Police officers stand at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/John Locher)

In the wake of all this week’s news, it was with some hesitation that many of us turned on Saturday Night Live in order to see how they’d open the show. What we got, however, was something much better and much more powerful than we expected.

Jason Aldean, who was performing at the Las Vegas music festival that Stephen Paddock opened fire on this week, came out and delivered a statement, followed by a heartfelt rendition of the late Tom Petty’s I Won’t Back Down.

Watch.

Jason Aldean opens SNL with brief monologue on Las Vegas, launches into cover of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” pic.twitter.com/R73cFvU22v

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) October 8, 2017

These are the moments that we as Americans should strive for more of. Not political victories, not one-upping each other, not whataboutism. Real, powerful messages of unity in the face of horror and tragedy.

Good on SNL for making this happen.