Jon Mael
Jason Aldean brought some country to the northeast, photo courtesy of The Green Room
I can’t remember seeing a show sell out as fast as Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan’s that took place saturday. That is not only a testament to the star power of these two country heavyweights, but also how New England is well on it’s way to catching up to the rest of America and adopting country music. There are no two artists that serve as better ambassadors of the genre than Aldean and Bryan, who have made some of the best country albums of the past decade, and are showing no signs of slowing down.
The show was great. The heavy anticipation could be felt around the amphitheater, which was filled to capacity for both sets. There were no unknown opening acts, or BS filler songs to take up time. All of the hits that fans wanted to hear were played, and played well. Bryan represents the new wave of country superstars coming up, and Aldean is one of the biggest stars on the planet. Together, the rock country (and beer) was flowing freely for the night, and it made for one of the best shows I’ve seen.
Aldean began his set to ear splitting screams before rising through the stage and launching into his energetic old single “Johnny Cash”. He then went straight into two of his smashes, “Big Green Tractor” and an awesome performance of “Amarillo Sky”. It seemed as though Aldean was in a time crunch, because other than a preview of his new single “Take A Ride”, he nearly exclusively played number one hits. At one point, he played 5 straight number one hits from the same album, “My Kinda Party”. “Tattoos On This Town”, “My Kinda Party”, and especially “She’s Country” were perfectly done as Aldean wound down the main set just over an hour after he began, but by far the best song of the show was “Dirt Road Anthem”. Aldean’s number 1 smash had the place shaking with a huge singalong and his vocals were as good as I’ve ever heard from him.
Aldean closed out the show with a monster version of “Hicktown”, and although it appeared as though quite a few songs were cut from the show, Aldean made sure to get what is quite possibly his best song in at the end. I actually preferred the abbreviated set because there was no down time. Every single song minus the new tracks were number one hits, and how many artists can create a set like that? Not many, and none that bring the party quite like Aldean.
Luke Bryan was just as good. The biggest opening act in country music started things off right with “Rain Is A Good Thing” before a great version of “Country Man”. A lengthy version of “Drunk On You” really had the crowd amped up and the energy continued with a hard rocking version of “Drinkin Beer and Wastin Bullets”. Curiously, my personal favorite from Bryan, “We Rode In Trucks”, was missing. That being said, Bryan had some fantastic moments. “Do I”, “I Don’t Want This Night To End”, and a cover of Adele’s “Someone Like You” were all great, but “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” takes the cake. The super fast, super fun number 1 hit was stretched out to nearly 10 minutes of non stop rowdiness. The song, and the set as a whole, provided great support for Aldean. Look for Bryan to be headlining amphitheaters of his own very soon.
Between the two stars, this show was at another level. Rarely do you see a country show draw the sort of hype that this one does, and trust me when I say that it delivered. The whole show was one massive hit after another. The “My Kinda Party 2012” tour was the best I’ve seen from Jason Aldean, and based on this show, he may be moving up to stadiums shortly. The concert was too big for the venue. Aldean truly brought his kind of party to Boston last night, and Boston was happy to spend a night in Aldean’s world.
newenglandcountry 