Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 24, 1994 TAG: 9411050031
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That's the secret to building a big career in music. That's the secret to packing arenas and captivating an adoring audience.
At the Salem Civic Center on Thursday night, Alan Jackson made it look easy.
And with a full stack of country hits in his arsenal, Jackson gave the audience of 6,407 exactly what it wanted.
He couldn't help himself.
From his opening blockbuster, "Don't Rock The Jukebox," to "Chasin' That Neon Rainbow," to "Love's Got a Hold On You," to "Tonight I Climb The Wall," to "Dallas," on and on, Jackson just kept cranking them out. It seems almost everything this guy sings is charmed.
Even when he turned to others for hits, he scored. His rollicking cover of the Hank Williams Sr. song "Mind Your Own Business" was perfectly suited to his 90-minute, hit-soaked show.
"This is one of my favorite songs," he said.
Apparently he loves hits, too. It didn't hurt it either when Jackson stepped back and let his drummer, fiddle player and piano player each take a solo turn singing a chorus.
In concert, it also helped to have video.
Jackson hasn't changed his road show much since the last time he was in town at the Roanoke Civic Center in May 1993. Why should he when it works so well?
He was backed by a pair of high-tech video panels that spliced live-action footage of himself and his band with segments from some of his music videos, old family pictures and the occasional shot of the crowd - or, to the delight of the women in the audience, the seat of Jackson's Wrangler jeans.
In this era of MTV, the effect kept the show visually interesting.
It worked particularly well on "Chasin' That Neon Rainbow," a song about struggling to become a country music star, during which the video panels showed baby pictures and school portraits of Jackson as a boy.
The same was done on "Livin' On Love," only he used old photographs of his parents.
On his version of Eddie Cochran's classic "Summertime Blues," the video panels mostly showed his video clip for the song of Jackson four-wheeling through the mud. The crowd whooped it up.
For "Chattahoochee," Jackson was shown hot-dogging on water skis in his customary cowboy hat and blue jeans. For "She's Got The Rhythm (And I Got The Blues)," he was framed by the provocative dancing of the woman from the video. For "Midnight in Montgomery," it was his haunting midnight visit to Hank Sr.'s grave.
When he played "Wanted," with the line, "Wanted ... one good hearted woman," the cameras caught a woman in the audience holding up a sign: "I'm Your Good Hearted Woman."
Jackson carried an excellent six-member band with him, and on-stage cameras allowed a closer look - sometimes right under their noses - at the group's work. "How about this band!" Jackson said. "Hotter than Georgia asphalt."
He played a handful of new songs, a few of which -"Livin' On Love," "I Don't Even Know Your Name" and "Gone Country" - sound like they will be future hits. There was only one misstep, a weepy ballad that, up against the rest of his arsenal, was a dud.
And gone from his set were other hits, "Here in the Real World" and "Better Class of Losers." Maybe enough was enough.
He had to stop somewhere.
Faith Hill opened Thursday's concert with a 45-minute set that did little to distinguish her from the standard-issue, country cookie-cutter mold.
She sang all right - better than some, not as good as others - sort of a hybrid between Reba McEntire's glitzy wail and Tammy Wynette's breathy twang, only without the same authentic ache.
She was handicapped perhaps by average material. Middle-of-the-road ballads. Nondescript country rockers. No showstoppers. And she was often overpowered by her band.
But unforgivable was ruining the Janis Joplin classic, "Piece of My Heart," turning it from a gritty masterpiece into bouncy country pop. Yuck.
Fortunately, Hill snatched an adorably bashful little girl from the audience to help her wave to the crowd during the song. She, at least, provided some distraction.
by CNB