Jason Aldean extends legacy, welcomes Wallen, Lambert to stage at Bridgestone

Arguably, his guests, Miranda Lambert and Morgan Wallen were the most well-received stars at Jason Aldean's date on his "Rock and Roll Cowboy" tour at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena. But, on many levels, the fact that this was likely an intentional nod at evolutions for himself -- but also for his particular brand of soulful yet bombastic hard rock -- was important.

The last time Aldean headlined a show at Bridgestone was a sold-out September 7, 2018, date on his High Noon Neon Tour. Two months had elapsed since his Jason Aldean's Kitchen and Rooftop Bar establishment had opened two blocks away. Four years later, real estate on Lower Broadway is ten times more valuable than it was a decade ago, on the back of bars like Aldean's becoming mega-successful honky-tonk watering holes. The "Big Green Tractor" vocalist has also achieved six more No. 1 singles, leaving him at 71 percent of his releases to country radio in 17 years achieving chart-topping status.

He's also at a point in his career where although the 45-year-old artist shows no signs of slowing down, he also is keenly aware that he's currently well into the third chapter of his storied career, where knowing how to pace himself to deliver a two-hour, 23-song long live set is more critical than ever.

More:Jason Aldean featured in '11 Minutes,' new Route 91 Festival documentary

Aldean sauntered onstage and delivered solid but not blow away versions of hits "Lights Come On," "Never Met A Girl" and "Amarillo Sky." The artist with over 10 million albums sold in his career followed Chase Rice as an opener. Notably, Rice is a veteran, platinum-selling singer-songwriter (whose latest hit was 2021's Florida Georgia Line duet "Drinkin' Beer. Talkin' God. Amen") famous for "Cruise," a septuple-platinum selling song for the previously mentioned -- and recently split tandem who also have their name on a Lower Broadway establishment not far from Aldean -- that, a decade ago, reigned for six consecutive months at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. Thus, his show opening in this manner was slightly underwhelming.

However, closing out a run of songs that included his 2022 hit "Trouble With A Heartbreak" and his first top 20 Billboard 100 hit, 2009's "Big Green Tractor," found him finding the extra gear his voice demanded for the impressive showcase that followed.

The trio of guests at the event started with the show's first opener, John Morgan.

Morgan's a bluegrass-loving native of North Carolina's Smoky Mountains region, perhaps better regarded for his songwriting pen at present, having co-written Aldean's "Macon, Georgia" double-album No. 1 singles "Trouble with a Heartbreak" and Carrie Underwood's "If I Didn't Love You." They paired for a spirited duet on another 2009-released Aldean hit -- noted as one of Morgan's favorites -- "The Truth."

Perhaps wanting to show himself as similar to the superstar-aware mega-connector that Keith Urban did on the Bridgestone stage by inviting Luke Combs for a guest performance a week prior, after acknowledging that he felt Morgan was a "star for years to come" in Nashville, that he needed to invite a "legend" onstage. As her 2005 hit "Kerosene" blared, Miranda Lambert walked onstage to make a cameo appearance and perform an "unrehearsed" (Aldean noting he had forgotten how to play the song's bridge) version of "Drowns The Whiskey," their 2018 chart-topper on country radio.

Aldean then said he needed a "current star" to round out the trio of guest appearances. He noted that he could quickly call Luke Bryan, whose 32 Bridge Lower Broadway bar is next door to his own. He also mentioned Kane Brown. In an August interview with Lon Helton, Brown noted they almost collaborated for his just-released album "Different Man." Then, he made an aside and said that he could've called Maren Morris -- with whom he and his wife have been embroiled in a social media feud -- to, as expected, a rousing chorus of boos.

Aldean's wife Brittany recently made what was perceived by supporters of the LGBTQ community as a transphobic Instagram post. These antagonized allies included Morris (whom Fox News talk show host Tucker Carlson branded "a lunatic country music person"). The aftermath has seen Aldean and his longtime publicity firm Greenroom PR end a 17-year working relationship. Morris released a t-shirt related to Carlson's statement that has led to proceeds totaling over $100,000 split between GLAAD's Transgender Media Program and Trans Lifeline.

More:Maren Morris: 'I don't feel comfortable going' to the CMA Awards after Aldean dispute

"I still think people would rather hear my songs than care too much about my political views," stated Aldean to The Tennessean in April 2022. The crowd at Bridgestone Arena would agree with that sentiment.

Simply put, Aldean's crowd draws something of a line between how the country superstar earns his money and lives his life. This mirrors a notion similar to what Lester Feder, author of "Country Music, Race, Region and the Politics of Culture, 1920-1974" and a 2020-21 Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellow at the University of Michigan, told The Tennessean in January 2022 was "a certain type of identity [that] exists in country music that is based in [being unafraid of] backlash." Backed by what he called "a machine populated with right-wing media and right-wing fans that both makes money from those attitudes," it, as noted by the response on Friday evening, "is strong enough to silence anyone or anything challenging that identity."

Aldean then calling out Morgan Wallen -- country music's ultimate superstar of the moment and an artist whose perceived right-wing racism is attached to his reluctance to achieve a level of repentance that feels comfortable to receive a mea culpa from the genre's liberal fanbase for publicly uttering a racial slur in February 2021 -- felt almost note-perfect in its timing.

Wallen's performance of his mega-popular 2020 single "Whiskey Glasses" received a thunderous ovation. In his previously-mentioned Tennessean feature, Aldean noted that Sam Hunt and Wallen were the artists he was most proud of carrying his style of R&B and rock-influenced country forward. Thus, his ceding the stage to him for two songs (they also dueted on "You Make It Easy," a song Wallen co-wrote for Aldean in 2018) was a significant moment. As Aldean signed autographs during "You Make It Easy," he motioned for Wallen to take center stage while he was working at signing as many hats and signs as possible. The moment encapsulated Aldean seeing Wallen as on an equal or greater footing than him.

Twenty-five years have elapsed since Aldean arrived in Nashville from Macon, Georgia. His catalog of hits to near-hits on country radio is astonishing. Still, if you compare it to Luke Combs achieving 13 consecutive No. 1 songs on country radio in six years, it's evident that his standard will soon be eclipsed. Alongside Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan and Miranda Lambert, the "Dirt Road Anthem" vocalist is as much a star country music performer as he is a part of the name-brand commercial machine that the genre continues to hyper-evolve into as a key economic driver of Nashville, overall, becoming America's ultimate entertainment destination. Thus, not fading but elevating to another level of status is not him growing older; instead, he is growing timeless in his influence.

Near the end of his show, Aldean sat behind a piano that then ascended on a platform above the riser where his steel guitarist and drummer were stationed. The image of Carrie Underwood appeared on the massive screen behind him, and they performed their 2021 Academy of Country Music and CMT Music Award-winning song "If I Didn't Love You." More than anything else, the 80s monster ballad and torch song qualities offer a grandiose sense that casts Aldean's career at this point as an almost ethereal thing.

For a particular set of fans of the genre who look at the "bro-country" era through the same rose-colored glasses that other generations venerate the "90s country," "countrypolitan," "70s outlaw" and "Nashville sound" eras, Aldean is unassailable in his iconic status. This concert, and in final, the response to his performance of "My Kinda Party," "She's Country" and "Hicktown" after "taking a shot and kicking [his concert] into overdrive," prove those statements true.

Jason Aldean is an earnest professional whose out-sized persona has been earned from a diligent, quarter-century-long pursuit -- and achievement -- of undeniable, mainstream, pop-aimed country music excellence. But, as divorcing the music from the man grows difficult for many country music fans, that pales to the enormity his legacy will likely simultaneously achieve.

Statistically, country music's best male artists have always been their most socially provocative ones. Aldean intends for this arguably most storied of country's family traditions to continue -- in a manner not unlike the roar of his crowd for his final songs did at Bridgestone in 2018, 2022, and likely beyond -- for quite some time to come.

Jason Aldean's setlist on Oct. 14, 2022

Lights Come OnNever Met A GirlAmarillo SkyTrouble With A HeartbreakCrazy TownRearview TownBig Green TractorTequila DoesTake A Little RideGot What I GotWhen She Says BabyThe Truth (feat. John Morgan)Drowns The Whiskey (feat. Miranda LambertFlyover StatesWhiskey Glasses (as performed by Morgan Wallen, solo)You Make It EasyIf I Didn't Love YouTattoos on This TownWe BackDirt Road AnthemMy Kinda PartyShe's CountryHicktown

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Jason Aldean extends legacy, welcomes Wallen, Lambert to stage at Bridgestone