I certainly could understand him being tired.  He has been going hard for a while now, touring almost all year, just hated to see him flat – not bad, just flat.  Now it could have been that he had been back stage watching his two openers.  Rachel Foley was followed by the soon to be big star Luke Bryan.

Both of them came well prepared and ‘fired up’ to get the audience going in a lively sort of way. High energy acts, both of them! Or he was resting up for Saturday night’s tour finale? That show took place Dallas and was Aldean’s annual Concert For The Cure event to benefit Susan G. Komen.  If that was the case he is off the hook with this reviewer…you the man Jason!

I hadn’t heard much about Rachel Foley yet it was soon clear that she belonged on the stage. And she has that Jason Aldean vibe to her act…a little country, a little rock and roll and for sure a touch of Outlaw. The patch on her jacket said Guns’n’Roses!

Next up Luke Bryan is getting huge in a hurry, and it was obvious as to why on this night. It appeared, in fact, that many folks in the audience might have been there mainly to see him. If so, he didn’t disappoint. The boy is non-stop, always a great smile, and strong lungs. The fact that the largely female audience was unable to take their collective eyes off of him, or some part of his anatomy, says something too.  My wife was part of that contingency!

Still, having said all that, Mr. Jason Aldean is huge. He is selling out every place he goes, including here in The Woodlands. (Earlier in the day his publicist announced that he had sold out his show at Fenway Park in Boston in seven minutes…go Red Sox! )

Better yet, Saturday was cold, wet and windy and it didn’t keep the crowd away at all. The folks came, and although there’s always that group that still showed as much skin as possible and dressed as if it were mid-summer, most came dressed to stay warm, comfortable and enjoy! Their theory and mine… comfort over fashion.  Practical or attempt to impress?  Looking at this crowd, I have no clue where the line is between fashion and freezing one’s rear end off. Wow, what a diversely dressed crowd…mainly women! Us guys?  Wear what’s worn and WARM!

Back to Jason, I have seen him now for the third time and the last two times there seemed to be a little more POP in his step, a little more excitement in his voice and I just didn’t feel it this time. Actually, I just went through my photographs of his performance and I thought they validated my conclusions about his show. Yet he has lively songs and his execution was fine. He played Johnny Cash, Big Green Tractor, Crazy Town, Take A Little Ride, Dirt Road Anthem and My Kinda Party, among others.

He also played a couple off his new record Night Train that was just released earlier in October. Wasn’t wowed by the new stuff but the fans in the audience seemed to enjoy it and people are buying it in very big numbers. How about over 400,000 copies in it’s first week! In this economy that is HUGE or as we say in Texas LARGE. The guy’s popularity continues to grow as evidenced in his CMA nominations as “Entertainer of the Year’, “Male Vocalist of the Year’ and ‘Single of the Year’.

For me I felt like we saw the best part of the evening when Luke was up doing his thing and the rest of the evening was listening to Jason Aldean’s songs rather than watching him kick butt. But Jason, you’re great, and getting greater, and your future is obviously bright. Please however stay rested and go to bed earlier rather than going to those bars where you get yourself in trouble!

Until next time I hope you keep it between the navigational beacons.