country touring
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A group of protesters gathered outside Jason Aldean‘s concert on Saturday in Tinley Park, Illinois, near Chicago. According to the Chicago Tribune, the group of nearly 2 dozen people were part of a protest led by Revolution Club Chicago, which aligns with Communist beliefs.
During the protest, members of the group chanted, marched and burned American flags. The outlet also reported that there were no major altercations between concertgoers and the members of the protesting group.
A representative for Aldean could not be reached for comment on the protest.
The protest comes as Aldean’s latest single, “Try That in a Small Town,” garnered both support and criticism due to lyrics that advise people to refrain from burning the American flag, disrespecting police and committing robberies in small towns. (Sample lyric: “Cuss out a cop, spit in his face/ Stomp on the flag and light it up/ Yeah, ya think you’re tough?/ Well, try that in a small town/ See how far ya make it down the road.”) “Try That in a Small Town” was written by Kelley Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Tully Kennedy and Kurt Michael Allison.
“Guess what, Jason? We will try that in a small town,” one of the protesters, Rafael Kadaris, said, according to the Tribune. “We will try that in a big city. And we will try it right in front of your concert.”
The music video for “Try That in a Small Town,” which included imagery of protests and flag burnings and was filmed in front of a Tennessee county courthouse with a history of lynchings, was pulled by CMT, sparking both support and outrage from country music fans. The video has earned 35 million views on YouTube. In July, the controversy helped drive consumption of “Try That in a Small Town” and send it to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data.
On the radio-driven Country Airplay chart, “Try That in a Small Town” currently resides at No. 11. Aldean’s headlining Highway Desperado Tour will make its next stop on Sept. 14 in Rogers, Arkansas.
For nearly four decades, Billboard Boxscore has tracked the top tours, and touring artists, in the music industry, across various musical genres. The 2023 Billboard Boxscore Mid-Year report, which was led by pop star Harry Styles, whose Love on Tour trek grossed $138.6 million and sold 1.2 million tickets across 38 shows between Nov. 1, […]
Reigning CMA Awards entertainer of the year Luke Combs is gearing up for a double-header of a tour next year, when his Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour launches in April.
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The 25-show outing will visit 13 cities, with nearly every city getting two nights — Fridays and Saturdays — of shows.
The tour kicks off April 12-13 in Milwaukee, WI. Combs will also play two nights at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, Jacksonville’s Everbank Stadium and Phoenix’s State Farm Stadium, before wrapping with two shows in Houston at NRG Stadium on Aug. 9-10.
Since his breakthrough hit “Hurricane” spent two weeks at the pinnacle of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart back in 2017, Combs has become known for his wellspring of hits, becoming one of the biggest country music sensations of his generation. But with this tour, he continues doubling down on introducing fans to other musicians he loves, from contemporary country acts, to those that lean more into the Americana and Red Dirt genres.
The Friday night lineup of shows will feature Combs’ headlining set, in addition to guests Charles Wesley Godwin, Hailey Whitters, The Wilder Blue, Cody Jinks and The Avett Brothers. The Saturday night opening acts will include Jordan Davis, Colby Acuff, Drew Parker and Mitchell Tenpenny.
Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour. 13 cities. 25 shows. ⁰⁰Join/login to my fan club at https://t.co/RzSYEvromx to receive pre-sale info (info also emailed to members).Tickets will go on sale to the public next Friday, August 25 at 10 AM local venue time. pic.twitter.com/GEXiuJ2A2b— Luke Combs 🎤 (@lukecombs) August 15, 2023
“We got an opportunity to do two shows in some U.S. markets on the World Tour, but when I found out we were going to be able to do two shows for most all of the cities on the 2024 tour, I decided I wanted each show to have their own unique set up of openers, as well as my own unique setlist,” Combs said in a statement. “I thought this would give people an opportunity to come to both nights if they want, but see two completely different shows.”
He added, “With country music being such a wide genre and being a huge fan of it all myself, I wanted to open up my stage to acts that lean into Outlaw, Americana and Red Dirt on Friday nights, as well as having a night with people I have toured with in the past, who are more contemporary country,” he explained. “I’m super excited to have both groups be out on the road with me for the Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour!”
The tour takes its name from Combs’ recent pair of albums, 2022’s Growin’ Up, and its 2023 companion Gettin’ Old, and will follow his current 44-show World Tour, which visits three continents and 16 countries, and continues through the fall with concerts in Europe and Australia.
Combs recently helped country music make history on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, as his rendition of Tracy Chapman’s classic “Fast Car,” alongside Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” and Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town,” recently commanded the top three slots on the Hot 100, the first time in the chart’s history that three country songs had reached that milestone. “Fast Car” also spent five weeks atop the Country Airplay chart, and two weeks atop the Adult Pop Airplay chart.
Tickets for the Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour go on sale to the general public on Aug. 25 at 10 a.m. local time here, while Combs’ fanclub members will have access to a presale beginning Aug. 23 at 10 a.m. local time.
See the full list of dates below:
April 12 – Milwaukee, WI @ American Family Field
April 13 – Milwaukee, WI @ American Family Field
April 19 – Buffalo, NY @ Highmark Stadium
April 20 – Buffalo, NY @ Highmark Stadium
April 27 – University Park, PA @ Beaver Stadium
May 3 – Jacksonville, FL @ EverBank Stadium
May 4 – Jacksonville, FL @ EverBank Stadium
May 10 – San Antonio, TX @ Alamodome
May 11 – San Antonio, TX @ Alamodome
May 17 – Santa Clara, CA @ Levi’s® Stadium
May 18 – Santa Clara, CA @ Levi’s® Stadium
May 31 – Phoenix, AZ @ State Farm Stadium
June 1 – Phoenix, AZ @ State Farm Stadium
June 7 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Rice-Eccles Stadium
June 8 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Rice-Eccles Stadium
June 14 – Los Angeles, CA @ SoFi Stadium
June 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ SoFi Stadium
July 19 – East Rutherford, NJ @ MetLife Stadium
July 20 – East Rutherford, NJ @ MetLife Stadium
July 26 – Washington, D.C. @ FedExField
July 27 – Washington, D.C. @ FedExField
August 2 – Cincinnati, OH @ Paycor Stadium
August 3 – Cincinnati, OH @ Paycor Stadium
August 9 – Houston, TX @ NRG Stadium
August 10 – Houston, TX @ NRG Stadium
Country Music Hall of Fame member George Strait set a new attendance record at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, venue American Family Field on Saturday (June 3), when Strait’s headlining concert brought in 46,641 attendees — the highest-ever attendance in the venue. The concert also featured Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town. American Family Field is home to major league baseball team the Milwaukee Brewers.
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“We have been fortunate to have a number of fantastic shows at American Family Field since we opened our doors. Our expectations for George Strait, Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town were very high and those expectations were blown away,” Jason Hartlund, executive vp/chief commercial officer for the Milwaukee Brewers, said via a statement. “We set venue records for concert attendance and gross ticket revenue, among others. The Brewers have worked with Messina Touring Group for over a decade and have always enjoyed the relationship. We look forward to working together on many future shows [at] American Family Field.”
The Milwaukee show on June 3 is just the latest record-setting Strait has been doing recently: The accolade follows the recent record-setting attendance on May 27 at the Buckeye Country Superfest at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, which welcomed 63,891 attendees. Other artists on the Buckeye Country Superfest lineup were Stapleton, Little Big Town and Warren Zeiders.
Strait currently has eight additional concerts on the books for the rest of 2023, including a two-night stop at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 28-29, an Aug. 5 show at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, as well as a double-header at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, on Nov. 17-18.
Strait’s most recent album, 2019’s Honky Tonk Time Machine, marked his 27th album to debut at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart. Strait previously noted to Billboard that he’s not ruling out a similar touring run in 2024, saying, “Whether or not we do it again the following year depends on how we all feel it went when we’re finished with these shows.”
Messina Group CEO Louis Messina, who has promoted Strait’s concerts for approximately three decades, also previously added that a short touring stint could possibly happen next year. “It depends upon how he likes it or doesn’t like it,” Messina said. “The good thing about George Strait is we can do anything that he wants to do.”