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MOOSIC — On an unseasonably cool and rainy summer night, Jason Aldean brought fire to Northeastern Pennsylvania as his Burn It Down tour hit the Pavilion at Montage Mountain on Thursday, Sept. 10.
Despite the weather, country music fans came out in droves to see Aldean perform along with his tour mates, Tyler Farr and Cole Swindell. Both openers delivered energetic performances, warming up the crowd before Aldean took the stage.
Farr provoked a thunderous response from the fans by saying, “We love you Pennsylvania, because y’all are crazy,” before playing his hit “Whiskey In My Water.”
Swindell kept the energy alive and the drinks flowing with “Brought To You By Beer,” before pouring his heart out to the crowd, explaining that he wrote songs for artists like Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan before getting a record deal and thanking the fans for helping him live his dream.
A highlight of the set heard Swindell launch into his heartbroken, country-rock ballad, “You Ain’t Worth The Whiskey,” and fans sang the chorus with such vigor that Swindell was prompted to say, “I think my ex heard that.”
Dana Hupczey and Brian Cianchetti of Scranton are fans of Aldean but appreciate the other artists on tour just as much.
“Part of what makes his tour so good is his openers,” Hupczey said. “It’s a great trio” of acts. Hupczey went on to call the atmosphere a great one for her and friends to come together for an end-of-summer gathering.
Cianchetti said Swindell is an amazing artist and called the harder sensibility Farr and Aldean bring to country the new rock and roll.
When the torch was passed to the headliner, the already electric atmosphere was turned up a notch, as Aldean came out on an elevated stage with pyrotechnics going off all around him and performed hit after hit. Opening with “Hick Town,” his debut single from 2005, Aldean never let up, delivering favorites like “My Kinda Party.”
Barb Hashagen, of Mountain Top, was in attendance and said she likes Aldean for his bad-boy image and is a fan of the tour’s namesake song, “Burn It Down.”
In front of an eye-catching display of tattoo-art graphics, Aldean gave fans his indelible tune, “Tattoos On This Town.”
Switching modes to his most recent, 2014 album, “Old Boots, New Dirt,” Aldean delivered his perspective-on-life song, “Gonna Know We Were Here,” his dual lead guitar players joining him at the front of a stage extension that jutted into the crowd for synchronized soloing.
The set included a cover of “Summer of 69’,” which the band played with a bit more hard rock edge than is expected from the original Bryan Adams version.
The rain began to hasten as Aldean got back to his own catalogue of songs, and just as a weather-weary crowd began to stir with discomfort, he brought them back to life with his anthem about the perils of making it in Nashville, “Crazy Town.”
Along with Farr and Swindell, Aldean truly stole the night away from a mother nature who was not in the mood for country and put it in the hands of his fans.