Who: Toby Keith with special guests the Eli Young Band & Kellie Pickler
Where: Allphones Arena
When: Tuesday March 18, 2014
The Hammer Down Under Tour - HAMMER DOWN!
Shortly
before my last trip to America, I was watching a college football broadcast,
which featured the snippet of a song called ‘Days of Gold’ by Jake Owen. I’d
never heard of him, but the song was definitely catchy – you know, summertime,
beer, barbeques, girls – so I jumped onto iTunes and discovered that Jake Owen
was a country artist. Not your traditional type, mind you. More like
country-rock. Less banjos and more anthemic rock songs that really clicked with
me.
Then, I heard Florida-Georgia Line’s massive hit single ‘Cruise’ and I was pretty much sold on the new incarnation of country – which, is to say, the sort that country traditionalists don’t like at all. It’s less about elaborate storytelling, more about summer nights, jacked up trucks, girls in cut-off jeans and swigging Jack straight from the bottle.
When we were travelling across America, we listened to a bunch of country radio, and heard a bunch of Toby Keith. He isn’t your country traditionalist – hasn’t lived in a day of his life in Nashville, does everything his way, writes some highly inappropriate but hugely entertaining ‘bus songs’ in amongst plenty of songs about drinking, girls and, of course, drinking with girls. It’s a niche that’s made him a lot of money.
You don’t get on the Forbes Rich List by accident, and Keith earned a cool $65 million in 2013, placing fourth on that prestigious list behind money-spinners Lady Gaga, Madonna and Bon Jovi. He hauls in heaps from touring and album sales, and is a shred businessman, too: he owns a chain of restaurants, a record label and a brand of clothing, amongst other ventures. Primarily, though, Toby Keith is a live performer of some repute.
Tuesday night at Allphones Arena was his first ever concert in Sydney – and my first ever country show – and the Hammer Down Under Tour was made better by the presence on the crowded bill of rising stars Kellie Pickler and the Eli Young Band. Seeing as the show was cut into three segments, so will this review:
Kellie Pickler
An American Idol alumnus who is building a nice career in Nashville. I hadn’t heard any of her stuff before Tuesday night, but you can see why her star is rocketing upward quickly. A great set of songs, perfect voice, a good backing band and the right amount of strut to command the audience’s attention. Can’t be easy being the first act of the night, in front of only a mostly-full arena, but Pickler did a good job.
Eli Young Band
2014 marks the second time the Texas quarter have made the trip to Australia. Having heard some of their stuff, I was excited to see them live. It’s been a good few days for the band fronted by Mike Eli: their brand-new album, 10,000 Towns went straight to #1 in America as did the lead single ‘Drunk Last Night’.
They went through a cavalcade of great songs. Off the new album, I particularly like the title track and what will be the second single ‘Dust’, and from earlier cuts, ‘Even If It Breaks Your Heart’ and ‘Crazy Girl’ were popular. The EYB is building a nice back catalogue of radio-friendly country tunes. No wonder they are having such success in America. Sharp vocals and good musicianship is a combination you can’t beat. They seemed very glad to be in Australia.
The only disappointing thing about their show on Tuesday? It only went for forty minutes. I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing the boys out playing their own headlining shows before too long.
I was lucky enough to meet them after the show, and they struck me as being very down to earth. Nice to know that guys who’ve just hit the big-time in America are still humble and very aware that their success rides on engaging with their fans. It was really good to see them out and about after their set talking to their fans. It’s an idea that pop/rock and other artists could learn from. Country artists seem to genuinely care about getting to know their fans. In return, you get a career’s worth of loyalty.
Toby Keith
A career that began in the early 90’s with that decade’s most popular country song ‘Should’ve Been A Cowboy’ has finally brought the American country superstar to Sydney. After a very cool opening montage featuring a bunch of famous people incorporating the words “Hammer Down” into their regular lives, Toby, a cowboy hat-wearing Oklahoman, and the rest of his band were on the stage, firing up the crowd with a great opener, the hard-driving: ‘Haven’t Had A Drink All Day’.
Right from the outset, it was a party atmosphere. I find myself comparing every show to the legendary Bruce Springsteen, and this one was right up there. Many people, including Toby Keith himself, were pretty drunk, but that only added to the vibe rather than taking anything away from it. ‘American Ride’ and ‘Beers Ago’ followed in quick succession, two giant hits that delighted everyone in attendance and really set up the night to come.
This wasn’t the country music that most Australians seem to assume country is. What we heard on Tuesday night was closer to rock than the old crooners of days gone by. Very few banjos, no long ballads. Modern country is everywhere now, and it’s closer to southern rock than classic country. The horn section was an unexpected touch. Then again, maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised. Toby Keith has always been an outlaw, doing things his way. A trumpet, saxophone and trombone added a very interesting layer of sound to the southern-fried music coming at us from the big stage.
It was a loud gig, but the sound mix was just right. No over-dubbed bass to make up for weak vocals here. The vocal range of Toby Keith’s voice is incredibly impressive. There might’ve been complaints about his delivery in Brisbane last Friday night, but he was dead-on in Sydney. He sounds very similar live to the way he does in his studio recordings: the mark of a very good singer, and probably the ultimate compliment you can give to a live performer.
The niche that Toby has discovered and made his own is the drinking/partying song, and there were many of them from the ridiculously fun ‘Red Solo Cup’ through an ode to country women and whisky ‘Whiskey Girl’ and the great ‘Beer For My Horses’, which was recorded as a duet with the great Willie Nelson, who appeared on the video screen. Great song, awesome chorus. The red solo cups were up, and everyone seemed to be singing!
There were a few songs I was surprised weren’t included in the set – ‘Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue’ and ‘Made in America’, both of which are staples of any Toby Keith show in America – but overall it was a broad brush stroke across nearly three decades’ worth of hit-making. A triple-play of some of Keith’s earliest stuff closed the main set: ‘Should’ve Been A Cowboy’ then ‘How Do You Like Me Now?’ and the rockin’ ‘A Little Less Talk & A Lot More Action’.
All night, Keith had been talking about his experiences with Australian military during his many USO shows – he likes Australians because they are allowed to have base on beer – and dedicated the closing song of his set, ‘American Soldier’ to the men and women of the Australian armed forces, changing the lyrics of the chorus to ‘Australian Soldier’. Keith is famous for being patriotic, and this was a nice touch, very well received by the crowd.
It was over too quickly. Some people in the audience had waited the best part of fifteen years to see Toby Keith live. There were so many songs missing from the set list that he could’ve played three hours or longer. Ninety minutes is better than nothing. Keith came, saw, and he damn well conquered.
Great show!
Hopefully this is the beginning of a bunch of big-time country stars coming down under. Ahem, Kenny Chesney?
Then, I heard Florida-Georgia Line’s massive hit single ‘Cruise’ and I was pretty much sold on the new incarnation of country – which, is to say, the sort that country traditionalists don’t like at all. It’s less about elaborate storytelling, more about summer nights, jacked up trucks, girls in cut-off jeans and swigging Jack straight from the bottle.
When we were travelling across America, we listened to a bunch of country radio, and heard a bunch of Toby Keith. He isn’t your country traditionalist – hasn’t lived in a day of his life in Nashville, does everything his way, writes some highly inappropriate but hugely entertaining ‘bus songs’ in amongst plenty of songs about drinking, girls and, of course, drinking with girls. It’s a niche that’s made him a lot of money.
You don’t get on the Forbes Rich List by accident, and Keith earned a cool $65 million in 2013, placing fourth on that prestigious list behind money-spinners Lady Gaga, Madonna and Bon Jovi. He hauls in heaps from touring and album sales, and is a shred businessman, too: he owns a chain of restaurants, a record label and a brand of clothing, amongst other ventures. Primarily, though, Toby Keith is a live performer of some repute.
Tuesday night at Allphones Arena was his first ever concert in Sydney – and my first ever country show – and the Hammer Down Under Tour was made better by the presence on the crowded bill of rising stars Kellie Pickler and the Eli Young Band. Seeing as the show was cut into three segments, so will this review:
Kellie Pickler
An American Idol alumnus who is building a nice career in Nashville. I hadn’t heard any of her stuff before Tuesday night, but you can see why her star is rocketing upward quickly. A great set of songs, perfect voice, a good backing band and the right amount of strut to command the audience’s attention. Can’t be easy being the first act of the night, in front of only a mostly-full arena, but Pickler did a good job.
Eli Young Band
2014 marks the second time the Texas quarter have made the trip to Australia. Having heard some of their stuff, I was excited to see them live. It’s been a good few days for the band fronted by Mike Eli: their brand-new album, 10,000 Towns went straight to #1 in America as did the lead single ‘Drunk Last Night’.
They went through a cavalcade of great songs. Off the new album, I particularly like the title track and what will be the second single ‘Dust’, and from earlier cuts, ‘Even If It Breaks Your Heart’ and ‘Crazy Girl’ were popular. The EYB is building a nice back catalogue of radio-friendly country tunes. No wonder they are having such success in America. Sharp vocals and good musicianship is a combination you can’t beat. They seemed very glad to be in Australia.
The only disappointing thing about their show on Tuesday? It only went for forty minutes. I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing the boys out playing their own headlining shows before too long.
I was lucky enough to meet them after the show, and they struck me as being very down to earth. Nice to know that guys who’ve just hit the big-time in America are still humble and very aware that their success rides on engaging with their fans. It was really good to see them out and about after their set talking to their fans. It’s an idea that pop/rock and other artists could learn from. Country artists seem to genuinely care about getting to know their fans. In return, you get a career’s worth of loyalty.
Toby Keith
A career that began in the early 90’s with that decade’s most popular country song ‘Should’ve Been A Cowboy’ has finally brought the American country superstar to Sydney. After a very cool opening montage featuring a bunch of famous people incorporating the words “Hammer Down” into their regular lives, Toby, a cowboy hat-wearing Oklahoman, and the rest of his band were on the stage, firing up the crowd with a great opener, the hard-driving: ‘Haven’t Had A Drink All Day’.
Right from the outset, it was a party atmosphere. I find myself comparing every show to the legendary Bruce Springsteen, and this one was right up there. Many people, including Toby Keith himself, were pretty drunk, but that only added to the vibe rather than taking anything away from it. ‘American Ride’ and ‘Beers Ago’ followed in quick succession, two giant hits that delighted everyone in attendance and really set up the night to come.
This wasn’t the country music that most Australians seem to assume country is. What we heard on Tuesday night was closer to rock than the old crooners of days gone by. Very few banjos, no long ballads. Modern country is everywhere now, and it’s closer to southern rock than classic country. The horn section was an unexpected touch. Then again, maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised. Toby Keith has always been an outlaw, doing things his way. A trumpet, saxophone and trombone added a very interesting layer of sound to the southern-fried music coming at us from the big stage.
It was a loud gig, but the sound mix was just right. No over-dubbed bass to make up for weak vocals here. The vocal range of Toby Keith’s voice is incredibly impressive. There might’ve been complaints about his delivery in Brisbane last Friday night, but he was dead-on in Sydney. He sounds very similar live to the way he does in his studio recordings: the mark of a very good singer, and probably the ultimate compliment you can give to a live performer.
The niche that Toby has discovered and made his own is the drinking/partying song, and there were many of them from the ridiculously fun ‘Red Solo Cup’ through an ode to country women and whisky ‘Whiskey Girl’ and the great ‘Beer For My Horses’, which was recorded as a duet with the great Willie Nelson, who appeared on the video screen. Great song, awesome chorus. The red solo cups were up, and everyone seemed to be singing!
There were a few songs I was surprised weren’t included in the set – ‘Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue’ and ‘Made in America’, both of which are staples of any Toby Keith show in America – but overall it was a broad brush stroke across nearly three decades’ worth of hit-making. A triple-play of some of Keith’s earliest stuff closed the main set: ‘Should’ve Been A Cowboy’ then ‘How Do You Like Me Now?’ and the rockin’ ‘A Little Less Talk & A Lot More Action’.
All night, Keith had been talking about his experiences with Australian military during his many USO shows – he likes Australians because they are allowed to have base on beer – and dedicated the closing song of his set, ‘American Soldier’ to the men and women of the Australian armed forces, changing the lyrics of the chorus to ‘Australian Soldier’. Keith is famous for being patriotic, and this was a nice touch, very well received by the crowd.
It was over too quickly. Some people in the audience had waited the best part of fifteen years to see Toby Keith live. There were so many songs missing from the set list that he could’ve played three hours or longer. Ninety minutes is better than nothing. Keith came, saw, and he damn well conquered.
Great show!
Hopefully this is the beginning of a bunch of big-time country stars coming down under. Ahem, Kenny Chesney?
Set List
1. Haven't Had a Drink All Day
2. American Ride
3. I Wanna Talk About Me
4. Whiskey Girl
5. Hope on the Rocks
6. God Love Her
7. Beer For My Horses
8. Drinks After Work
9. Weed With Willie
10. Get Out Of My Car
11. Red Solo Cup
12. Who's Your Daddy?
13. As Good As I Once Was
14. I Love This Bar
15. Should've Been A Cowboy
16. How Do You Like Me Now?
17. A Little Less Talk & A Lot More Action
18. American Soldier/Australian Soldier
1. Haven't Had a Drink All Day
2. American Ride
3. I Wanna Talk About Me
4. Whiskey Girl
5. Hope on the Rocks
6. God Love Her
7. Beer For My Horses
8. Drinks After Work
9. Weed With Willie
10. Get Out Of My Car
11. Red Solo Cup
12. Who's Your Daddy?
13. As Good As I Once Was
14. I Love This Bar
15. Should've Been A Cowboy
16. How Do You Like Me Now?
17. A Little Less Talk & A Lot More Action
18. American Soldier/Australian Soldier
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