Chris Young
MaRynn Taylor
It Must Be Christmas- An Acoustic Evening
Rialto Square Theatre
Joliet, IL
Friday November 21st, 2025 at 7:30pm
Snow may not have been falling outside, but inside the Rialto Square Theatre on Friday night, Chris Young brought all the warmth and shimmer of the season as he kicked off his Christmas tour weekend. With the whole theatre decorated for the Christmas season, the historic venue felt transformed into a holiday postcard. Before Young took the stage, MaRynn Taylor warmed up the crowd.
MaRynn Taylor is an up-and-coming country pop singer-songwriter from Michigan. At the age of 12, she received her first guitar and found her love for music. She began writing songs at a young age and taught herself how to play the guitar. She released her debut album MaRynn this past August, which features 12 songs, most of which she co-wrote with other song writers. The vast majority of the album was written while touring the country as the opener for Kelsea Ballerini’s arena tour.
Taylor performed an acoustic set and sang a variety of Christmas classics, including “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” and “Mistletoe,” as well as one of her originals “Snow Globe.” She also performed some of her songs off her debut album including “Same Girl Same” and “Pretty Much” and closed out her set with “Santa Tell Me.” After her set she met fans one-on-one at her merchandise booth conversing and taking candid photos. Taylor stayed out in the theater lobby until she met with every person that was in line.
As the stage lights dimmed, fans cheered as Chris Young came to the stage. Young is a singer-songwriter born and raised in Tennessee. He rose to fame after winning season 4 of Nashville Star. After signing with RCA Records, he released his self-titled debut album that same year. Since his career began, Young as released 9 studio albums under RCA Nashville before later signing with Black River Entertainment in December of 2024. He released his first single “Til’ the Last One Dies” with Black River in April of 2025, which was featured on his 10th studio album I Didn’t Come Here to Leave that was released this past October. Young also got the honor of being inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2017, which is every country artist’s dream.
Young started off his acoustic set with “The Christmas Song” and moved into “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and “There’s a New Kid in Town.” He then introduced his band members on stage with him, Seth on the piano and Kevin on the guitar. Kevin wowed fans with an amazing guitar solo of “Freebird Young .” Young mentioned that Seth had a fun surprise for everyone. Seth joked that he set up some of his keys to play famous Christmas lines in case Young’s show got boring. “Holly Jolly Christmas,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” and “The First Noel” are a few of the Christmas classics that Young performed during the first half of his set. Seth also played “All I Want for Christmas is You,” which had the crowd and Young singing and clapping along. While this was an acoustic Christmas show, Young still played some of his songs, including “I Can Take It from Here” and “Getting You Home,” which he told the audience is his grandmother’s favorite song of his.
After performing “Santa Clause is Coming to Town,” Young mentioned to the crowd that he had a special guest. Since it was too early in the season, he couldn’t get Santa to come to the show, but he got the next best thing: Santa Paws. Porter, Young’s German Shepard, emerged from the side of the staged all dressed in Christmas gear and brought out a signed t-shirt which Young threw into the crowd. After Porter left the stage, the Christmas music continued with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Silver Bells,” and his new original Christmas song “Christmas Ain’t Christmas.” Young ended his set with his hit song “Famous Friends” which was originally recorded with Kane Brown. While that was supposed to be the end of the show, Young decided to play one more song for the enthusiastic crowd. Cheers erupted as he started playing the first cords of his song “Aw Naw.”
As the last chords were played, the whole theatre was on their feet giving a standing ovation to Young, who bowed and thanked the crowd for an incredible night on his opening weekend of his first Christmas tour. Fans left the venue with spirits high, eager for the holiday season to fully begin.
For additional information on these artists and events coming to the Rialto Square Theatre, please visit:
Chris Young- https://www.chrisyoungcountry.com
MaRynn Taylor- https://www.marynntaylormusic.com
Rialto Square Theatre- https://rialtosquare.com
Additional Images:
Photographs and writing by Jaclyn Duske