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By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 09:42 p.m. EDT, Jun 20, 2009
Going to a Toby Keith concert is like having a few beers — and shots of tequila, and maybe a little bit of Willie Nelson's favorite weed — with an old buddy you see only once a year.
Yeah, there will be some new topics to discuss as you catch up with the latest happenings in each other's lives.
Mostly, though, you'll talk about the same old stuff. And when it's over, you'll have had a fun and familiar time.
Friday night, Keith and fellow big, burly, ex-oil-rigging, ex-football playing baritone Trace Adkins opened up the Blossom pop concert season.
They delivered a near sell-out crowd that was quite happy to party with their old buddy, the Big Dog Daddy and his Toughest Tour.
Despite the local weather prognosticator's gleeful weeklong predictions of torrential downpours, most fans didn't seem too concerned with the threat. Short skirts, short shorts, sandals and flip-flops were everywhere, as fans seemingly had faith that Mother Nature is a country music fan.
Their faith was well placed, as the heavy rain never came, though there was plenty of muddy ground across which to trudge.
Keith also kept up his end with a show that followed the basic blueprint he has been using for the past several years. He opened with a humorous short film starring himself and a talking bulldog.
This year's lengthy edition featured a ''contest'' between Keith and fictional bands, such as metal band Fistful of Guts and the Jehova Brothers for the title of America's Toughest Tour, sponsored by Ford, of course.
Also, per usual, a part of a Ford truck was embedded in the middle of the stage. This year's edition features the bed of a F-150 pickup with working taillights.
There was pyro, there was confetti and there was a set list designed to get people partying — which they were more than ready to do.
The Blossom show was only the second stop on the tour, and Keith — wearing jeans, a black button-down shirt and requisite cowboy hat — was in high spirits, along with his 10 piece band, which includes bass-playing Massillon native Chuck Goff.
Keith ran through many of his hits, including a dust-kicking set opening Big Dog Daddy, Hottie, and a rollicking Let's Get Drunk and Be Somebody that had folks line-dancing in the aisles.
Though he is several years removed from the controversy of Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue, Keith is bit of a maverick in the country genre, flouting the general rule of thumb to keep the banter family-friendly when outside of a bar.
Keith dropped a few ''S-'' and ''F-bombs'' throughout the show and extolled his desire for a sisterly menage a trois at the end of I'm Just Talkin' Bout Tonight.
He played a few recent singles, including the title track from his latest album That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, God Love Her and old concert favorites such as Weed With Willie.
He ended the show with some of his patriotic tunes, including American Soldier, sending fans home satiated for another year.
Opener Trace Adkins stated early in his set that ''we ain't gonna mess around.'' He kept both his word and his fans on their feet for much of his 50 minutes onstage.
The set list fed the party-hearty vibe Keith favors, as Adkins performed popular uptempo and novelty tunes such as Honky Tonk Badonkadonk, I Got My Game On and the funny honky-tonkin' ''economic stimulus plan'' Marry for Money.
As promised, Adkins performed only two ballads — the recent single You're Gonna Miss This and the gospel-fueled Muddy Water, featuring a small gospel vocal group and an impassioned and animated vocal from Adkins that surpassed the recorded version.
Adkins ended his set with a surprisingly rocking arrangement of Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground that saw Adkins reaching into both the upper and lower registers of his range and gave his septet some room to jam.
Fans may not get many surprises at a Toby Keith concert. And after you've seen him a few times, it becomes fairly easy to predict the flow of songs and moods.
But just like with that old drinkin' buddy, just because you've seen and heard it all before, it don't mean it ain't fun.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
Going to a Toby Keith concert is like having a few beers — and shots of tequila, and maybe a little bit of Willie Nelson's favorite weed — with an old buddy you see only once a year.
Yeah, there will be some new topics to discuss as you catch up with the latest happenings in each other's lives.
Mostly, though, you'll talk about the same old stuff. And when it's over, you'll have had a fun and familiar time.
Friday night, Keith and fellow big, burly, ex-oil-rigging, ex-football playing baritone Trace Adkins opened up the Blossom pop concert season.
They delivered a near sell-out crowd that was quite happy to party with their old buddy, the Big Dog Daddy and his Toughest Tour.
Despite the local weather prognosticator's gleeful weeklong predictions of torrential downpours, most fans didn't seem too concerned with the threat. Short skirts, short shorts, sandals and flip-flops were everywhere, as fans seemingly had faith that Mother Nature is a country music fan.
Their faith was well placed, as the heavy rain never came, though there was plenty of muddy ground across which to trudge.
Keith also kept up his end with a show that followed the basic blueprint he has been using for the past several years. He opened with a humorous short film starring himself and a talking bulldog.
This year's lengthy edition featured a ''contest'' between Keith and fictional bands, such as metal band Fistful of Guts and the Jehova Brothers for the title of America's Toughest Tour, sponsored by Ford, of course.
Also, per usual, a part of a Ford truck was embedded in the middle of the stage. This year's edition features the bed of a F-150 pickup with working taillights.
There was pyro, there was confetti and there was a set list designed to get people partying — which they were more than ready to do.
The Blossom show was only the second stop on the tour, and Keith — wearing jeans, a black button-down shirt and requisite cowboy hat — was in high spirits, along with his 10 piece band, which includes bass-playing Massillon native Chuck Goff.
Keith ran through many of his hits, including a dust-kicking set opening Big Dog Daddy, Hottie, and a rollicking Let's Get Drunk and Be Somebody that had folks line-dancing in the aisles.
Though he is several years removed from the controversy of Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue, Keith is bit of a maverick in the country genre, flouting the general rule of thumb to keep the banter family-friendly when outside of a bar.
Keith dropped a few ''S-'' and ''F-bombs'' throughout the show and extolled his desire for a sisterly menage a trois at the end of I'm Just Talkin' Bout Tonight.
He played a few recent singles, including the title track from his latest album That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, God Love Her and old concert favorites such as Weed With Willie.
He ended the show with some of his patriotic tunes, including American Soldier, sending fans home satiated for another year.
Opener Trace Adkins stated early in his set that ''we ain't gonna mess around.'' He kept both his word and his fans on their feet for much of his 50 minutes onstage.
The set list fed the party-hearty vibe Keith favors, as Adkins performed popular uptempo and novelty tunes such as Honky Tonk Badonkadonk, I Got My Game On and the funny honky-tonkin' ''economic stimulus plan'' Marry for Money.
As promised, Adkins performed only two ballads — the recent single You're Gonna Miss This and the gospel-fueled Muddy Water, featuring a small gospel vocal group and an impassioned and animated vocal from Adkins that surpassed the recorded version.
Adkins ended his set with a surprisingly rocking arrangement of Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground that saw Adkins reaching into both the upper and lower registers of his range and gave his septet some room to jam.
Fans may not get many surprises at a Toby Keith concert. And after you've seen him a few times, it becomes fairly easy to predict the flow of songs and moods.
But just like with that old drinkin' buddy, just because you've seen and heard it all before, it don't mean it ain't fun.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
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