Jake Owen Finds Chilling Reminder in His Tour Bus After Route 91
Jake Owen just got his tour bus back, and with it came a flashback to the events at Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1 — it was a chalkboard of the day's events, written out by his tour manager.
"I'll never forget this day" Owen writes in the post.
Owen was side-stage at the Route 91 Harvest Festival watching headliner Jason Aldean perform when a shooter opened fire, killing more than 50 people and injuring hundreds more. Owen had performed just before Aldean, as outlined on the chalkboard inside his bus.
"Every day my tour manager/best friend writes down our day on our bus door chalkboard," he explains. "We just got our bus back from Vegas and it’s still written on the door."
Photos From Route 91 Harvest Festival That Show Humanity in Chaos
Days after the incident, Owen recalled the shooting to a number of outlets, saying, “When the shots started being fired and you could hear it ricocheting off the top of the roof of the stage, we started just running in any direction we could, because you didn’t know where it was coming from. You didn’t know if someone was on the ground; you didn’t know where it was coming from.”
Even though it was a rattling experience for everyone involved, Owen is speaking out against the violence. He refuses to let it hinder his — or other entertainers' — platform of live music.
“I think it’s our duty as entertainers out here in the world to stand up [to] this sort of thing,” Owen says. “They can’t keep us down. We’re not going to live in fear, not going to continue to do this, because I think part of being entertainers is bringing happiness to people.”
Owen has continued his tour and has four remaining show dates posted for 2017.
Jason Aldean Wants Change After Las Vegas Shooting