Alan Jackson, Martina McBride toss back some smooth country

09:13 AM EDT on Saturday, April 24, 2004

BY RICK MASSIMO
Journal Pop Music Writer

Alan Jackson didn't exactly refute the adage "nothing ventured, nothing gained," but last night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center the country singer accomplished a lot more in simpler situations.

After Brooks & Dunn's amped-up emotionalism last week, Jackson was a cool drink of water -- or beer, as his lyrics might indicate he would prefer. While he was preceded by a video montage celebrating his many country music awards, he ambled onto the stage looking like he wasn't sure whom all the fuss was for.

He launched into "Gone Country," which is simultaneously a celebration of the popularity of country music in the last decade or so and a gimlet-eyed look at the sincerity and motivations of new converts ("I hear down there it's changed, you see/ They're not as backward as they used to be," one says).

The rest of the performance was split between fun country songs that had a classic feel and sound, driven by Jackson's Willie Nelson-inspired drawl and aw-shucks attitude, and the occasional overwrought, ponderous pop-influenced ballad (such as "The Bluesman," a tribute to Hank Williams, or "Living on Love").

There were more of the former style, and more to them. Of course, there were plain old fun numbers, such as "I Don't Even Know Your Name" and "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" (his hit duet with Jimmy Buffett). But there was plenty of the plain wisdom that honky-tonk music is famous for, such as "Might as well share, might as well smile/ Life goes on for a little bitty while." There's a difference between reinforcing the verities and restating the obvious, which too many of the ballads, such as "Remember When," tended to do.

Mention should also be made of Jackson's excellent band, particularly drummer Bruce Rutherford, who wasn't spectacular but handled everything from country stomps to blues shuffles to ballads and made them all swing.

Martina McBride opened the show -- really, she was more of a co-headliner, as she got almost as much onstage time as Jackson and did an encore. Her songs were almost uniformly about empowerment, usually specifically female, from "For the Girls," about the new challenges women face at each new age, to "Concrete Angel," a tearjerker about a victim of child abuse, to "Independence Day," about a battered wife who takes revenge on her husband.

Her strong voice carried the day, and her songs were memorable and usually not treacly, particularly the hits "Wild Angel" and "Baby I Love You."

Her "acoustic set" wasn't very acoustic (it's probable nothing really can be in the Dunk), as her voice didn't adjust to the quieter accompaniments. Then again, the accompaniment wasn't really that much quieter. Maybe an acoustic set in the cavernous Dunk is just a bad idea.

She had a fiddler and a pedal steel guitar, but her material was much more mid-tempo rock 'n' roll (think Lifetime-network incidental music) than down-home country music, with the notable exception of the gospel-influenced "Reluctant Daughter," from her new album.