Last Night: Jason Aldean at Reliant Stadium

By Chris Gray Tue., Mar. 12 2013 at 11:00 AM

Photos by Amanda J. Cain

Jason Aldean
Reliant Stadium
March 11, 2013

Somewhere along the way Jason Aldean rubbed me the wrong way, and whenever I did have a stray thought about him, the words "massive tool" weren't far behind. I spent most of his RodeoHouston concert Monday night at (a packed) Reliant Stadium trying to figure out why, and I think I've got it.

In the last five years, Aldean has become one of mainstream country's biggest male stars, if not the biggest, certainly because of his eye-candy appeal but also because he has adopted more elements of hip-hop culture more successfully than any of his peers. Well, there's Kid Rock, but he doesn't really count.

But not only does Aldean use hip-hop terminology like "bling bling" in his lyrics and exude a general posture of "swag," he actually raps. Spits, whatever. He's not half bad, really, as MCs go. I don't have a problem with Aldean rapping (square-dance calling is not that far off), I just wish he had more interesting things to say than "if it's broke around here, we fix it."

Here is the problem. Aldean just doesn't have a whole lot of interesting things to say, period, or interesting musical ideas, either. When he tries to make a statement about the heartland, red states, small-town values, whatever, "Flyover States" doesn't resonate nearly as much as a similar ballad like Dierks Bentley's "Home." "She's Country" lacks half the lascivious wit of Brantley Gilbert's "G.I.R.L.S."

Some of his other bigger hits -- "Dirt Road Anthem," "Only Way I Know," "My Kinda Party" -- are about little more than how awesome Aldean's latter-day redneck lifestyle is, delivered in concentrated doses of Southern Rock 2.0. Smug may be acceptable in rap, but in country, humility still matters. (I like to think it does, anyway.)

You can't even call him Freudian, because "Big Green Tractor" seems to be about...a big green tractor. But occasionally Aldean will dip his toe into more serious waters, such as the drought-stricken "Amarillo Sky," or even the long-gone lonesome blues, as Monday on the steel-soaked "The Truth." That one song was enough to explain the extremely high female turnout, so Aldean is hardly irredeemable.

Location Info

Venue

Map

Reliant Stadium

2 Reliant Park, Houston, TX

Category: General

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Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, Jason Aldean

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WhiteLightning

skynrdfan55: you're not even good at insults. let us know when you graduate from high school.

dermgerm

Aldean is just not old country. He can't reconcile funny and genuine like a lot of the experienced artists can. John Deere green isn't a particularly romantic color until put in Diffie context. He's young, though! If he doesn't let fame stunt his creative growth, I'll be expecting some sweet country dubstep soon. (Neil Young's already getting sampled!)

skynyrdfan55

I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion....so now you know to stay home and read your past articles....the people that enjoy Jason's music will not miss you at the show! lol I felt about your writing skills the same way as you felt about the concert....not worth reading. I have a phone book to read that is more entertaining.