Photos: Singer Jason Aldean brings tour to Raleigh amid ‘Small Town’ video controversy
Country music star Jason Aldean has been in the spotlight this summer, thanks to ongoing controversy over his video, “Try That in a Small Town.”
The video has drawn backlash for the song’s lyrics, which some say are racially charged, as well as the video’s imagery, with footage of Black Lives Matter protests that has since been removed. The video, also criticized for its filming location at a 1920s lynching site, has racked up 28 million views.
That was the backdrop for his concert in Raleigh Friday night as he brought his Highway Desperado Tour to Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek.
The night before, he addressed the controversy at his concert in Charlotte, The Charlotte Observer reported. He defended the song and the video, saying the media “tries to twist a lot of things to make it look this way or that way.”
“We put out a song that was supposed to be — it was supposed to start a conversation about people looking at — at what’s going on in our country,” he said to applause at PNC Music Pavilion.
Here are photos from Aldean’s concert in Raleigh.
Jason Aldean setlist, Raleigh, NC, Aug. 11, 2023
1. Tough List
2. Tattoos on This Town
3. When She Says Baby
4. That’s What Tequila Does
5. Fly Over States
6. Rearview Town
7. Amarillo Sky
8. We Back
9. Try That In a Small Town
10. Dirt Road Anthem
11. Take a Little Ride
12. Got What I Got
13. Crazy Town
14. Trouble With a Heartbreak
15. You Make It Wasy
16. Big Green Tractor
17. Lights Come On
18. Girl Like You
19. If I Didn’t Love You
20. Hicktown
21. My Kinda Party
22. She’s Country