29, themed around Luke Bryan, who has a close connection to the number 32. While the star asked Colin on stage how much he had to drink that day, the fan replied, “32 beers,” but Colin said Monday he didn’t nearly have that much. Still, Lexie latched onto the “32 beers” theme to make up T-shirts for his birthday (the front said, “The Legend of 32 Beers” with a photo of Luke and Colin that night).
She is a registered OB/GYN ultrasound technologist for MercyOne, who has her own business, Little Ones Ultrasound Studio, which scans 3D/4D images of babies in the womb before birth.
Country star Luke Bryan banters with Colin Gould on stage at the July 10 sold-out show.
Bryan – who also has a July birthday, turning 50 on July 17 — has his own record label, 32 Bridge Entertainment, and his 32 Bridge Food + Drink is in the heart of Broadway in Nashville, Tenn. The 30,000-square-foot multi-level entertainment facility features 6 levels, 8 bars, 3 stages with live music, and two restaurants.
It opened in 2018, and the inspiration behind the bar’s name is the Route 32 Bridge, over the Flint River in Lee County, Georgia, near where Luke Bryan grew up.
Colin surprised his wife and the sold-out arena crowd by doing the “worm” on stage at Luke Bryan’s concert.
The five-time Entertainer of the Year recently released the single “Made It A Memory” from his ninth studio album, “Signs,” due September 18. He literally made Colin Gould a memory will that last a lifetime.
If he wants to use those free tickets, Luke Bryan will be not too far away next month, when his “Word on the Street Tour” ends Sept. 26 at Alpine Valley outside Milwaukee.
Colin Gould and his wife Lexie pose with Steamwheelers dancers and a player on the night of their last home game at Vibrant Arena July 25, 2026. (credit: Brad Foster Photography)
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