Weather tried to stop it, but perseverance prevailed. Even without the big stage, the bright lights, and the booming sound system, Livin’ Out Loud 2026 happened.

Thousands still came. Hearts were still touched. And despite the tireless work of many individuals, most of them volunteers, all the glory - say organizers - goes to God.

“I got the call from our security guys, as board chair and site coordinator, just after 2 a.m. that the stage had collapsed,” said Joe Wahlgren of Gothenburg. “It was five hours before our first sound check…five hours!”

Wahlgren, LOL stage manager Travis Peterson, and the crew of R8 Productions owner of the stage and sound equipment - made a plan to gather at the site just before sunup to assess the situation and determine what to do next.

“When we looked at what was missing and what was spared, we determined that we had a secondary stage already there that we typically use for front of house. So the question became whether or not we could get power to it, and that was answered real quick,” Wahlgren explained.

“The decision was made pretty easily as the stage owner and production crew assured as that we could move power and hold the event out there.”

Once it had been determined that there was a way to move forward with the concert event, that decision was affirmed by the one artist set to perform that night who was on site at the time. Danny Gokey and his crew had arrived late Friday night, and their bus was parked behind the stage when the storm rolled through. They were unaware of what had happened until they exited the bus early Saturday morning.

“When we arrived here and I woke up like I normally do, I looked out the window and thought that was kind of an interesting looking stage. So I got my son ready and told him we were going outside to take a look at the stage,” Gokey shared in a one-on-one interview with the Courier. “I thought by looking at it that it just folded up. But when I walked outside, I realized it wasn’t folded up but had caved in on itself. Right away I was thinking if there’s no stage, what are we going to do? I walked around it and saw the speakers smashed and video walls damaged. I found my tour manager and asked the stage manager (Travis Peterson) what was going on. He said, ‘If you don’t want to perform here, we understand.’ I said the show must go on. And he was very appreciative of that.

“I’m just thankful we weren’t on the stage when that happened,' Gokey continued. 'And I thought about people who have gone before us, who were put in prison for preaching the Gospel, and I thought it would just be crazy if I walked away from this. It would be wrong.”

Wahlgren said there were about 5,000 in attendance Saturday evening, most of whom had already received word of what had happened. With the relocation to a smaller stage and the loss of the big lights, the performance schedule was changed as well. One of the acts, All The Noise from Kearney, was removed from the lineup, and all but the opening performance was moved ahead to have more daylight. Headliner Danny Gokey and Band Reeves switched spots in the lineup, and the event concluded nearly two hours ahead of the original scheduled time. All things considered, the fact that there was even a show at all is pretty amazing. “I’m glad they got it to work! These people have put in a ton of work to make this happen. It’s quite amazing how they pivoted,” said Gokey. “I give props to the crew and to the organizers. I got off the bus at 6:15 a.m., and they were already here.”

As evening approached and it became apparent all of the hustle and bustle and hard work was indeed going to result in a show, there was a collective sigh of relief. When the first band, Logan and Katie, took the stage at around 5 p.m., the crowd and volunteers alike cheered - not just for the performers, but rather for the divine intervention that had occurred to make it happen.

“It was a win all the way around. When given the choice to cancel or try to move on with the show, cancelation meant that the Word of God was going nowhere. We wanted to give Him the opportunity to put something together, and that’s why we went forward,” Wahlgren emphatically stated. “He made the decision easy for us.

He just laid it out for us.”