Dwight Yoakam (with James Whatton Band) – Welch, MN – June 4, 2026

Dwight Yoakam (with Jame Whatton Band) – June 4, 2026 at Treasure Island Resort & Casino, Welch, MN

Review and photos by Jim Zons

Ever since first hearing Dwight Yoakam when I worked as a DJ at a country radio station in the 1980s, I’ve been captivated by his unique blend of honky-tonk, throwback country music.  Since then, of course, he’s expanded into movies and television roles, but hasn’t given up his original love of performing music, so when I saw he was booked for a concert at Treasure Island Resort and Casino, I knew I had to be there!

Before Dwight took the stage, his opening act was the James Whatton Band from Minneapolis.  James hails from Louisville, KY and his band captures the essence of “outlaw country” with a country blues sound reminiscent of the Allman Brothers and Waylon Jennings. Their 45 minute set featured a lot of originals with a strong bluesy character that I really liked!  The sound and mix were amazing, and I wish their set had been a little longer.

Finally, it was time for Dwight to take the stage! Dwight really got his start in music when his dad gave him a guitar while Dwight was still in grade school. He played in a rock band in high school, and later dropped out of college to concentrate on his music.  Initially, his style of music wasn’t well received in Nashville, so he moved to California where his style of “cowpunk” and alternative country music was more popular.  In 1986, his first album Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. spawned several major hit singles, and the rest is history.

Joining Dwight on stage at Treasure Island were long-time collaborators Eugene Edwards on lead guitar and mandolin, Mitch Marine on drums, and Jonathan Clark on bass.

Dwight’s set started off with one of his more recent recordings, “Keep on the Sunny Side” and then continued through 40 years of greatest hits.  Dwight was entertaining and engaging and really seemed like he was having a great time!  After all this time, he still has that signature twang in his voice, and that really came across in hits like “Streets of Bakersfield,” “I’ll Be Gone” (originally recorded over 40 years ago!), and “Honky-Tonk Man.” Dwight has always done cover songs and given them his own unique spin (he actually did an entire album of covers in 1997) and one of the many he performed Thursday night was one he called a “wiggling song” which was Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.” As I said, Dwight was pretty engaging with the packed house at Treasure Island, telling a long extended story about meeting his idol, Roger Miller, and eventually collaborating with him on a song: “It Only Hurts When I Cry.”  The final songs in his set were all hits: “A Thousand Miles from Nowhere,” “Guitars, Cadillacs,” “Fast As You,” and finally his version of “Suspicious Minds” for his encore.  I took a lot of great photos, but I was only given permission to publish this single photo, so if you want to see more, you’ll have to catch Dwight Yoakam in concert at a venue near you!