Jason Aldean plays first full Las Vegas show since shooting: 'Let's finish what we started'

Staff and wire reports, USA TODAY
Updated

Jason Aldean has returned to Las Vegas for his first full show since 2017, when the country music star's appearance at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival was cut short by the deadliest mass shooting by a single individual in U.S. history.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Aldean, 42, told a packed house at Park MGM's Park Theater on Friday night during his three-night "Ride All Night" tour stop that it was "a real special night for us."

“We got a lot of people in the crowd who are family to us, so welcome everyone from Route 91,” he told the crowd, according to People. “We came back to blow it out for you guys tonight. Let’s finish what we started, what y’all think!”

Aldean capped the concert with "When She Says Baby," the song he was playing when the shooting erupted. He told the audience that there'd been "a little interruption" during that performance and that he wanted to finish it Friday night.

Jason Aldean performs during the launch of his three-night "Ride All Night" engagement at Park MGM on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas.
Jason Aldean performs during the launch of his three-night "Ride All Night" engagement at Park MGM on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas.

He also did a cover of Tom Petty's "Won't Back Down," which Aldean performed on "Saturday Night Live" six days after the shootings on Oct. 1, 2017.

Video from the concert shared on Twitter by @drew_amato shows a man in a wheelchair, wearing a Route 91 festival T-shirt and waving an American flag, being held above the crowd during "Any Ol' Barstool."

The attack left 58 people dead and wounded 413 others; an additional victim recently died from injuries sustained that night. Gunman Stephen Paddock killed himself as police closed in.

Soon after the shooting, Aldean and his wife Brittany returned to Las Vegas to spend time with victims. Later that fall, Aldean joined an all-star line-up of country artists to raise money for victims of the shooting.

Prior to Friday night's show, Aldean was last on stage in Las Vegas in April at the Academy of Country Music Awards show at MGM Grand Garden, where he accepted the ACM's artist of the decade award.

There was no mention of the tragedy from the stage that night.

Contributing: The Associated Press and Kim Willis, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jason Aldean plays first full Las Vegas show since Route 91 shooting