Luke Combs repays young concertgoers who stacked firewood to afford tickets

A man in a blue hat and sunglasses holding a blue acoustic guitar and raising his right hand in front of a microphone
Luke Combs performs before the 2022 NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway in Florida. (Phelan M. Ebenhack / Associated Press)
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Luke Combs celebrated Labor Day weekend by doling out refunds left and right to concertgoers.

On Friday, the country artist shared a heartwarming moment onstage with a couple of young fans who stacked firewood in order to afford tickets to his show at the Savings Amphitheater in Bangor, Maine. Combs spoke to the children in the crowd after spotting their sign, which said they piled five cords of lumber to pay for the concert and that one of them had just turned 12.

After asking the kids how much they paid for their tickets, which cost $100 apiece, Combs reached into his pocket and pulled out $140.

"Pay yourselves back this much, and I'll get you some more," Combs said while handing them the cash. "I'll finish paying you back."

The "When It Rains It Pours" hitmaker also promised to get the youngsters "a bunch of shirts and stuff" in addition to personally greeting them after the show. Before moving on to his next song, he gave each of them a fist-bump and an autograph.

Combs' generosity continued into his second Bangor show Saturday night. Video footage from that concert shows the Grammy-nominated musician apologizing to attendees and vowing to refund their money because he was experiencing vocal issues.

"A few hours ago, I realized that I was not gonna be able to sing as good as I normally do," Combs explained to the audience, adding that his voice was not the caliber it "should be for you guys having to pay for it."

"We're gonna put on the best free show we can put on," the "Beautiful Crazy" singer continued.

"I want you guys to know how upset I am to have to tell you that tonight. But all I want you to know is that we're gonna do the very damn best we can. I'm gonna give you everything I have. I'm so sorry."

That same evening, pop musician the Weeknd abruptly ended his concert at Inglewood's SoFi Stadium and vowed to refund attendees after losing his voice just three songs into his set.

“I’m going to make sure everyone is good, you’ll get your money back,” he told the crowd. “I’ll do a show real soon for you guys.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.