Sunday, February 11, 2007 5:54 AM CST
Kenny Rogers deals winning first hand for McLeod Center
WATERLOO --- After 65 albums, Kenny Rogers showed no signs of slowing down during an eclectic show Friday night. In fact, he has added stand-up comedy and even rap to his repertoire.
Rogers and opening acts Casey Rivers and Linda Davis were the first performers to grace the stage at University of Northern Iowa’s McLeod Auditorium, which opened Nov. 18.
After an acoustic set from Rivers, who was the runner-up in season four of USA Network’s reality show "Nashville Star," and an energetic set from Davis, who was backed by Rogers’ band, the Gambler took the stage. Fans crowded in front to take pictures and pass Rogers flowers during the first two songs.
Rogers loosened up the crowd by picking on a man named Chuck near the front of the stage. He said Chuck fell into a group of men he could spot a mile away --- guys who had been drug to the concert by their wives.
"My goal before I walk out those exit doors tonight is to put you solidly in that A category."
Rogers said he wasn’t above buying his fans, and proceeded to make a deal with the singled out audience member: every time Chuck recognized a hit song, Rogers would toss him 10 bucks. Lucky for Chuck, Rogers sang all the favorites, including "Through the Years," "Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town" and "Islands in the Stream."
After throwing the first of eight 10-dollar bills, Rogers joked, "You know what bothers me is tomorrow Chuck will be so excited about country music that he’ll go out and buy a Garth Brooks album with my money."
Rogers brought Davis back on stage for a duet of "We’ve Got Tonight," then shared the stage with a singing, life-size cardboard cutout of Tim McGraw on "Owe Them More Than That."
After chastising the audience for not showing more support for all five films inspired by Rogers’ hit song "The Gambler," he told the crowd they would see all the sequels during the show. As the first notes of Rogers’ most famous song played, the screen behind him showed a montage of clips and the audience cheered.
Then, Rogers announced "The Gambler VI," a short spoof featuring rapper Coolio. Rogers sat on a stool watching, and at some points rapped along.
During "Lucille," the entire crowd sang along, swaying to the familiar chorus.
"You look like a room full of Ray Charles," said Rogers, imitating the crowd’s sway.
A group of 10 screaming fans, decked out in shirts that spelled K-E-N-N-Y, finally received recognition from Rogers toward the end of his set.
"Does that say ‘Chesney’ on the back? Tell me the truth," he said.
The younger Kenny doesn’t hold a candle to the classic, though, said the "K" and "E," respectively, Kelly Ludwig, 39, and Darlene Kluesner, 33. The women came with their husbands and three other couples, each of whom shared a letter. They spelled "Kenny" twice, they said, because Rogers was too long and they didn’t know if they could talk an extra person into wearing the "S." The back of the shirts bore lyrics from "The Gambler" and "Buy Me a Rose."
The group rented a bus and drove 90 minutes from Farley to see the legend, singing Rogers’ hits all the way.
"In high school I was dating my husband, and he put on Kenny Rogers. I said, ‘No way. My parents listen to that,’ " said Kluesner. "Now I love him."
Though Ludwig and Kluesner both sang the praises of opening acts Rivers and Davis, Rogers is a different breed of showstopper, they said.
"He’s not a singer, he’s an entertainer," said Ludwig.
10 comments:
Not sure if cribbing a review from the paper means anything other than you're in category A.
Why type my way through it all when someone else can type it better?
Just want to let you all know that it was a hoot. Great time at the concert. Thanks for responding to this post. I was beginning to think that I was excommunicated from everyone's favorites.
Did you get your new modem or are you responding from work?
El Paestro
What's up snow day? How are those trees doing? You should go out with a hair dryer and get those trees to stand upright again. :)
Modem up and running.
Snow day here too, though for me it's voluntary.
Mixdorf snowing it to eh.
Let's meet for hot chocolate and a nice round of the Princess stranded on an ice planet with Han.
I'll be Han and we'll use that new Wookie rug.
I wasn't all that jazzed about responding to a Waterloo Courier article myself.
To me, it actually sounds like Kenny Rogers is stuck between being horribly bitter over the successes of the next generation of country artists and trying to approach the subject with an desperate attempt at self-deprecating humour.
Sorry about the post. The Courier summed it up much better. Me spending a ton of time trying to say the same damn thing was silly.
I will try not to post from the paper again since the general feeling is that it is in bad form.
unless you want to be...El Paestro!
YES! We read a new blog post...
"Ah, yes. Look closely, gentlemen..You see the byline. The quotes from various sources. The inverted pyramid. Without a doubt, this looks like the work of...(gasp, sweat) El Paestro!!!"
Post a Comment