Above: Ronnie Dunn in Bonner Springs on Sunday. Photos by Chris Oberholtz/The Star
Modern sounds trumped tradition Sunday night at Verizon Amphitheater.
By the time Brooks & Dunn joined Alan Jackson on stage for the evening's final song, a loose reading of "Big Boss Man," it was clear that the duo's brash contemporary style outshone Jackson's old-fashioned honky tonk.
It's no surprise that the near-capacity audience of almost 18,000 adored both acts. For more than 15 years, Brooks & Dunn and Jackson have made regular appearances at the top of country music charts. Jackson's longevity doesn't mean that he's embraced stylistic changes. The lanky Southerner continues to look and sound like an untroubled Hank Williams.
"We'll try to play something you've heard tonight," Jackson deadpanned early in his hour-long set.
The audience sung along as Jackson reduced hits like "Little Bitty" and "Chattahoochee" to their bare essence. The support provided by the Strayhorns, Jackson's band, differed little from the relaxed honky tonk favored for decades by Merle Haggard.
"You're pretty lively for a Sunday evening," Jackson noted. In fact, the crowd was so loud that Jackson could scarcely be heard at the back of the venue's lawn. The raucous antics of his fans contrasted sharply with Jackson's understated demeanor. The lanky 48-year-old was so relaxed that it seemed as if he might have been tempted to curl up for catnaps during each pedal steel guitar solo.
Although both men are in their 50s, Ronnie Brooks and Kix Dunn brought the energy of teenage cheerleaders to their performance. In spite of their crowd-pleasing antics, the duo seemed satisfied to faithfully recreate their biggest hits for much of their 65-minute set.
It often seemed like a greatest hits CD was serving as a soundtrack to a glorious outdoor party. A couple songs, however, were delightful exceptions. The addition of a ZZ Top-style guitar riff and excellent female vocals transformed the noxious "Boot Scootin' Boogie" into a highlight. "My Maria" received the evening's largest ovation. A spirited gospel treatment made the falsetto-laced hit sound like the best song Little Feat never recorded.
"Play Something Country" is about as closely related to actual honky tonk as a palatial reception for Queen Elizabeth. But few in the audience were concerned with Brooks & Dunn's authenticity. Almost everyone stayed for Jackson's closing set, but Brooks & Dunn were clearly the audience's favorites.
Introduced as "the beautiful Australian songbird," Catherine Britt's tentative set split the difference between Nashville sheen and her grittier roots. Jake Owen, on the other hand, seems to know exactly where he's headed. The early-arriving audience adored his party anthem "Yee Haw" but failed to respond to "Startin' With Me," a terrific hit about regretting bad decisions. Until Owen's good looks, booming voice and Southern rock leanings propel him to headliner status, it's clear that Owen is fully capable of tearing up more intimate venues.
While compelling, the two opening acts stole valuable time from the headliners. About three-and-a-half hours elapsed between the evening's first and final notes. Yet Brooks & Dunn and Jackson were only on stage for a combined two hours and ten minutes. Fans in the front six sections of Verizon paid about $70 a ticket; they'd be justified in complaining about time management issues. | Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star
Setlists
Alan Jackson: Gone Country, I Don't Even Know Your Name, Livin' On Love, Little Bitty, Summertime Blues, Remember When, Don't Rock the Jukebox, Seven Bridges Road, It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere, Who's Cheatin' Who, Drive (For Daddy Gene), Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning), Chattahoochee, Where I Come From, Big Boss Man (with Brooks & Dunn)
Brooks & Dunn: Hillbilly Deluxe, You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl, Ain't Nothing 'Bout You, Boot Scootin' Boogie, Neon Moon, Rock My World (Little Country Girl), My Maria, It's Getting Better All the Time, She Likes To Get Out of Town, Red Dirt Road, Play Something Country, Brand New Man, Believe, Only In America
| Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star
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