On July 15, thousands of fans gathered at the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut to watch Jason Aldean perform his Highway Desperado tour – which kicked off on July 14 in Bethel, New York. It was just the second performance of what is supposed to be a 41-city tour that comes to an end on October 28.
Unfortunately, Aldean was forced to cut the concert short after just 20 minutes – he ran offstage while performing ‘Crazytown.’ While it wasn’t clear what the problem was, something was clearly wrong and one fan had reason to believe that it was likely something to do with the rising heat and humidity.
“It was hotter than he**. It was bad enough just standing in the pit I can’t imagine performing in jeans, boots, and hat under all those lights in that humidity with no breeze. Hope he’s okay!” one of his fans – who was at the concert – wrote on Twitter. He never returned to the stage and the show abruptly ended.
The following morning, Xfinity Theatre took to their Twitter account to provide an update for those who were in attendance. They confirmed Jason Aldean suffered a heat stroke during his performance and they are currently working with the singer to reschedule the show for a future date – an update will come soon.
“We appreciate your patience as we work on rescheduling a new date, as well as the outpouring of well wishes for Jason,” the Xfinity Theatre wrote in a Tweet on July 16. “A rep has confirmed he is now doing well after experiencing heat stroke during last night’s performance. Please stay tuned…”
According to The Weather Channel, it was as high as 90°F in Hartford, Connecticut on July 15 and humidity was as high as 80%. For those that live in those types of conditions, you can understand how difficult it must be to enjoy a concert – let alone, perform. Jason Aldean did his best, but couldn’t continue.
Video of the incident is now going viral and you have to commend the singer for trying to work through it. He was in the middle of a song when you see him bury his face in his arm – as if he was wiping away sweat – before trying to continue. He went on for a few more seconds before rushing backstage.
At this time it’s unclear if his recent heat stroke will prevent him from performing any of his upcoming concerts – though his reps are currently working on rescheduling the Hartford show for a future date. He was scheduled to perform in Saratoga Springs, NY at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on July 16.
There’s a chance he might cancel his July 16 show to recover, but that’s only if he has to. However, he has three days of rest between July 17 and July 19 to recover and prepare for what’s to come – his next performance after Saratoga Springs is July 20 at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.
It wasn’t just the heat stroke that was trying to bring him down in Hartford. Before he was forced to rush offstage, he became the latest victim of a fan throwing an item at a singer while they perform. Luckily, it was just a cowboy hat that was thrown and it didn’t injure him. He kindly wagged his finger at the fan.
