Down By Nokia On a Friday Night

If any star came out of the pop country explosion of the '90s relatively unscathed, it was meat-and-potatoes new traditionalist Alan Jackson. While all of his '90s contemporaries (save the far superior Dwight Yoakum) have managed to do everything in their power to embarrass themselves at one time or another--Garth Brooks transforming himself into Chris Gaines, George Strait recording the god-awful "Check Yes Or No," Tim McGraw doing that duet with Nelly, Garth Brooks being himself while not being Chris Gaines, etc., etc.--Jackson has mostly stayed the course, recording album after album of simple, effective country tunes and writing many of his own hits. Even if most of his work suffers from sterile Nashville production, it's easy to see why the man's sold more than 50 million records. Hell, I've never owned a single Alan Jackson album, and I can still sing "Midnight in Montgomery," "Chasin' That Neon Rainbow," "Gone Country" and "Don't Rock The Jukebox" in my sleep. Plus, dude's got a sweet mustache. And if you've ever seen the "Chattahoochee" video--perhaps the best encapsulation of redneck river/lake culture ever committed to tape--then you know that Jackson is a mean wake-boarder. So grab your sweetheart and fog up the windows of your old Chevy in the parking lot of the Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie, where Jackson plays at 8 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $59.75 to $79.75. Visit ticketmaster.com.
Fri., May 15, 2009