Chris Stapleton took the stage at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Monday night (Mar. 7) to play “Watch You Burn,” his song about the tragic shooting at Vegas’ Route 91 country festival in 2017.
Introduced by Jason Aldean, who was performing at the festival when the shooting took place five years ago, Stapleton delivered an incendiary performance of the Starting Over album cut, with furious lyrics like “If I could snap my fingers, if I could flip a switch/ I’d make that last bullet first, you son of a b–ch.” Towards the end, a row of backing vocalists stationed in front of Stapleton raised their arms as the vocals rose in intensity, and the singer-guitarist’s shredding built to a cacophony — an intense climax for an emotional moment.
Stapleton is nominated for four awards at this year’s ACMs, including the coveted entertainer of the year, as well male artist of the year and single of the year (for Starting Over hit “You Should Probably Leave”) — the latter of which was awarded to Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood’s “If I Didn’t Love You” shortly after his performance.
The 57th Academy of Country Music Awards is produced by MRC Live & Alternative, which is owned by MRC. MRC is a co-owner of Billboard through a joint venture with Penske Media titled P-MRC.
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Tagged: ACM Awards, Country, entertainment blog, music, music blog