RASCAL FLATTS, BLAKE SHELTON, Delta Center, Friday.
In the 1980s, hair bands weren't taken seriously by traditional hard-rock and heavy-metal purists. But it was hard to deny the record sales of many of those bands, and their flash and pizazz onstage were certainly entertaining.
That's kind of what life is like now for Rascal Flatts. The harmonizing trio doesn't exactly fall into the category of traditional country music, but with 8 million records sold in about five years, they probably don't care.
Country-pop-rock's hottest band rolled into the Delta Center Friday with a stage show that came with every light, laser, balloon, streamer, video screen and whatever other visual device they could think of that would make any arena rock act proud.
Opening with "Here's to You," lead singer Gary LeVox kept most everyone on their feet for the entire night, rolling seamlessly into "Love You Out Loud" and "Pray for Daylight."
"These people cared enough to sit in the next ZIP code over," observed bassist Jay DeMarcus, acknowledging the fans sitting in the upper bowl of the sold-out Delta Center. "They'll be getting the show next Tuesday."
The Flatts and its five-piece backing band played the hits "Feels Like Today," "Mayberry," "Skin," "I'm Moving On," — and "Fast Cars and Freedom" and "These Days," which were the best two songs of the evening.
Each member also took brief solo breaks to play other people's songs, including DeMarcus on piano for "Great Balls of Fire" and "Let it Be," and guitarist Joe Don Rooney (wearing ripped jeans and a Nazareth T-shirt) doing an acoustic "Friends in Low Places."
The band was in constant motion around the multilevel stage, which resembled a pile of rubble from a collapsed building (bringing down the house?), along with a large planetarium-size moon hanging in the background. LeVox kept the shrieking loud — with frequent mentions of "Salt Lake City" — and requests to the audience to scream.
For the encore, Rascal Flatts paid homage to some of those '80s bands, with Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name." (For the record, LeVox does a better Jon Bon Jovi than Joe Elliot.) It ended with a patriotic spectacle of the Boss' "Born in the U.S.A.," which included members of the U.S. Marine Corps. marching on stage.
No, it wasn't traditional country music. But the band seemed to be having a good time, and the rabid fans were certainly having a good time, and that's really all that matters.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com