Shots fired once again.
After what feels like years of comments about not touring and/or playing select dates, Zach Bryan kicked off his lengthy, 35+ show With Heaven On Tour over the weekend in St. Louis. Given the fact that he’s coming off his all-genre #1 album, With Heaven On Top back in January, fans were quite curious to see how his setlist would shape up, thanks to the addition of 25 brand new songs in his discography.
Ultimately, the Oklahoma native provided a heavy mix of past hits such as “I Remember Everything,” “Something in the Orange” and “Oklahoma Smokeshow” along with a plethora of live debuts from the likes of With Heaven On Top’s “Skin,” which is highly speculated to be a shot at his ex, Brianna Chickenfry, “Santa Fe,” “Slicked Back,” “Rivers and Creeks” and more.
Out of all the new tracks, fans were curious whether he would play the highly controversial “Bad News,” which many have labeled as Bryan’s “anti-ICE” anthem. In case you missed it, let me give you a quick rundown of the entire controversy.
Back in October, before With Heaven On Top’s release, the “Condemned” singer took to Instagram to tease the track. At the time, the entire song wasn’t released save for its first two verses, which read as follows:
“Didn’t wake up dead or in jail
Some out of town boys been giving us hell
I got some bad news
I woke up missing you
My friends are all degenerates but they’re all I got
The generational story of dropping the plot
I heard the cops came
Cocky mother******* ain’t they?
And ICE is gonna come, bust down your door
Try to build a house no one builds no more
But I got a telephone
Kids are all scared and all alone
The Boss stopped bumping, the rock stopped rolling
The middle fingers rising and it won’t stop showing
I got some bad news
The fading of the red, white and blue”
In the days following, Bryan caused nothing short of a media firestorm, receiving backlash from both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the White House itself. In particular, White House representative, Abigail Jackson, would fire back at the 29-year-old singer/songwriter, accusing him of wanting to “open the gates to criminal illegal aliens.”
“While Zach Bryan wants to Open the Gates to criminal illegal aliens and has Condemned heroic ICE officers, Something in the Orange tells me a majority of Americans disagree with him and support President Trump’s great American Revival. Godspeed, Zach!”
Despite many labeling the song as an anti-American anthem at the time of its teaser, “Bad News” wound up being far from the left-leaning anthem many were painting it out to be upon its official release. Serving more as a reflection on the current division in the country, Bryan wound up calling out both sides in the full version of the song in the third verse, pointing out the divisiveness between both parties.
“Well, he said, she said, mirrors and smoke
The Right’s turned red and the Left’s all woke
I got some bad news
I woke up missing you”
Given that the controversy has died down a bit, it was up in the air whether or not Bryan would actually pull out the track for his first With Heaven On Tour show in St. Louis. Though it took some time, being played during the final third of his 32-song set, he delivered it with an interesting preface:
“The government’s after all the 29-year-old veteran songwriters.”
Like anything that Bryan says, the quote is bound to stir up some controversy. I think it’s pretty safe to say that the government is not, in fact, “going after” songwriters. While the comments made by both the DHS and White House were a bit ridiculous at the time, especially considering the fact that the entire song had yet to be released, I’d hardly call their actions “going after” him. Considering his past history of making statements, retracting them and/or deflecting, I’d say this is pretty much par for the course with Bryan at this point.
Zach Bryan Tour Dates
March 14 – Tampa, Florida – Raymond James Stadium – Caamp & J.R. Carroll
March 21 – San Antonio, Texas – The Alamodome – Caamp & J.R. Carroll
March 28 – Baton Rouge, Louisiana – Tiger Stadium – Caamp & J.R. Carroll
April 3 – Tulsa, Oklahoma – H.A. Chapman Stadium – Trampled By Turtles & J.R. Carroll
April 4 – Tulsa, Oklahoma – H.A. Chapman Stadium – Trampled By Turtles & J.R. Carroll
April 11 – Louisville, Kentucky – L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium – Kings of Leon & J.R. Carroll
April 18 – Charlotte, North Carolina – Bank of America Stadium – Caamp & J.R. Carroll
April 25 – Lincoln, Nebraska – Memorial Stadium – Kings of Leon & J.R. Carroll
May 2 – Starkville, Mississippi – Davis Wade Stadium – Dijon & J.R. Carroll
May 9 – Cleveland, Ohio – Huntington Bank Field – Dijon & J.R. Carroll
May 27 – San Sebastian, Spain – Donostia Arena- Ben Howard & Keenan O’Meara
May 31 – Berlin, Germany – Waldbühne – Ben Howard & Keenan O’Meara
June 3 – Oslo, Norway – Unity Arena – Ben Howard & Keenan O’Meara
June 6 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Parken – Ben Howard & Keenan O’Meara
June 9 – Eindhoven, Netherlands – Philips Stadium – Ben Howard & Keenan O’Meara
June 12 – Liverpool, United Kingdom – Anfield Stadium – Dijon & Fey Fili
June 14 – Edinburgh, United Kingdom – Scottish Gas Murrayfield – Dijon & Fey Fili
June 16 – London, United Kingdom – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – Dijon & Fey Fili
June 17 – London, United Kingdom – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – Dijon & Fey Fili
June 20 – Cork, Ireland – Páirc Úi Chaoimh – Dijon & Fey Fili
June 21 – Cork, Ireland – Páirc Úi Chaoimh – Dijon & Fey Fili
June 23 – Belfast, Northern Ireland – Boucher Playing Fields – Dijon & Fey Fili
June 24 – Belfast, Northern Ireland – Boucher Playing Fields – Dijon & Fey Fili
July 24 – Eugene, Oregon – Autzen Stadium – MJ Lenderman & Fey Fili
July 31 – San Diego, California – Snapdragon Stadium – MJ Lenderman & Fey Fili
August 1 – San Diego, California – Snapdragon Stadium – MJ Lenderman & Fey Fili
August 7 – Salt Lake City, Utah – Rice-Eccles Stadium – MJ Lenderman & Fey Fili
August 13 – Denver, Colorado – Empower Field at Mile High – MJ Lenderman & Fey Fili
August 14 – Denver, Colorado – Empower Field at Mile High – MJ Lenderman & Fey Fili
August 22 – Arlington, Texas – AT&T Stadium – MJ Lenderman & Fey Fili
September 5 – Glendale, Arizona – State Farm Stadium – MJ Lenderman & Fey Fili
September 18 – Dover, Delaware – The Woodlands – Kings of Leon, Fey Fili & Gabriella Rose
September 19 – Dover, Delaware – The Woodlands – Alabama Shakes, Fey Fili & Gabriella Rose
September 21 – Toronto, Ontario – Rogers Center – Trampled By Turtles & Gabriella Rose
September 22 – Toronto, Ontario – Rogers Center – Trampled By Turtles & Gabriella Rose
October 2 – Foxborough, Massachusetts – Gillette Stadium – Gregory Alan Isakov & Gabriella Rose
October 3 – Foxborough, Massachusetts – Gillette Stadium – Gregory Alan Isakov & Gabriella Rose
October 10 – Auburn, Alabama – Jordan-Hare Stadium – Gregory Alan Iskov & Gabriella Rose
