Keith appeases faithful at Mandalay Bay

Leah Robinson

Monday, Aug. 30, 2004 | 8:19 a.m.

Oh yeah, and he's opening his own bar in Las Vegas next summer.

"Y'all be sure and visit. It's opening up just down the street from here," he told fans, referring to the aptly named I Love This Bar & Grill. The $9 million project is a joint venture with Harrah's Las Vegas. Plans for the 17,000-square-foot restaurant and club were announced Friday afternoon, prior to Keith's sold-out show.

Since the real thing isn't yet built, Keith's bar instead served as his backdrop Friday. It looked like a Broadway stage -- tri-leveled platforms made of wood, a realistic-looking bar area complete with booze bottles and neon signs hanging above.

Keith revealed his "bar" after one of the best concert openings yet. Initially, the stage was covered by what looked like a giant cobblestone building, made of cloth, with the words, "I Love This Bar" (one of Keith's hits) written across. The building's facade then turned into a giant movie screen showing Keith arriving in a large black Ford truck.

With a huge hook and chain, Keith was shown trying to pull down the building while a booming bass guitar filled the arena. As the cloth "building" dropped, Keith took the stage.

Wearing a white hat and shirt, blue jeans and boots, Keith delivered a musically strong performance. Fans sang along in a collective reverie to hits such as, "How Do You Like Me Now?" and "Who's Your Daddy?" and joined in a call-and-response on "A Little Less Talk, and a Lot More Action," and "You Ain't Much Fun (Since I Quit Drinkin')."

His cantankerousness came through at times, but it's a trait that only stokes fans' adoration. For instance, after his tune about cowboy justice, "Beer for My Horses," Keith said, "I bet they'd know what to do with Scott Peterson," referring to the California man on trial for allegedly killing his wife and unborn son. (A sample lyric: "Find a tall oak tree, round up of all them bad boys/Hang them high in the streets for all the people to see.")

Inappropriate comment aside, "Beer for My Horses" was one of the highlights of the night. The song was originally recorded as a duet with Willie Nelson, and the song's video played on the big screen behind Keith. Despite the fact that Keith sang live and Nelson was recorded, the sound quality and harmony was surprisingly good.

Other highlights included Keith's original breakthrough song, "Should Have Been a Cowboy," which he sang against a backdrop of movie clips showing Gene Autry, John Wayne and Roy Rogers.

Keith opened the show with his current hit, a rip-off of the controversial Las Vegas tourism slogan, called, "What Happens in Mexico, Stays in Mexico." However his encore rendition of Bob Seger's "Fire Down Below" fell flat vocally, since the energetic song didn't match Keith's relaxed delivery. But the song provided a chance to highlight the band's full horn section, a rarity in country music.

There was no mention of Keith's infamous feud with the Dixie Chicks, or Peter Jennings, or anyone else. Those incidents arose out of Keith's ferocious support of America and the troops in Iraq and elsewhere. Feuds notwithstanding, his patriotic fervor was still on display.

"It's very important to me that y'all go back home tonight and say a prayer for all the troops overseas," he said before singing the most poignant song of the night, "American Soldier."

He followed with a snappy salute, singing his 9/11 reaction song, "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)," amid fireworks, Pyro-Jets and confetti cannon blasts.

Concert opener and country music veteran Terri Clark delivered a nice variety of her considerable repertoire. Her lighthearted songs about love from a woman's perspective were fan favorites, including "Girls Lie Too" and "I Just Wanna Be Mad."

Clark has been around long enough to be a headliner herself, but who knows? Maybe in another 10 years.