Jason Aldean’s Full Throttle Tour [Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, MI] 09/11/2025

Concert Review number four for me this year, night one of 2-sold out shows, and this night and this tour are something that I look forward to every year. This was the fifth year in a row that I’ve been fortunate enough to cover the Jason Aldean tour for Full Access Detroit. It would have been 6 years, but Jason played a different part of Michigan for last years show and didn’t make his usual Pine Knob stop. In addition to Jason, this year’s tour included Nate Smith, RaeLynn and of course, Dee Jay Silver, entertaining the audience before the show and in between the acts.

This year was even more special than prior years, not only with it falling on the anniversary of 9-11, but also the tragic event that took the life of popular activist and podcast host, Charlie Kirk, just the day before. I’ll get more into detail about that when I get to talking about Jason’s set that night. Dee Jay Silver was entertaining as always between bands. He definitely knows how to keep the crowd happy and gets them extra pumped up leading to the start of the next act.  I can’t remember how many years exactly that Jason has been bringing Silver on tour with him, but it has to be at least the last 3 or 4 tours.

By the time I parked and got into the venue, RaeLynn was already playing. At first it was looking like I was going to miss her set totally with the traffic and lines to get into the lot, but I was happy to have only missed about 2 songs. RaeLynn isn’t exactly new, she’s been slowly making a name for herself over the last 5 or 6 years, but she is now finally getting the attention that many believe she has deserved. She looked adorable, sounded great and I enjoyed her set, especially the Maroon 5 cover and the song she ended with, ‘Long Live Country Music’. I don’t think she could have picked a better song to end her time on stage. The audience really enjoyed her, and this Jason Aldean Tour is going to be huge for her career as the masses get to see and hear what she’s all about.  For more info about her, and to hear some music, you can check her out at: www.raelynn.com.

Next up was Nate Smith. I’ve been a fan of Nate since the first time I heard the song ‘Whiskey on You’. Not only a powerful song but it related heavily to something I had been going through at the time with a recently ended relationship. This was my 3^rd time seeing Nate and once again, another passionate and energy filled set from him and the band. Nate is another one of those guys that just gets better every time you see him. Great chemistry with both his band and the audience and he looks really good after his recent weight loss. With Nate, you sometimes forget just how many great songs he has out already with him still being fairly new to the country music world fan majority. Always a powerful voice and he just gets so into the music. I love when you can tell that an artist is actually feeling the song and not just going through the motions. From the show opener ‘Bulletproof’ to ending the night with ‘World on Fire’, the crowd was totally into it and they were showing the love for Nate that night. Other highlights for me were hearing ‘Nobody Likes Your Girlfriend’, a new song he has out now with Hardy, and ‘Wish I Never Felt’, another favorite of mine and another personal song to me. Stellar performance that night and it definitely left me looking forward to the next time I get to see Nate Smith live. For more about, Nate you can check out: www.natesmithofficial.com.

When it came time for Jason Aldean to take the stage, the crowd was excited, loud and packed into the amphitheater and lawn areas. As many of us expected, the show started with ‘RIP Charlie Kirk’ and ‘9-11 Never Forget’ messages on the big screens with chants of ‘USA, USA’ and thunderous applause. He opened the night with ‘Hicktown’ and the energy and intensity just grew from that moment on. ‘Lights Come On’ came up next, one of my favorite Aldean songs, and then they followed with a barrage of hit, after, hit, after hit. Jason and the band were fired up that night and the audience was loving every minute of it and responding with just as much energy in return. I always love hearing ‘Tattoos on this Town’, ‘Fly Over States’ and ‘Dirt Road Anthem’, and I’m happy they are pretty much always in the set list. About an hour into the show, the ‘RIP Charlie Kirk’ image came back up on the big screens and Jason proceeded to say some words about the tragic event the day prior and about what Charlie meant to him and to his wife and family. I think most of were surprised to hear that Jason actually had a few experiences with meeting Charlie Kirk and talk about America and some of the issues we are facing these days as a country. You could tell his words were genuine and that this man actually meant something to him. It wasn’t just a person speaking of another just for the attention or praise from others. More chants of ‘USA, USA’ and the Jason went into ‘Try That in a Small Town’, dedicating it to Charlie Kirk and thanking him for the support of the song when a lot of people were trying to make it out to be something it wasn’t. Of course, there were mentions of 9-11 as well, being the actual anniversary. Such a patriotic and emotional part of the night and it was just what many of us needed after a week of so much tragedy and pain.

The rest of the show contained more hit songs, more band energy and chemistry and more of what people came to see. Jason Aldean being Jason Aldean. I point it out every time, but I think he and his band have some of the best chemistry out there when it comes to artists and their touring musicians. When you see these guys out there on stage you can tell that they are having a blast and truly do enjoy playing music together out on the road. Living the rock and roll life with all the country sounds and feels. I ran into quite a few friends over the course of the night, some who had never seen Jason live before and even a few that had experienced their first country concert that evening. I think each and every one of them was feeling what I was feeling. Proud to be American, and happy to have just attended another Jason Aldean show. The ‘Full Throttle’ Tour runs through early November and then picks up again in January. If you get a chance to catch this tour, I highly suggest you make it out to a show. For more info on Jason Aldean you can visit www.jasonaldean.com.

Thank you 313 Presents for allowing us another year of being able to cover the SE Michigan stop of the tour and thank you Jason Aldean for just being you and for bringing it live, like you always do. Country music is alive and well, and that makes me happy. Until the next one.

-Howie