Country Duo Big & Rich performed on the same night as artists such as Jason Aldean, Jake Owen and Kane Brown at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on October 1st and just before the shooting began, they went to a bar that John Rich owns in Las Vegas to play a few songs.
“We played 90 minutes to two hours before Jason Aldean,” John Rich told Fox News about the tragic events that occurred late that night. “We loaded up our bus, and there is a little country bar I have in Las Vegas that I own [Redneck Riviera], and we went over there to play a little after-show set. We were onstage there and got the tap on the shoulder that there was an active shooter. We immediately stopped playing and got everyone away from the windows and tried to secure the location.”
Rare Country reports that in the bar that evening was a Minneapolis police officer, who was on hand just to enjoy a little live music.
“He came up to me and showed me his badge and he says, ‘I’m an officer and I am not armed’ and asked me, ‘Are you armed?’” John recalled. “I said, ‘Yes sir, I am. I am armed.’ I have my concealed weapon permit. And he said, ‘Can I have your firearm so I can hold point on the front door?’ So I handed over my firearm to him. Everyone got behind him and, for about two hours without flinching, this guy kept point on that front door just in case someone came through.”
