Blue and white lights shimmered across the ceiling of the Tacoma Dome as Jason Aldean wooed an audience of more than 20,000 country fans during his concert last Friday.
The concert was a stop on Aldeanâs â2013 Night Trainâ tour, though it also featured opening performances by country artists Thomas Rhett and Jake Owen.
As an avid country fan, I had high expectations for the concert â Aldean is one of the biggest names in New Country. His newest album, âNight Train,â sold more than 409,000 copies in the first seven days of its release.
Eagerly awaiting a live performance of some of the albumâs best, I navigated through the crowd to my seat in the middle section of the Tacoma Dome stands. Surrounding me were mostly people ages 15-25, who proudly sported cowboy hats, flannels, a menagerie of leather boots and a healthy serving of camouflage.
Scattered within the young crowd were a few families with excited children, one of who spastically waved a sign that read âI love Jason Aldeanâ written in green crayon and decorated with cowboy hat stickers.
When the stands had filled to near capacity, Rhett appeared and began to sing âIt Goes Like This.â The song was popular enough to be easily recognized by most of the crowd, and they promptly quieted down to listen.
Unfortunately, Rhettâs following songs not only lacked familiarity, but they also sounded so similar to each other that he began to lose the crowd’s attention.
People grew antsy, and empty cups seemed to travel back up the stairs almost as quickly as their freshly filled counterparts traveled back down.
Finally, Rhett headed backstage and Owen took command of the crowd. He pushed back his shaggy, shoulder-length brown hair and sang his hit, âDays of Gold.â Behind him, a huge video panel displayed the music video for the song. Images of ski boats, trucks, girls in cut-off jean shorts and a Southern style beach party flickered across the screen.
Unlike Rhett, Owen managed to maintain crowd attention throughout his other songs. Some people danced, others sang along and some attempted to film the performance on blaringly bright phones and cameras.
After Owenâs performance ended, the concert crew changed out the entire set â instead of one stationary video panel, six panels that could move in formation stood above the stage.
Aldeanâs long-awaited entrance was successfully theatrical. A huge orange video panel moved to stage level and displayed Aldeanâs contrasting black silhouette. Behind the screen Aldean played the guitar to the beginning of âCrazy Town.â The panel lifted as the lyrics began, revealing Aldean.
The crowd roared in approval and rose up from the stands to clap, dance and join in on Aldeanâs songs. Aldean cleverly balanced his fast-paced songs with slower ones. He broke up his long performance when he shared personal anecdotes and made fun of his band members, who all shared a long past of bad haircuts.
Each of Aldeanâs songs had something to offerâbut the most memorable was his rendition of âNight Train,â for which the tour and album are named. Aldeanâs energy and vocals introduced the songâs vivid imagery of a night under the stars, but the speckled light of thousands of swaying cell phones and lighters brought it to life.
When the concert came to a close, I walked out of the Tacoma Dome with my ears ringing and feet aching. Yet had I had the choice, I would have turned back around and listened to the whole concert over again. The talent, music and energy brought to Tacoma by Jason Aldeanâs â2013 Night Train” tour was unforgettable and certainly worth the $50 ticket.
