LIVE REVIEW: Rascal Flatts

TAMPA -- I swear the dudes in Rascal Flatts just sold me tires at Wal-Mart.

Seriously, country's current kings look like reality-show winners, regular Joes who walked through the wrong door and somehow schlepped into stardom. Singer Gary LeVox, bassist Jay DeMarcus, guitarist Joe Don Rooney ought to come with name tags and time cards.

But hoo boy, this Nashville trio is H-U-G-E. They sell music like Velveeta moves cheese, in great gooey torrents for a swoony, swelling fanbase that has made the pedestrian-looking group one of the best-selling acts, of any genre, of the last decade.

In front of 14,119 appreciative fans Sunday at Ford Amphitheatre, Rascal Flatts, on the last night of their tour, proved why they're a punch line for some but heroes to millions. And really, who cares if naysayers call you a twangy boy band when everyone else is singing, screaming and making you millionaires?

Touring behind smash new album "Still Feels Good," the group churned out all the hook-heavy hits ("Fast Cars and Freedom," "Take Me There," "Bless the Broken Road") and well-scripted sincerity for close to two hours.

Sure, the middle of their set was sloggy and awkward. And it's safe to say there's never been a cover of James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)" that's been so remarkably soul-free. But Rascal Flatts, which is up for heavy hardware at Wednesday's Country Music Awards, knows how to goose its fan base, made up of pretty women (and the patient men accompanying them).

There were more shoutouts to Florida than at a Charlie Crist rally. The band harrumphed about big cities, then followed that up with a salute to the "two-fistin', biscuits-and-gravy-eatin" folks who understand them. Nothing like Tampa, said DeMarcus, where "the beer is cold, the weather is hot and the girls are hotter." (Never mind that it was chilly, and those girls were bundled up in jackets and jeans.)

The stage set was a stunner complete with smoke, pyro and giant video screens that did that Star Wars hyperspace thing. The volume was cranked to ear-bleeding levels, a little Bon Jovi mixed in with the back-roads poetry. But no matter how loud the five-piece backing band -- even when they were covering Journey -- LeVox made it his mission to wail over everything, nasally runs that are still vibrating in the heavens.

Cynicism aside, there's no denying the widespread joy in the crowd. They ate this stuff up. Before No. 1 hit" "My Wish," DeMarcus pleaded with the throngs to follow their dreams. 'Cause if you follow your dreams, amazing things can happen. Considering Rascal Flatts' success, why shouldn't they believe him?

Comments

Your review is right on the money. Also, don't know about anyone else, but I loved Jason Aldean, sound more balanced, not as loud. One more note, blonde guitarist for Rascal Flats has much stronger vocal than lead singer.