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Toby Keith gives surprise show
Melissa Arseniuk
Toby Keith makes a toast during a secret show at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill on April 4.
Sunday, April 5, 2009 | 5:05 p.m.
Toby Keith loves his bar and loves his Jack Daniels, too. Lucky for him, the two seem to go hand-in-hand.
The country star put in a Jack-fueled appearance at his namesake watering hole at Harrah’s early this morning.
The spot, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill, was crowded thanks to an influx of both country fans and industry insiders who are in town for tonight’s Academy of Country Music Awards.
The staff struggled to keep up with the thirsty crowd as the masses lingered in anticipation of Keith’s arrival.
Raucous chants of “To-by! To-by!” broke out periodically during the hours leading up to the unannounced appearance.
When opening band Trailer Choir stepped onstage at 11 p.m. they assured the crowd that Keith’s “very special guest appearance” was imminent, however the patriotic singer-songwriter didn’t grace the stage until 1:40 a.m.
The group, which is signed to Keith’s Show Dog record label, entertained the crowd with a set of original material blended with cover songs for about 40 minutes.
After an extended pause, a second band climbed onstage and played an hour’s worth of cover songs before finally yielding to the elusive Oklahoma native.
Before Keith stepped onstage, however, three-time Super Bowl champion Matt Light stepped into the spotlight in hopes of serenading the crowd with his rendition of the James Otto’s ballad, “Where Angels Hang Around.”
The New England Patriots tackle proceeded to stagger onstage, Bud Light in hand, and embarrass himself thoroughly.
"I might have forgotten the words," he stammered, again and again, sounding increasingly bemused.
The crowd quickly grew impatient with Light’s drunken antics, as chants of “To-by! To-by!” ushered him offstage.
Then, finally, Keith stepped into view. Unfortunately, by the time he made it onstage he appeared to be just as far gone as his football-playing friend.
Still, the 47-year-old managed to go through a few of his hits and play a few cover songs for the resilient crowd. Light, meanwhile, returned to the stage and occasionally sang back-up between swigs.
Keith belted out the hit his venue was named after, “I Love This Bar,” early into his set. The rendition came complete with a few improvised lyrics.
Instead of singing, “And we got lovers, lots of lookers, I've even seen dancing girls and hookers,” he told the crowd, “And If you come backstage we've got some (expletive) dancers and hookers.”
He also dropped a handful of F-bombs and referenced “drunk ass football players,” much to the amusement of Light, who raised his glass at the notion.
Said glass had to be replaced further into the set, when the 6-foot-4, 305-pounder dropped his drink and spilled it all over stage right.
Instead of cutting the Patriots’ indulgent co-captain off, however, Light’s fated beverage was promptly replaced with a fresh one.
Bleary and bloodshot-eyed Keith, meanwhile, proudly drank from a bottle of Jack Daniels while onstage.
Unshaven and dressed plainly in jeans and a denim jacket topped with plain blue baseball cap, Keith strayed from his country roots with a curiously-chosen cover of J. J. Cale's epic, “Cocaine,” as well as his version of Marvin Gaye’s classic, “Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone.”
In all, Keith played for just over half an hour. At 2:15 a.m., however, he called it a night and headed backstage, Jack Daniels in hand.
If you didn’t catch the uninspiring appearance, worry not: Keith is expected to give a far more polished performance later today as part of the 44th annual Academy of Country Music Awards.
The awards show takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and will be broadcast on CBS later this evening.
Discussion: 16 comments so far…
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If you have to get up on stage to sing after having too much, do NOT sing a song like "Where Angels Hang Around", a song about the sick little ones who are at St. Judes. They are in that hospital fighting for their lives while other people put their own health at risk by having a few drinks. To me, that is sad. (trying not to cry)
Yes, I am not a drinker, but I have been around plenty of people who are and I have yet to find even ONE thing that is GOOD about being one.
God bless you and them little ones and James Otto always!!!
Holly in East Tennessee
Who wants to see a drunk Toby? What's the point? It must have been like Toby Karaoke.
Matt Light should change his name to Matt Lightweight. Fool.
"Ain't no Sunshine" is Bill Withers. Marvin Gaye did have songs with titles such as "Ain't That Peculiar," "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing."
And the whiskey is Jack Daniel's, not Jack Daniels. I guess if I had to wait for two-plus hours for a drunk Toby Keith, I wouldn't care, either.
As a die hard Country Carl fan I feel Toby should switch to beer. Jack Daniel's is hard on the vocal chords and ears
Toby is a superstar and dwarfs most of his peers. He needs to leave Old No. 7 alone if he wants to remain a superstar.
I once heard that switching country from 8-track tapes to CD's was a waste of technology. What about switching Jack for Beer, what does that leave you with?
melissa, you are so WRONG. I was in the audience and Toby sounded terrific. He was having a good time with work people and his friends. It is VEGAS. You sound like such a prude. Everyone was having a great time. Whiskey is good for the voice and good for the soul. And the song Toby and Matt performed was 'you never call me by my name'. It was fun and the crowd was singing along. The other band that you failed to mention by name is Las Vegas's own Tony Marques band. Tony and the band are terrific.
Get the facts straight and buy yourself a sense of humor before you report please.
Hi Rockerbillie,
Thanks for the comments -- it's always great to hear a different perspective.
I'm sorry you think I sound like a prude devoid of any sense of humor. However, if you re-read my article, you'll see that I never once said Toby sounded bad, or that the crowd wasn't into it. (While I don't think Keith sounded particularly good, the crowd was very much into it -- they had camped out for hours waiting to see him play, and were very excited for him to take to the stage.)
Did I think Toby put on a stellar show? Of course not. But it was raw and unscripted; definitely a memorable experience. What can I say? I love country music and I get a kick out of drunk celebrities.
Oh, and while you are right, Toby and Nick did sing "You Never Call Me by my Name," they also sang "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone," too. (Next time I'll try to provide you with a complete set list to avoid similar mix-ups.)
I'm not sure all would agree with your assertion that "whiskey is good for the voice and good for the soul" but, again, kudos for sharing your opinion.
Before I go, I will agree with you on one thing: Tony Marques was excellent.
Correction: The song is "You Never Even Called Me By My Name," not "You Never Call Me By My Name." My bad.
What a response Melissa. Sarcasm must be your tone of choice. I didn't state that you had to mention the whole set list, just that you missed the highlight of Matt, (not Nick, not sure who Nick is) and Toby singing together. These impromptu performances are fun. They don't need to be highly critiqued. What is the deal about the whiskey bashing? Ole number 7 is great. More than anything, just surprised to see such a 'critique' from a Vegas reporter. Times are uncertain, Vegas was rockin and rollin this past weekend. Everyone should be able to have a wonderful time. We got our Drink On and were proud of it.
One other note to mention. In the VIP party section of Toby's bar, Jack Ingram was there. Also Wolf from the Gladiator.
Toby is a jerk. He and many others are the reason real country music is dying. His performance at the awards ceremony demonstartes what an idiot this fool is. Who is this A hole to tell Kris K. or anyone else what to say on any stage. Now he carrys on like he is the super star of all of country. He can take his Bush right wing lying agenda and shove it. Like many other big mouthed threating guys someone somewhere will kick his scroungy, dirty looking butt for him someday. What a joke. The people who made country what it is must be sick to their stomach with this red neck illeterate puke.
Homer, get a clue. The Ethan Hawke Rolling Stone story is a big FAT LIE. Toby and Kris K. have mutual respect for each other. They are both talented songwriters and artists and they are honest, something Hollyweird does not understand. Ethan Hawke is a prick and his career is on a deathwish. That exchange NEVER happened that is falsely being reported. Toby is an independent, has never been a Republican. And Toby is a bonafide Superstar, well deserving too. You know nothing about country,homer. Toby is in the realm of the true country artists like Waylon, Merle and Willie.
Rockerbillie,
Again, you have me all wrong. I love Whiskey. While I drink more rum than anything else these days, there was a prolonged stretch of time where Canadian Rye was my staple drink of choice -- and I still love the stuff. (Gibson's Finest and Wiser's Deluxe are my personal favorites, in case you're wondering.) In fact, I was lucky enough to attend "Whiskies of the World" during a quick trip San Francisco a few weekends ago.
In the interest of setting things straight, let the record show that while Jack isn't my go-to whiskey, rye, or bourbon of choice, I still enjoy it from time to time -- though not as much as Toby Keith, apparently.
Cheers,
M.
Melissa, thanks for the update. Now you are showing your skills. LOL. I was not picking up on your humor until now. That is more like it. Toby and his bar are pure entertainment and that is what I wanted the readers to know most of all.
That 'whiskey's of the world' tour sounds fun. I have enjoyed the wine country up in San Francisco, hope to get back there sometime.
Cheers back at ya!
We were in Vegas from Michigan and heard that Toby Keith might show up at his bar the night before the ACM Awards...AND HE DID!! How many country artists do you know that put on a free show? His bar doesn't even have a cover charge. So what if the show only lasted 1/2 hour. I was about 15 feet from the stage and didn't pay $100 for a ticket to be there. Stop hating on TK. He put on an AWESOME show and even though I didn't have my camera with me it's one show I'll never forget.
Melissa:
Even though I didn't agree with everything you said in your article, I do want to say thank you for the terrific pictures. Like I said above, I didn't have my camera.