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From The Morning Call
-- September 2, 2005
Alan Jackson delivers toe-tappin' show for audience at
Allentown Fair
Country star performs in
traditional style, doesn't focus on flash.
By Keith Groller
Of The
Morning Call
Alan Jackson was the calm
after the storm Wednesday night at the Allentown Fair
grandstand.
After rain and swirling winds at the start of the show,
Jackson had virtually everyone in an audience of 7,116 feeling warm and
cuddly by the end of the night.
Jackson, one of country music's
most reliable hit makers, has made three appearances at the fair in the
past five years and his shows never change, except for some tinkering with
the playlist.
In traditional country style, Jackson's shows lack
special effects. His current road trip is called the ''What I Do'' tour
and what he does is sing likeable, toe-tapping songs.
Just like a
Saturday night at the Grand Ole Opry, his shows are about music without
flash, except for extensive use of video screens.
Typically,
Jackson had little to say during his hour and 10 minutes on the stage,
other than to acknowledge the bad weather and his history of rainy nights
in Allentown.
Jackson, wearing his signature white cowboy hat,
doesn't move around the stage much. His biggest burst of energy is to
fling guitar picks into the crowd.
But his fans, who know all of
the words to his 31 No. 1 hits, don't seem to mind.
Jackson
performed 16 songs and settled in after the volume needed to be turned
down and fine-tuned on his opener ''Gone Country.''
He changed the
ending to ''I Don't Even Know Your Name,'' stripping away the final verse
and replacing it with an extended instrumental. Also cut was the Jeff
Foxworthy video accompaniment.
He mixed in three songs from his
latest CD ''What I Do,'' with the best being the poignant ''Monday Morning
Church.''
Highlights included the reflective ballad ''Remember
When'' and the rousing ''Don't Rock the Jukebox'' which begins with an
electric guitar riff that has the audience wondering if Jackson suddenly
wanted to embrace heavy metal.
Of course, any artist with as many
hits as Jackson can't possibly sing all of them. Notably absent here were
some of his earliest hits, ''Mercury Blues,'' ''She's Got the Rhythm'' and
''Midnight in Montgomery.''
Jackson brought the crowd to its feet
with his 9/11 tribute ''Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)''
and video clips of Allentown were shown during the closing number, ''Where
I Come From.''
The Wrights, featuring Jackson's nephew, Adam
Wright, and his wife, Shannon, opened with a 12-song, 45-minute set of
easy-listening, traditional country.
Unfortunately the crowd,
mostly concerned about staying dry at that point, had only a lukewarm
response.
keith.groller@mcall.com
610-820-6740
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