While the band plays hard, Keith sings of cheating, sin, heartache, drinking, fun, redemption, good ol' boys and whiskey girls in a bawdy yet family- friendly show. His ability to pull it off is in no small part to maintain his persona as just another guy, despite his multiplatinum success. That carefully cultivated image was displayed in the opening video - a very funny, entertaining clip about Keith resisting the glitz of fame, all of it wrapped up in a video that was ultimately a megacommercial for an automaker sponsoring his tour.
The sponsorship money has come in handy. Despite reasonable ticket prices, Keith put on the most high- tech show I've ever seen at Red Rocks, filled with video screens, light shows and seemingly endless showers of sparks, confetti and effects coming out of various parts of the stage. Due to the fact that his latest album, White Trash With Money, has some of his best songwriting on it, Keith was able to meld new with old, from the recent story-of-his-life song Honkytonk U to the brand new tearjerker Too Little Too Late.
The product placement didn't end with the truck commercial. -Keith used the middle part of his concert to promote Broken Bridges, his new movie with Lindsey Haun, an interlude the crowd politely tolerated while waiting for more hell-raising. They got it paid back with Who's Your Daddy, Beer For My Horses and How Do You Like Me Now.
At press time Keith was working on encores that, if similar to previous setlists, would include his megahit Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American). Keith has always been ambitious but pragmatic. He told the News in that same interview that he quit his fledgling football career years ago after figuring out he'd never be big enough for some positions, never quick enough for others.
Adaptation to the times is crucial in any field, but one hopes Keith doesn't confuse the line between being a personality and being a product.
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