Luke's Star is on the Rise!
Rising star Jason Aldean has rowdy crowd on its feet
By Brian Dukes
Staff writer
Aldean's performance was part of his 2010 Wide Open Tour in support of his latest album, "Wide Open." The album was released in April and spawned back-to-back No. 1 hits - "She's Country" and "Big Green Tractor."
His silhouette looming larger than life behind a lighted curtain, Aldean took the stage just after 9 p.m. to an eruption of screams from the crowd of mostly women.
"What's up Fayetteville?" the singer shouted before launching into "Crazy Town." "I love him, he's so hot," said Casey Sanderson, who traveled to the show from Whiteville with her friend, Misty Fannin. "He's got an amazing voice. He's a great singer."
"But he's also so good-looking," Fannin added. "He's going to be a superstar - if he's not already."
The crowd's enthusiastic reaction to Aldean seemed to prove Fannin's point, as he powered through "Wide Open" and "I Break Everything I Touch" before catching his breath.
The masses, however, were more than warmed up by opening act Luke Bryan, a rising star in his own right.
Bryan, accompanied by a five-piece band, got the oft-rowdy crowd to its feet early with "Doin' My Thing" from his latest album of the same name.
He followed up with "What Country Is" and "Rain Is a Good Thing" before pausing to point out a drunk person who'd been pulled from the crowd.
"The show just started and he's already gone," said Bryan, injecting some humor into the evening. "Now, he's gonna have to explain that to his wife later."
Bryan's set also included crowd favorites "Country Man" and "We Rode in Trucks," both off his first album, "I'll Stay Me."
He also performed "Drinkin' Beer and Wastin' Bullets," "Every Time I See You" and "Do I," his first No. 1 hit, which got the crowd singing along and dancing to the tune - in beer lines, at ATM machines and in front of their seats.
"You guys made this song number one," Bryan said. "Thanks for spending your hard-earned money here with us tonight."
Bryan at times lost his baseball cap and once dropped his microphone. The crowd didn't seem to care, as he merely smiled and laughed through his self-inflicted technical difficulties.
Bryan, however, not-so-clumsily slid into a brief cover of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" during the middle of performing "All My Friends Say," also off his first album.
"Sorry, I couldn't help it," Bryan said. "I just wanted to play one rock song real quick."