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Jason Aldean’s Massachusetts concert temporarily evacuated due to severe weather

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Jason Aldean’s Massachusetts concert temporarily evacuated due to severe weather


Jason Aldean’s concert in Mansfield, Massachusetts got off to a rocky start after the venue was temporarily evacuated due to severe weather.

The 46-year-old country star, who was set to take the stage at the Xfinity Center at 7:30pm ET, shared a screenshot of the evacuation announcement to his Instagram Story shortly after 8pm.

“Severe Weather Alert. We are evacuating the venue. Calmly proceed to the nearest exit and seek shelter in your vehicles. Please stay tuned to the venue social networks for updates,” the announcement read.

Jason Aldean’s concert on Saturday night was evacuated due to severe weather in Massachusetts. ( Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartRadio)

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The Xfinity Center also posted the announcement on its social media accounts. A tweet from the venue noted that the evacuation was “due to severe weather & approaching lightning.”

JASON ALDEAN RECOVERING AFTER ABRUPT CONCERT EXIT DUE TO HEAT EXHAUSTION: ‘IT WAS PRETTY INTENSE’

The account later provided an update in a tweet that read: “If you are still in the venue, please seek shelter. Do not attempt to evacuate. We are still under a shelter in place with the hope to continue the show once it is safe.” In another update, the Xfinity Center’s Twitter account told concert-goers that a decision had yet to be made if it was safe to proceed with the show.

Around 9:30PM, Aldean revealed that the show would resume as he shared another announcement from the venue. 

“GOOD NEWS! Tonight’s Jason Aldean concert will continue! Doors are open now. Please make your way to the gates and have your tickets open on your phone and ready for scanning to help ease entry back into the venue. Jason Aldean will be on stage at 10:00PM.”

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a photo of Jason Aldean in Nashville

Attendees were told to shelter in their vehicles or shelter in place if they had remained at the venue. (Photo by Erika Goldring)

The evacuation comes a little over a week after the “You Make It Easy” hitmaker’s concert at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio on July 21 was postponed until Sept.17 due to a severe storm that tore through Northeast Ohio, causing heavy rains and flooding.

Aldean’s concert on July 17 in Hartford, Connecticut was abruptly cut short after the singer suffered heat exhaustion and ran off-stage mid-song. In a video that he later shared to social media, he informed his fans that he was “doing fine” and had received IV fluids. The following day, the concert was rescheduled for July 30 and the Georgia native performed that night in Saratoga Springs, New York as scheduled.

The five-time Grammy Award nominee is currently on his 31-date “Desperado Highway Tour,” which kicked off July 14 in Bethel Woods, NY. Aldean’s concert woes come after the music video release of his song “Try That In A Small Town” sparked backlash.

In the music video, Aldean touts how small towns wouldn’t put up with the kind of riots and lawlessness many cities across the country faced during the summer of 2020.

Last week, Aldean denied that “Try That In A Small Town” has racial undertones after critics voiced disdain for the new music video.

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Jason Aldean looks off int he distance wearing a black cowboy hat

The singer had to postpone two concerts since he kicked off his “Desperado Highway Tour” on July 14. (Rich Polk/Getty Images for iHeartRadio)

“In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests,” Aldean shared with his nearly 8 million fans across social media.

“These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.”

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Country Music Television (CMT) pulled the video from rotation three days after initially airing the video, representatives confirmed with Fox News Digital. CMT did not provide more information about why the video was removed from the air.

Jason Aldean sings in front of the Maury County courthouse with an American flag in his music video for "Try That In A Small Town"

Aldean’s concert woes come after the music video release of his song “Try That In A Small Town” sparked backlash. (BBR Music Group/Jason Aldean YouTube)

However, Aldean’s streams for “Try According to Luminate, which tracks streams and music sales, the audio and video streams from Aldean’s latest song went from 987,000 to 11.7 million, a 999% increase in the week after the release of the music video.

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JASON ALDEAN ADDRESSES CRITICISM OF COUNTRY MUSIC VIDEO: ‘THIS ONE GOES TO FAR’

Luminate also confirmed to Fox News Digital that sales for “Try That In A Small Town” have spiked as well. The week before Aldean released the music video, it sold 1,000 tracks. Last week, the country music song sold 228,000 tracks. “Try that In A Small Town” has jumped 999% since the song became a trending topic online.

Another major accomplishment for Aldean came on Monday. “Try That In A Small Town” was second on Billboard’s Hot 100 list. This marks the country music singer’s first No. 2 spot on the chart, with “Dirt Road Anthem” getting the seventh spot in July 2011.

Last week, Aldean denied that “Try That In A Small Town” has racial undertones after critics voiced disdain for the new music video. (Photo by John Shearer)

On Monday, Aldean thanked his fans for their unwavering support in a post he shared to Twitter. He uploaded a video montage that included clips of some of his recent shows with the song playing in the background.

“Thank u guys. Ready to see u back out there this weekend!” Aldean wrote, adding an American flag and a rocker-hand emoji.

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Included in the video was a clip of Aldean addressing his fans at one of his recent shows.

“So, somebody asked me, ‘Hey man, do you think you’re going to play this song tonight?’” Aldean is heard saying in one portion of the video. “The answer was simple. The people have spoken and you guys spoke very, very loudly this week.”

Fox News Digital’s Caroline Thayer and Tracy Wright contributed to this report.

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Massachusetts

Lucas: Ayotte’s shots at Healey over immigration hit mark

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Lucas: Ayotte’s shots at Healey over immigration hit mark


Hardly had Kelly Ayotte, the new governor of New Hampshire unloaded on Massachusetts over its immigration policy, than another illegal immigrant was charged with rape in the Bay State.

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Disciplinary hearing for suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor continued to 2nd day

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Disciplinary hearing for suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor continued to 2nd day


Suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor’s Trial Board disciplinary proceedings will go on to a second day.

Proctor’s trouble publicly began when he testified during the murder trial of Karen Read last summer. During a tense examination by the prosecution and even more intense cross examination, Proctor admitted to inappropriate private texts that he made as the case officer investigating Read.

“She’s a whack job (expletive),” Proctor read from compilations of text messages he sent to friends as he looked at Read’s phone. The last word was a derogatory term for women that he at first tried to spell out before Judge Beverly Cannone told him to read it the way he wrote it.

“Yes she’s a babe. Weird Fall River accent, though. No (butt),” he continued under oath on June 10, 2024.

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He also texted them “no nudes so far” as an update on the search through her phone. He also testified that he told his sister that he hoped that Read would kill herself.

On Wednesday, Proctor sat through a full day of trial board proceedings at MSP general headquarters in Framingham. When that concluded in the late afternoon, the board decided to continue for a second day on Feb. 10. Neither Wednesday’s proceeding nor the second day is open to the public.

Proctor was relieved of duty on July 1 of last year, which was the day the Read trial concluded in mistrial. He was suspended without pay a week later. The State Police finished its internal affairs investigation last week and convened the trial board to determine the next step in the disciplinary process.

The trial board makes disciplinary recommendations to the superintendent, who determines the final outcome.

“A State Police Trial Board shall hear cases regarding violations of Rules, Regulations, Policies, Procedures, Orders, or Directives,” states the Department’s Rules and Regulations.

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“In the event that the Trial Board finds guilt by a preponderance of the evidence on one or more of the charges, the Trial Board shall consider the evidence presented by the Department prosecutor pertaining to the accused member’s prior offenses/disciplinary history, and shall make recommendations for administrative action,” the rules and regulations state.

Read, 44, of Mansfield, faces charges of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter and leaving the scene of a collision causing the death of O’Keefe, a 16-year Boston Police officer when he died at age 46 on Jan. 29, 2022. Read’s second trial is scheduled to begin April 16.

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Local startups recovering from the burst tech funding bubble – The Boston Globe

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Local startups recovering from the burst tech funding bubble – The Boston Globe


Tech startups based in Massachusetts finished 2024 with a buzz of activity in venture capital fundraising.

In the fourth quarter, 191 startups raised a total of $4.1 billion, 20 percent more than startups raised in the same period a year earlier, according to a report from research firm Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association. For the full year, local startups raised $15.7 billion, about the same as in 2023.

The stability ended two years of sharp declines from the peak of startup fundraising in 2021. Slowing e-commerce sales, volatility in tech stock prices, and higher interest rates combined to slam the brakes on startup VC activity over the past three years. The 2024 total is less half the $34.7 billion Massachusetts startups raised in 2021.

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But local startup investors have expressed optimism that VC backing will continue to pick up in 2025.

The fourth quarter’s activity was led by battery maker Form Energy’s $455 million deal and biotech obesity drugmaker Kailera Therapeutics’ $400 million deal, both in October, and MIT spinoff Liquid AI’s $250 million deal last month. Two more biotech VC deals in October rounded out the top five. Seaport Therapeutics, working on new antidepressants, raised $226 million and Alpha-9 Oncology, developing new treatments for cancer patients, raised $175 million.

Massachusetts ranked third in the country in VC activity in the quarter. Startups based in California raised $49.9 billion and New York-based companies raised $5.3 billion.

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Venture capital firms, however, had an even harder time raising money in 2024 compared to earlier years. Massachusetts firms raised $5.9 billion, down 7 percent from 2023 and the lowest total since 2018. That mirrored the national trend, as VC firms across the country raised $76.1 billion, down 22 percent from 2023 and the lowest since 2019.

Only one Massachusetts-based VC firm raised more than $1 billion in 2024, a more common occurrence in prior years, according to the report: Flagship Pioneering in Cambridge raised $2.6 billion in July for its eighth investment fund plus another $1 billion for smaller funds. The firm, founded by biotech entrepreneur Noubar Afeyan, helps develop scientific research for startups in addition to providing funding.

The next largest deals were Cambridge-based Atlas Ventures’ $450 million biotech-focused fund announced last month and Engine Ventures $400 million fund investing in climate tech startups announced in June.

The decline comes as VC firms have had trouble getting a return on their investments, because so few startups have been able to go public. Just six biotech companies based in Massachusetts and no tech companies went public last year.


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Aaron Pressman can be reached at aaron.pressman@globe.com. Follow him @ampressman.





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