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 RoseThe post “Government’s After 29-Year-Old, Veteran Songwriters”: Zach Bryan Performs Controversial “Anti-ICE” Song “Bad News” For The First Time Live In St. Louis first appeared on Whiskey Riff.