Review: Anderson rocks the country
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| Keith Anderson performs Saturday at the Cain’s Ballroom to an enthusiastic audience, many of whom lined up before the show for a “meet and greet” session with the Oklahoma State University graduate. |
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By MATT ELLIOTT World Scene Writer
4/24/2007 5:04 PM
The Oklahoman uses many cliches in his music, but his audience at Cain's likes it.
I do not understand why mainstream country has to root through arena rock's fly-specked Dumpster of discarded cliches and trot them back out again. It sure bores the hell out of me.
But I suspect the main reason why is that people buy it. And Keith Anderson of Miami, Okla., drove that home as he performed Saturday night at Cain's Ballroom to nearly a hometown crowd. People obviously love this stuff.
Anderson, a black T-shirt stretched over his physique, took the stage to a medley of AC/DC's "Hells Bells" while wearing a black cowboy hat pulled low, out from which jutted his firm chin and jawline.
The girls in the audience (there were quite a few, hair done up in big flowing curls, boots and tight jeans topped off with open-necked shirts) screamed as he joined his band for his homage to his hometown, "Podunk."
"Same Saturday night, same ol' crowd," Anderson sang, nearly drowned out by the audience singing back to him. "Draggin' Main to the Safeway and then turn back around. . . ."
Anderson, who has a pretty good vocal range, could have simply stood there and let the audience sing the song right back to him. The crowd danced and sang, from the hundreds who lined up outside Cain's before the performance to the droves ushered into single-file lines for the "meet and greet" session with the singer.
The crowd, especially its larger members, went nuts for the song "XXL," Anderson's number embracing the "bigger-is-better" ethos. He belted out his new single, "Sunday Morning in America."
The drummer pounded away, riding his high hat as if he were Metallica's Lars Ulrich. Lead guitarist Bob Hatter coaxed out his share of screaming guitar solos. Anderson even told the crowd that his bassist used to be in the Scorpions. Maybe it was a joke, maybe not. Does country really need to borrow so much in search of innovation?
Anderson, an Oklahoma State University graduate, moved to Nashville about 10 years ago to perform his original songs but didn't get his break until Gretchen Wilson recorded his composition, "The Bed." His album, "Three Chord Country and American Rock and Roll," went gold with songs he largely wrote -- a rarity in popular country.
Also, Garth Brooks and George Jones recorded his song, "Beer Run." Anderson, before performing the song Saturday, explained how that happened.
He was called by some folks who wanted to record it, he said, but they wanted to change the song's melody and lyrics. Anderson told the crowd that his integrity made him demand that they record it the way he wrote it.
But then he found out who the recording artists were.
That's when he said, "You know, there's things about that song that bugged me," drawing a laugh from the audience.
So he started off into Brooks and Jones' version but cut the band off about 30 seconds into it. "I feel like I'm cheating you. . . . Y'all want to hear the way I originally wrote that song?" he asked, as if the crowd would say no. He then led into his version, which had a harder beat and was closer to rock than Brooks' take is.
But Anderson didn't want the limelight in his home state solely for himself. Midway through the show, Claremore native Bobby Pinson took the stage.
Pinson, alone with only an acoustic guitar, cracked jokes with the crowd and performed his songs including "Don't Ask Me How I Know." The number played out like an advice column, with such nuggets of wisdom as "don't fry bacon naked."
Leading into "Want To," a song he co-wrote that Sugarland recorded, he joked that it was "the closest I'm ever going to get to being Jennifer Nettles."
Mary Cogan and her backing band kicked the night off, propelling her repertoire of cover songs with her smoky voice. She performed everything from Stevie Nicks' "Landslide" to Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys' "Roly Poly."
Matt Elliott 581-8366
matt.elliott@tulsaworld.com
By MATT ELLIOTT World Scene Writer
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