Jason Aldean: Oct. 1 ‘extremely hard to relive’
The country star onstage when the Oct. 1, 2017, shootings broke out at the Route 91 Harvest festival says “not a day goes by” that he doesn’t recall the tragedy.
Jason Aldean, the headliner on the festival’s final night, had just started playing “When She Says Baby” when the gunfire erupted across the Las Vegas Strip from a Mandalay Bay suite. Aldean marked the third anniversary of the shootings on his Twitter feed Thursday morning.
”October 1st will always be a day for us that is extremely hard to relive. To everyone in the Route 91 family, we love u guys and we couldn’t have gotten through it without you,” Aldean posted.
Hard to believe it’s been 3 years since Route 91. That night was probably the worst night of our lives and not a day goes by that we don’t think about the people who lost their lives and the families who have forever been affected by it. pic.twitter.com/j4VPaViRnR
— Jason Aldean (@Jason_Aldean) October 1, 2020
He followed with, “Hard to believe it’s been 3 years since Route 91. That night was probably the worst night of our lives and not a day goes by that we don’t think about the people who lost their lives and the families who have forever been affected by it.“
Aldean returned to the Strip on Dec. 5 for the first time since the tragedy, headlining Park Theater at Park MGM. He said to the sold-out crowd, “It’s a real special night for us … We got a lotta people in the crowd tonight who are family to us, so welcome out, everybody. It’s good to be back in Las Vegas. This is our first show back, and make no mistake about it, we came back to blow it out for you tonight. “
Aldean returned to the song he had never finished Oct. 1.
“Last time we were starting this song here, we got a little interrupted,” Aldean said in introducing “When She Says Baby.” “So let’s finish it, how ’bout that?” He closed the show with a song he played on “Saturday Night Live” six days after the tragedy, Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.