Amy has really been helping us out this week, covering some events we just couldn’t get to…She attended the Jason Aldean fundraiser show at the Wildhorse Saloon on Friday, June 12th featuring Jake Owen and Luke Bryan…

We got the okay to stand anywhere we wanted, so we made a beeline to front and center at the stage. It was several minutes before anyone else joined us. We were kind of shocked and giddy that we’d scored such a primo spot to watch some of our favorite artists perform!

We stood at the stage for probably 45 minutes or so before Lance Smith from CMT came out to welcome everyone and introduce Ashley Ray. She was great! She’s a new singer/songwriter out of Kansas. She played several songs that she’d written, including a song called “Hurricanes”, which I thought was amazing! She also played a cover of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” and a cover of “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon. She told the crowd that this concert was especially close to her heart because her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer last fall and had recently completed her chemo treatments. She was so excited that her mom had been able to travel to see her perform at the show. Lance came back out after Ashley’s set and introduced the president of the Nashville chapter of the Komen Foundation. She introduced a video of Jason and his family discussing their friend Melissa who lost her battle with breast cancer at the age of 29. The video had originally aired on GAC as part of a special on Jason, but it was nice to see it again.

Luke came out about 20 minutes after the video aired. He played an acoustic set with just his guitar and one of Jake Owen’s guys on percussion. He was his usual playful self and he was able to get the crowd enthused and singing along to all of his songs. He didn’t have a set list so he just played what he wanted and accepted requests. He introduced a new song that he said that he’d never played. I can’t remember the name of it, but it was something to the effect of swearing that he’d never do something again and then doing it again. It was cute! I think that he’s really going to have some great music on his new album. He brought out Jake Owen to help him sing “Good Directions.” They were cutting up and having a great time! He also played his cover of OneRepublic’s “Apologize,” which happens to be one of my favorite songs that he performs! He closed his set with a rowdy rendition of “All My Friends Say.”

Jake took the stage about 15 or 20 minutes after Luke. He played “Yeehaw” and his new single “8 Second Ride.” His parents were sidestage and he introduced “Don’t Think I Can’t Love You” by revealing that his parents’ love had been the inspiration for writing the song. This was my first time seeing Jake and I was really impressed with the way that he was able to interact with the crowd. He made lots of eye contact and was very jovial. Someone brought him out a shot while he was performing and he wasn’t sure what it was. He drank most of it but left a little in the cup. Someone up front heckled him for not finishing it and he laughed and joked that he was being called out. He did some rapping and freestyling and sang the theme song to The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, which was hilarious. I’ve seen some YouTube videos of him singing it before and they always crack me up. He finished his set with a great version of Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight.” By the time Jake left the stage, the crowd was pumped up and anxious for Jason to take the stage.

It was past 12:30 when Jason came on stage. He kicked off the show with “Wide Open” and then rolled right in to “Crazy Town” and “Why.” He thanked everyone for coming out and supporting the cause and played Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” Yes, we got to hear the song twice that night! Before he played “Big Green Tractor” he asked a man that was standing sidestage to come out and he handed him the microphone. The man started talking about meeting a woman four years ago who had changed his life and he called her up on stage. He got down on one knee and told her how much she meant to him and proposed to her. It turns out that the lady is Jason’s mother-in-law. Jason said that “Tractor” was the perfect love song to follow their engagement. After “Tractor” he played several songs from the Relentless album and kept the enery level high.  The audience sang along to every word. By the time that he closed the show with “She’s Country” and “Hicktown,” the place was on fire!! He left the stage after “Hicktown” and the crowd was cheering and chanting his name. Even without the encore, we definitely got our money’s worth. He put on a high energy, rocking show. I think that he’s on the verge of becoming a superstar!

Thank you, Tawny and Country Girl for inviting me to submit my fan experiences! It’s been fun to relive the shows and share my experience with everyone. See you next year!!

Thanks Amy for your review…It sounds like it was an amazing time!  This was the one event I wish we’d gone too.

Got some country music gossip and don’t wanna be a tattle tale?  Email me, Tawny Tucker, Tawny@countrymusictattletale.com