Monday, July 7, 2008

REBA MCENTIRE

by Ed Bruce edbrucevegas@yahoo.com

PRETTY MUCH JUST NOISE !

OK, I am an old fart and like violins and lyrics......not here ! Just a sign of the times under Frankie Valli's 1980 statement, "all the great music has already been written".

53 year old country music superstar Reba McEntire, one night only at the Star of the Desert Arena in Primm (stateline) Nevada. Pretty much a sold out arena....maybe 7000....and Reba was singing to the choir, everybody loved her. I loved her too !

I always start with the the big three....too late....too loud...too dark. She was 7 minutes late and right there 7 minutes from a perfect score....TOO LOUD....everything in my life is too loud and when the drummer overpowers the star what happens to the lyrics ? Lyrics....gee what are the Beatles famous for ? Anyway this was too loud from 9 rows back and too loud from the last row!
Impossible to judge house sound inside this deafening endless vibration. Not too dark with a great vertical background video which I did not need because I was up front, but this in house video played well here.

40 years ago Eddy Arnold, Bill Anderson, Charlie Pride, Buck Owens, Merle Hagard, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash (in this arena in the last decade) Ray Price, Jack Greene and David Houston.....I was a country music fan....saw them all....loved them all...new all the music...understood all the lyrics....not Saturday night....never heard any of the songs before...just me I guess !

It is impossible not to like Reba, she is sincere, hard working and genuinely personable. I fell in love with her when she did South Pacific with Bryan Stokes Mitchell for PBS at the Lincoln Center....no shortage of talent and stage presence here....but for me just no act here. 82 minute show. 4 guitars (too many) 1 too many drummers, two too few fiddles, two keyboards, 1 piano, 2 keyboard players all who Reba could have left at home....I believe she could go alone...she did at Lincoln Center ! I would be interested in the lyrics at least to give them a chance !

Strange, she had an opening act at 7:30 but who knew....a comdeian from here TV show REBA....who would have know had not they told me at the ticket office....she was playing the part of a dumb blonde....I think she was....we need people like this to illustrate the writting genuis of the late Geogre Carlin !

Difficult for me to grade this cause I liked the Primm staff, the arena, the experience, Reba....it was just the noise that kills me. 90 A- I am happy that Reba was able to bring so much joy to so many at this great arena !

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