Country classics captivate crowd
Ronnie Dunn strums his vintage Fender Telecaster guitar on stage at the South Okanagan Events Centre. He and his musical partner, Kix Brooks, played to a raucous capacity crowd at the SOEC Friday evening.
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You don’t become legendary country singers for nothing. You got to have the hits and you got to have the chops.
Leon “Kix” Brooks and Ronnie Dunn brought plenty of both to the first-ever sold-out show at the South Okanagan Events Centre Friday night.
The legendary duo put on a well-received — albeit at just over 80 minutes, somewhat short — show, drawing from their 18-year catalogue of Billboard-charting songs.
Taking to the stage with the title track off their latest album Cowboy Town, Brooks & Dunn brought the house to its feet with several hits songs such as You Can’t Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl and, of course, Boot Scootin’ Boogie.
Accompanied by a seven-player band, along with three back-up singers, the music was rich and full with classic guitar licks, steel-string melodies and country harmonies. And the headliners, particularly Brooks, worked to give the raucous crowd a large helping of showmanship entertainment.
They did it all: storytelling before songs, a big screen production, handclapping sessions, microphones to the singing crowd, bobbing guitars in unison, an explosion of streamers and even a swag-shooting gun.
At one point, Brooks pulled nine-year-old Shalee McAfee up onto the stage for some dancing lessons.
Sure, it’s old school entertainment, but Brooks & Dunn are old school entertainers and it was all in the name of having a good time.
Perhaps, the biggest testimony to the raw talent that has helped win Brooks & Dunn several dozen awards (from the Country Music Awards to the Grammies) was that the concert happened at all.
According to the singers, Dunn, was quite sick with a fever the night of the concert but did not want to disappoint fans in Penticton, so performed anyway.
“I feel about 108 degrees,” said Dunn, the lead singer for most of the duos’ hits, returning to the stage after taking a break to rest.
During that break, Brooks took to the microphone alone, busking an improvised acoustic rendition of Lost and Found, before breaking into new song Last Rodeo. It was a wonderful performance, accentuated by Brooks’ breathtaking vibrato country howl at the end of the song.
Dunn returned to the stage looking rather pale and sweaty but sounding very good. And when it came time to sing My Maria, his voice was pitch-perfect during the rangy falsetto chorus — even when ill, the man sure can sing.
In Last Rodeo, Brooks sings, “Let’s give them what they came to see.”
On Friday, he and Dunn did just that and then some.
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