\nSome of the small talk – and the set list – mirrored the show last time around. But the band, which marks its 10th anniversary this year, has returned a little bit older and with a little bit more money to put into stage toys. <\/p>\n
\nThe stage was set up with a catwalk that went clear to the back of the arena floor, a nice touch that afforded a good view for what Civic Center officials said was a crowd of 7,500 that turned out to see the \u201cAmerican Living Unstoppable\u201d tour. <\/p>\n
\nThere were two giant screens flanking the stage, three screens that sometimes hovered high above the stage and sometimes sat on the stage floor. There were several extremely large screens that were set up behind the band, too. The screens flashed tangerine-colored paint splatters, wavy blue lines, a scene of winter trees being dusted with snow during \u201cHere Comes Goodbye.\u201d There were lights that made it look like it was snowing on the arena crowd, too.
\nPerhaps the coolest trick was a mirrored mosaic piano that was lifted into the rafters once band members were through using it. <\/p>\n
\nGary LeVox, like the last time he was in town, chose a cute child from the crowd to lift up on stage and hold her hand as he led her around the catwalk to wave at fans. The set list included \u201cMy Wish,\u201d which followed a video segment on the band\u2019s involvement with the Make-A-Wish foundation and a children\u2019s hospital in Nashville. During the song, the entire front of the arena appeared to be draped in blue stars, thanks to the multiple screens. <\/p>\n
\nDuring \u201cBless the Broken Road,\u201d the stage floor was engulfed in wafting fog. The trio of DeMarcus, LeVox and Joe Don Rooney crowded around a microphone together, and they looked like perfectly stylish angels: outfitted in sparkly shirts and jeans with rhinestones, their hair coiffed just so. <\/p>\n
\nThe show began with an hour-long set by Darius Rucker. While Rucker fits neatly into the country realm, it\u2019s hard not to associate him with his Hootie and the Blowfish days. And he doesn\u2019t seem eager to leave them behind, performing songs like \u201cLet Her Cry\u201d to an eager audience. <\/p>\n
\nHe also performed \u201cOnly Wanna Be With You,\u201d introducing it as: \u201cThis is a song I have to play for the rest of my life.\u201d <\/p>\n
\nWhy, Darius? Why? Didn\u2019t we hear enough of this mediocre song all throughout the 90s?<\/p>\n
\nOther notable numbers included the drinking anthem \u201cDrinkin\u2019 and Dialin\u2019,\u201d with the lyrics \u201cNext time you think I\u2019ve had too much to drink and you tell me I shouldn\u2019t drive home \/ When you take my keys, oh I\u2019m begging you please, go on take my cell phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHe paid tribute to his country ancestors with the mother of all drinking anthems, Hank Williams Jr.\u2019s \u201cFamily Tradition.\u201d Pretty much any performer could make this tune fun, and Rucker\u2019s deep, raspy voice suited the song surprisingly well. A short fiddle solo could\u2019ve been extended, though. <\/p>\n
\nRucker closed by mixing soul and country on his version of \u201cPurple Rain\u201d – a feat that few country singers could pull off.<\/p>\n
Danielle Hatch can be reached at 686-3262 or dhatch@pjstar.com.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Read the original article from Journal Star<\/a>.<\/p>\n Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services<\/a><\/p>\n Jay DeMarcus has this impression he does of girls in short skirts. He purses his lips, puts his hand on his hip, sticks his rear out and prances across the stage. It\u2019s hilarious. He did it Thursday night during Rascal Flatts\u2019 concert at the Civic Center, and he did the same impression when the band […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-341042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341042\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/img><\/a>
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