Toby Keith gives surprise show

By Melissa Arseniuk

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.