Live Review: Toby Keith/Joe Nichols, New York State Fair, Syracuse, NY, August 29, 2006

Promoting his "White Trash with Money" album, pop culture's leading redneck, Toby Keith, took the stage last night in front of almost 15,000 upstaters. Being the hardcore honkytonkers that we are - actually, it's really just me - myself and the Missus were there.

Just after 9 PM, Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town" signalled Tobe's arrival. That led into a short and hilarious intro film premised on the rejection of numerous offers for reality shows, including "Toby On Ice" where he was asked to don figure skates. (Due to copious amounts of beer on a fairly empty stomach despite deep fried Oreos, deep friend Twinkies and deep fried KD on offer at the Fair, I'm not really sure how the skit evolved to have Toby playing the role of the host of a game show titled "Hell No!", but anyways ...)

The hitsfest began shortly thereafter, along with numerous special effects, pyro, and someone at the side of the stage signing out the lyrics for the hearing impaired. Tobes kept it fresh for himself by changing the lyrics a little bit. Here's an example that came during "I'm Just Talkin' Bout Tonight":

Well, I'm not talkin bout locking down forever, baby,
That would be too demanding.
I'm just talkin bout three lonely people
who might reach a little understanding.
I'm not talkin bout knocking out heaven
with whether we're wrong or we're right.
See, I'm just talkin' bout pilin' up and stretchin' out
I'm just talkin bout tonight.

Another from last year's song of the summer, "I Ain't As Good As I Once Was":

She said, "I'e seen you in here before."
I said, "I've been here a time or two."
She said, "Hello, my name is Bobby Jo
Meet my twin sister Betty Lou
And we're both feeling kinda wild tonight
And you're the only cowboy in this place
And if you're up for a rodeo
We'll put a big Texas smile on your face"
I said, "Girls,"

I ain't as good as I once was
I got a few years on me now
But there was a time back in my prime
When I could really hose 'em down
And if you need some love tonight
Then I might have just enough
I ain't as good as I once was
But I'm as good once as I ever was.

He also delivered fan favourites "I'll Never Smoke Weed with Willie Again", "Stays In Mexico", "The Angry American" and "How Do You Like Me Now?" within a set that included easily more than 20 tunes, along with a guest spot from Lindsey Haun, who's starring opposite Tobes in a new flick coming out shortly. I've seen Tobes four times now and every time he gets better. This was in my top two country shows of all time with only Shania's Vancouver show in 1999 possibly being better. Lots of smiles and good times all around among the faithful last night, and by the way, if you need to ask who Willie is, you're beyond help.

As for Nichols, he was an adequate opener with the highlight being a cover of the "Dukes of Hazzard" theme song which led into AC/DC's "Back In Black".

Country rules.

Overall rating: 9.5/10

Live Review: Nickelback/Daughtry/Puddle of Mudd/State of Shock, Lynx Stadium, Ottawa, ON, July 5, 2007

About 14,000 rockers blew the cobwebs right out of Lynx Stadium for a quadruple bill this evening. Despite the threat of rain, the washed up and incoherent legendary Bob Dylan playing across town, and the fact that Nickelback plays here about once every 18 months and hasn't had any new material for two years, that's very good.

We didn't see the first band, State of Shock, but I hope for their sake that they have as little in common as possible with the circa 1984 Michael Jackson/Mick Jagger duet of the same name.

Next up was Puddle of Mudd, a band left over from the post-grunge era which isn't fading away gracefully. Every second word was an F-bomb, their between song banter didn't make a lot of sense, and they referred to the crowd as "Canada". Someone should remind them that it's a country, not a town. The audience could have pretty much either took 'em or left 'em, but I have to admit that I did enjoy their bastardized version of "Summer Nights" from Grease, one of the gayest tracks ever committed to vinyl, which came in the middle of set closer "She Hates Me".

Daughtry then played for about 40 minutes and thankfully blew the previous act off the stage. They sounded pretty much the same as they do on record, and lead vocalist Chris Daughtry was spot on pitch wise while demonstrating a very poised stage presence for a rookie.

Once Daughtry left, we heard Def Leppard, Quiet Riot, Dio, Rob Zombie and the Scorpions, among others, over the sound system while the crew was getting ready for Nickelback. Great stuff. Then, at 8:45, the boys from Hanna, Alberta, arrived to the sound of massive explosions, launching into "Animals". For the first four or five tracks, pretty much every tune was accompanied by pyro or flashpots. Frontman Chad Kroeger started off with some pro-Sens banter, which the crowd ate up, and then he said that since he was in Ottawa, he had some legislation he'd like to propose - that every time Nickelback comes to town, it ought to become "Legal Marijuana Day". (I wholeheartedly concur.) Reminiscing about gigs at smaller Ottawa venues like Zaphod's, and hoping that "the six people that were in attendance that night were here", the band pretty much played every single hit that they're known for, sounding exactly like they do on CD. They also threw in a short little version of Metallica's "Seek and Destroy" and Kroeger even ad-libbed Joe Nichols' "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off" at one point. Also of note was a video tribute to the late "Dimebag" Darrell of Pantera and posthumously, Rebel Meets Rebel. All around, it was good times from a band who doesn't take themselves too seriously, which was demonstrated later on when Kroeger screwed up the words to "Rock Star", laughing at himself, and they concluded after an hour and 45 minutes with dry ice and tons of effects.

The only negative besides the omission of "Never Again" and the $8.50 price for a tallboy of Bud was the configuration of the stadium. The stage was at the infield line and the soundboard was on the pitcher's mound. They could have moved it forward at least 100 feet because it seemed like there was the general admission crowd, and then the rest of us who were sitting about a kilometre away despite no one being on the field from the backstop to the rubber. However, it was still one hell of a great big fun rock show, and I say that fully realizing that I'll never be considered hip enough to be a Rolling Stone writer - which is just fine with me.

Overall ratings:

Puddle of Mudd: 4.75/10
Daughtry: 7/10
Nickelback: 9.25/10

Overall rating: 8.5/10