Luke Combs on Route 91 Fest’s Likely Return: ‘I Think It’s a Really Good Thing’
Luke Combs was side-stage on Oct. 1, 2017 watching Jason Aldean perform his headlining set at Route 91 Harvest Festival when bullets began to rain on the crowd. It was a horrific event that left 58 people dead and more than 800 injured.
Combs is forever changed, but he says he's in full support of the festival's return, which may happen in 2019.
"It could be the kind of show that can be a show of solidarity," he tells Taste of Country on Thursday (Dec. 13). "You can't let something like that dictate what you are going to do because that's what those people want — they want people to remain in fear. I'm not going to be scared to live my life, so I think it's a really good thing that it would go back."
While Combs says he has been back to Las Vegas many times since that painful night, it still hurts.
"I think going back for the first time, for me, was a very cathartic thing and a very healing thing, because obviously nobody has good memories of that night," the "She Got the Best of Me" singer says. "But now, I think it would be a really awesome way to honor the victims and survivors because a lot of those people are from California and Las Vegas and Arizona and Nevada. I mean, anytime we go out there, there are always people that were there. Anytime we are on the west coast, there is somebody — and even multiple people — who were at the show."
For now, the healing continues.
"It's a sad but really neat connection to have with your fans who were there with you," Combs says quietly. "We have helped them heal and they have helped us heal. So I would be very welcoming of seeing that festival come back."
If Route 91 Harvest Festival does return in 2019, it will be at a new location, though still in Las Vegas. The original site remains fenced off.
Never Forget the 58 Victims of the Route 91 Shooting: