thedrifter
04-14-08, 07:45 AM
Rascal Flatts is fine, but opener sparkles
TEENAGE TAYLOR SWIFT STEALS THE SHOW FROM FLASHY BUT SOULLESS COUNTRY TRIO
By Shay Quillen
Mercury News
Article Launched: 04/14/2008 01:37:07 AM PDT
When the hottest act in country music comes to town, it's a special night. When that artist is the opening act, it's nearly unprecedented.
Less than a year ago, Taylor Swift was fourth on a Brad Paisley bill at Shoreline, playing a short set before ditzy "American Idol" also-ran Kellie Pickler and Texas honky-tonker Jack Ingram. Since then, she's spent more weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard country album chart than anyone else.
Friday at San Jose's HP Pavilion, the teen stole the show from headliners Rascal Flatts, thanks to her youthful appeal, precocious stage presence and a remarkable batch of hit songs she wrote before she was 17.
The guys at the top of the bill? Well, let's start with the positive and admit that the country-pop trio knows how to work a crowd. Rascal Flatts didn't miss a trick, whether it was parading cute kids across the stage during "Take Me There," cranking out the guitar riffs from "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Back in Black," or waving Old Glory and trotting out square-jawed Marines in dress blues. They even got a round of applause by claiming drummer Jim Riley was a "hometown boy" - a bit of news sure to surprise Riley's family back in Natick, Mass.
The mind-bogglingly successful Rascal Flatts have some definite assets: a friendly demeanor, appreciable vocal and instrumental chops, and a bunch of the best ballads money can buy in Nashville. Sincerity and soul? Not so much.
After a dramatic buildup of strobe lights, fake smoke and video lightning, a five-piece backing band emerged from the main stage before the three Rascals - lead singer Gary LeVox, bassist Jay DeMarcus and guitarist Joe Don Rooney - popped out of a round platform at the center of the arena to rouse the crowd with the uptempo "Me and My Gang" and "Fast Cars and Freedom."
After "Take Me There" with the kids, DeMarcus and Rooney got to show off their chops during a more intimate set on the rotating center stage, playing as a trio with Riley on drums and DeMarcus switching to a Fender Rhodes electric piano and singing lead on "Pieces." The band's R&B influence was especially evident when DeMarcus took the lead.
The guys gabbed a lot about how they hand-picked San Jose out of all the cities in the world to close their "Still Feels Good" tour (yeah, right), but this didn't have the celebratory feel of Keith Urban's cover-rich tour-closer at the Shark Tank a couple of years back. The snippets of oldies the band threw in throughout the night just interrupted the flow and forced them to omit some big hits.
The key to Rascal Flatts' success is big ballads, and "Bless That Broken Road" and "What Hurts the Most" late in the set had the crowd on its feet, singing along.
The set's finale was an incongruous glimpse of red-state America: "He Ain't the Leavin' Kind," an ode to God complete with video footage of that controversial Ten Commandments monument in Alabama and the arrival of the aforementioned Marines.
An encore of "Still Feels Good" and "Life Is a Highway," from the "Cars" soundtrack, ended the night as fireworks exploded.
But none of Rascal Flatts' pyrotechnics burned as bright as Swift's star power at the end of "Tim McGraw," as she stood at the stage's edge, soaking in the deafening, high-pitched adoration. Don't expect to see her as an opening act again.
Contact Shay Quillen at squillen@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-2741. Find more of his stories and a link to his blog at www.mercurynews.com/shayquillen.
Ellie
TEENAGE TAYLOR SWIFT STEALS THE SHOW FROM FLASHY BUT SOULLESS COUNTRY TRIO
By Shay Quillen
Mercury News
Article Launched: 04/14/2008 01:37:07 AM PDT
When the hottest act in country music comes to town, it's a special night. When that artist is the opening act, it's nearly unprecedented.
Less than a year ago, Taylor Swift was fourth on a Brad Paisley bill at Shoreline, playing a short set before ditzy "American Idol" also-ran Kellie Pickler and Texas honky-tonker Jack Ingram. Since then, she's spent more weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard country album chart than anyone else.
Friday at San Jose's HP Pavilion, the teen stole the show from headliners Rascal Flatts, thanks to her youthful appeal, precocious stage presence and a remarkable batch of hit songs she wrote before she was 17.
The guys at the top of the bill? Well, let's start with the positive and admit that the country-pop trio knows how to work a crowd. Rascal Flatts didn't miss a trick, whether it was parading cute kids across the stage during "Take Me There," cranking out the guitar riffs from "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Back in Black," or waving Old Glory and trotting out square-jawed Marines in dress blues. They even got a round of applause by claiming drummer Jim Riley was a "hometown boy" - a bit of news sure to surprise Riley's family back in Natick, Mass.
The mind-bogglingly successful Rascal Flatts have some definite assets: a friendly demeanor, appreciable vocal and instrumental chops, and a bunch of the best ballads money can buy in Nashville. Sincerity and soul? Not so much.
After a dramatic buildup of strobe lights, fake smoke and video lightning, a five-piece backing band emerged from the main stage before the three Rascals - lead singer Gary LeVox, bassist Jay DeMarcus and guitarist Joe Don Rooney - popped out of a round platform at the center of the arena to rouse the crowd with the uptempo "Me and My Gang" and "Fast Cars and Freedom."
After "Take Me There" with the kids, DeMarcus and Rooney got to show off their chops during a more intimate set on the rotating center stage, playing as a trio with Riley on drums and DeMarcus switching to a Fender Rhodes electric piano and singing lead on "Pieces." The band's R&B influence was especially evident when DeMarcus took the lead.
The guys gabbed a lot about how they hand-picked San Jose out of all the cities in the world to close their "Still Feels Good" tour (yeah, right), but this didn't have the celebratory feel of Keith Urban's cover-rich tour-closer at the Shark Tank a couple of years back. The snippets of oldies the band threw in throughout the night just interrupted the flow and forced them to omit some big hits.
The key to Rascal Flatts' success is big ballads, and "Bless That Broken Road" and "What Hurts the Most" late in the set had the crowd on its feet, singing along.
The set's finale was an incongruous glimpse of red-state America: "He Ain't the Leavin' Kind," an ode to God complete with video footage of that controversial Ten Commandments monument in Alabama and the arrival of the aforementioned Marines.
An encore of "Still Feels Good" and "Life Is a Highway," from the "Cars" soundtrack, ended the night as fireworks exploded.
But none of Rascal Flatts' pyrotechnics burned as bright as Swift's star power at the end of "Tim McGraw," as she stood at the stage's edge, soaking in the deafening, high-pitched adoration. Don't expect to see her as an opening act again.
Contact Shay Quillen at squillen@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-2741. Find more of his stories and a link to his blog at www.mercurynews.com/shayquillen.
Ellie