Adkins puts the boom into Country Thunder
By DAVE TIANEN
dtianen@journalsentinel.com
Posted: July 19, 2007
Twin Lakes - Wednesday night excepted, it's been mostly sunny skies for Country Thunder USA. The big name country music festival has rebounded from bankruptcy in the '90s and added a third festival in the Dallas area to its existing events in Wisconsin and Arizona.
It also expanded to five days and now ranks with the larger country festivals in the nation.
This year's festival, which opened Wednesday and runs through Sunday, is packed with A-list names in country entertainment: Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride, Montgomery Gentry, Sugarland and Larry the Cable Guy.
The event opened with a potent one-two punch of Reba McEntire and Trace Adkins.
The combination of a rain delay and deadlines prevented a review of McEntire's closing set, but Adkins went on before the storm. It's intriguing seeing Adkins on the heels of Toby Keith at Summerfest. Together they are probably the leading exponents of brawny manliness in country music.
Adkins trumps Keith on some fronts. He has, for instance, the better Iraq war song, "Arlington," sung from the perspective of a fallen soldier come to rest in the "sacred ground" of Arlington National Cemetery. It's touching and genuinely patriotic whereas "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" is mostly boisterous.
Adkins also does sexual tension better, as in "I Left Something Turned on at Home."
On the rowdy, party animal front, it's probably a draw.
But there's a significant difference in the persona. With Toby Keith, the swagger and tough talk is delivered with a wink. Adkins serves his macho cold. Stuff like "Fightin' Words," when combined with the deep voice, the long biker hair, the towering frame and the tight black T and jeans, conveys an aura of danger, almost menace.
There's also a suggestion of distance. The Country Thunder stage has a long ramp extending into the crowd. By and large, Adkins avoided going out to mix with the fans.
No such reserve radiates from Kellie Pickler. A year graduated from American Idol, Pickler still projects a Dixie-fried, Goldie Hawn ditsyness. She's at her best with lighthearted fare like "Small Town Girl."
The danger seems to be whether the polishing agents will gradually wipe away that charm. On stage, she has the look of a lady who's been carefully coached.
If they keep it up, they may perfect her into Barbie with a twang.
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