'Woke'-mocking country star Jason Aldean coming to Treasure Island amphitheater in 2023

The outdoor casino gig was announced amid backlash to comments by the singer's wife Brittany Aldean about transgender children.

November 1, 2022 at 3:13PM
Jason Aldean performed at 2019’s Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. (Chris Pizzello, Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Although his wife has been in the news more than he has of late following controversial comments about transgender children, Jason Aldean is making headlines on his own this week by announcing more 2023 concerts, including an Aug. 19 outdoor gig at Treasure Island Casino Amphitheater.

The "Dirt Road Anthem" hitmaker added the Saturday night gig in Minnesota to his Rock n' Roll Cowboy Tour, named after the new single from his latest album, "Macon." Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster priced $49-$109.

It will be Aldean's first stop near the Twin Cities since a January 2020 gig at Xcel Energy Center. He also was one of the headliners at this past summer's We Fest in Detroit Lakes, Minn.

In the months since that We Fest gig, Aldean and his wife, YouTube beauty blogger Brittany Aldean, have generated headlines and social media backlash following comments Brittany made on social media thanking her parents for "not changing my gender when I went through a tomboy phase." Country singers Maren Morris and Cassadee Pope were among the most high-profile critics accusing the Aldeans of being transphobic, with Morris posting it's "so easy to, like, not be a scumbag."

The Aldeans spoofed the controversy in an "Anchorman"-inspired Halloween skit posted Monday, in which Brittany's character is accused of hating animals in a faux news report, and the couple bids adieu with the phrase, "Stay woke."

Jason's concert is the second one on the 2023 calendar for Treasure Island's 16,000-capacity amphitheater, in addition to the twice-postponed date with Matchbox 20 that's now set for June 10.

about the writer

about the writer

Chris Riemenschneider

Critic / Reporter

Chris Riemenschneider has been covering the Twin Cities music scene since 2001, long enough for Prince to shout him out during "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)." The St. Paul native authored the book "First Avenue: Minnesota's Mainroom" and previously worked as a music critic at the Austin American-Statesman in Texas.

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