Review: Keith, Adkins leave crowd rockin’
On Friday night at Darien Lake, country music played the role of fine wine — it was better with age.
At a combined age of 95, country veterans Toby Keith and Trace Adkins had the performing arts center rocking with songs about beer, bars and women during the America’s Toughest Tour.
The night began with a performance from newcomer Sean Patrick McGraw.
The former Nashville Star contestant’s single, “Dollar Ain’t Worth a Dime,” has been getting some play on CMT as of late, but on Friday night the Fredonia native relegated to background music as fans filed in just before Adkins’ set.
One of Adkins’ biggest hits proclaims: “Ladies Love Country Boys.” There were certainly no arguments Friday night. You couldn’t glance over more than a few seats without seeing women screaming out Adkins’ name as the Louisiana native gyrated his hips.
At 47, Adkins, has the sex appeal of a man half his age. He sounded pitch perfect running through popular hits like “Marry for Money” and “Hot Mama.”
Before playing perhaps his most successful song “You’re Gonna Miss This” — single of the year winner at the 2009 Academy of Country Music Awards — Adkins admitted: “When I wrote this song I didn’t think anyone else would care about it.”
It was a genuine moment.
And his stellar version of “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk”CQ at the close of his 45-minute set was alone worth the press of admission.
Adkins was the perfect warm up for Keith, who is one of country music’s biggest icons. Keith’s set began with a hilarious 10-minute video intro that amounted to nothing more than a commercial for Ford, the tour’s sponsor. The theme continued as the curtain dropped and there sat the bed of a Ford pickup truck right behind Keith on stage.
The Oklahoma native’s set started off with a rough performance of his new single “American Ride.” The track is from Keith’s new album of the same name due out later this year. The so-so rendition of the song could have been expected; Keith has only performed it a handful of times on this tour.
Yet, with his second song, “Big Dog Daddy,” Keith was on and running, and he never stopped.
Keith’s raw, good ol’ boy demeanor catered to the beer-happy crowd, especially during highlights “I Love This Bar” and “Get Drunk and Be Somebody.” Before the latter, the singer grinned ear to ear as he raised a red cup in the air (Keith’s partial to Budweiser). The crowd roared.
At one point a young man pulled a woman old enough to be his grandmother into the crowd and began to slow dance. It was emblematic of the night, which brought country fans of all ages and genders together with drinks in hands and smiles on faces.
TLSMITH@DemocratandChronicle.com
