If you want to dive into an interesting yet entirely pointless argument about music, debate what distinguishes country from rock ’n roll. Pretty soon you’re comparing Jason Aldean to John Mellencamp.
Some middle-of-the-road music fans will say what Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn perform at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace is a lot like rock. Heck, at one point the backing band and Brooks & Dunn are playing a half-dozen guitars. They rock it so effectively that a fan of traditional country (principally the Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and George Jones fanatics) might take in this show and say, “That really ain’t country.”
Similarly, rock fans will turn around and say, “Rock? This is not rock. Metallica. That’s rock.”
So let’s just say that the “Reba and Brooks & Dunn: Together in Vegas” concert production is a forceful country experience that rivals any rock show. The performances kicked off Wednesday night, and Friday’s show was the de facto premiere for media and assorted VIPs. (The shows continue through Friday and June 27 and July 1-2 and 3; and again Dec. 2, 4, 6, 9 and 11-12. Tickets are $205, $155, $105, $85 and $59.95. Tickets are available at AXS.com and TheColosseum.com and by calling 866-320-9763.)
For the second show in the run, the 4,100-seat venue was packed with fans who stood, danced and sang along. As Brooks noted from the stage early in the show, “You are real fans! We can feel it!”
The members of this long-established triumvirate are country-music superstars, certainly, with a long history of performing in Las Vegas (McEntire opened for Roy Clark at Circus Maximus in the mid-1980s and all three played the Las Vegas Hilton seven years ago). They are doubtless country-bred individuals who have never shed their affiliation with that culture, dressed for the part in a cowboy hat, vest and jeans (for Kix Brooks), frilly tops and high-rising boots (for Reba) and a western-cut, badass black pearl-snap shirt (for Ronnie Dunn). The opening number, “Play Country For Me,” was further evidence of their the collective country attitude.
But this trio also are rock stars, as the term is applied to anyone who can produce hits with big-time volume and presence.
If Garth Brooks took his interpretation of country music and stripped it to a one-man acoustic show, Reba and Brooks & Dunn have poured in several gallons of jet fuel. The song that best fits the pace and punch of this show is the Brooks & Dunn hit “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” which is played at the end of this two-hour carnival ride. That song is backed by a video display of neon signs, blaring the names of such honky-tonks as the Grizzly Rose and also the famed visage of Vegas Vic.
Playing together and as separate acts, the trio performs 30-something songs in those two hours. The sing-along favorites are all available, Reba’s insistent “Why Haven’t I Heard From You?” and her cover of “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” being a pair of standouts.
Reba turned 60 in March and remains an age-defying performer, scooting across the stage with poised efficiency. At show’s end, she turned elegant in a blazing red dress for “I’m a Survivor.” The boys were at once spirited and soulful, with Dunn standing rod-straight and Brooks moving ably around the stage and showing off some Las Vegas-fashioned guitars, alternately glittering with burnt-orange flames and a red, white and blue pattern reminding of Buck Owens’ favored color scheme. Lyrically, their songs are slick and smart, the chorus in their No. 1 hit “Ain’t Nothing About You” hitting the honky-tonk target: “Their ain’t nothing about you that don’t do something for me.”
The three spend much of the show onstage, together, with Reba flanked by the guys. They have toured and recorded extensively over the years, and their personal chemistry is evident. They come armed with shtick, as Brooks said of the show’s debut on the Strip: “I thought, it’s gonna be the Dunny and M-Reba show.” Dunn professed not to recall the oft-referenced dinner meeting that led to the idea of the Caesars residency. “I keep hearing about this dinner, but I wasn’t there,” he chided.
The night ended with a retelling of “Only In America,” and only in America would you see a show on the Strip close with a salute from a group of sailors. But that was indeed the sendoff for Reba and Brooks & Dunn. Some in the audience saluted back with a tip of the hat; others pumped their fists. In this show, there’s room for all variety of country rockers.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.
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