Toby Keith concert review
June 29th, 2008 by Wade Tatangelo in Reviews
Toby Keith w/Montgomery Gentry, Sat., June 28, Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa
Toby Keith looked tired Saturday at the Ford Amphitheatre. Not physically tired from, say, doing too many curls before picking up his guitar and hitting the stage, but tired from singing the same songs, writing more songs, touring extensively, and doing the same redneck schtick in the spotlight for years now while simultaneously running a record company and trying to launch a film career.
Keith is top dawg in Nashville these days, but like his pal Willie Nelson did in the 1980s, Keith is perhaps spreading himself too thin. If that’s the case, it showed Saturday.Then again, maybe the man just got bad family news or had the shits or something. Despite what his fans might like to believe, Keith is human, after all, and susceptible to the same things that might knock you or I off our game.
The former semi-pro football player and roughneck turned in a solid, workmanlike performance but appeared like he could have been having just as much fun laboring on an oil rig during most of the concert. Propping Keith up was an ace backing band that numbered about a dozen and featured three horn players and a female backup singer in a hot pink top who sang lead on a number. Keith was in fine vocie but lacked the enthusiasm I detected two years ago when the Oklahoman played the same venue on a hot, muggy August night (last nigth was fairly cool for a Florida summer). The only time the singer/songwriter truly appeared to be enjoying himself was during a full-tilt cover of Ted Nugent’s hard rock classic “Stranglehold.” Keith even let his guitarist take center stage and shred, making for one of the most pleasantly exciting moments of the evening.
For the encore, Keith performed his gloriously divisive “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).” And it felt forced. The singer couldn’t even deliver the infamous “stick a boot in your ass” line with much conviction. That said, the 20,000-capacity venue appeared nearly full and it seemed everyone cheered wildly from the time Keith’s extended Ford truck commerical aired — a pre-show ritual for the singer/spokesman — until the lights came up after “Angry American.”
June 29th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
This review is crap!
My wife and I had the time of our life. Toby delviered a great performance, and as a result of this “so-called” lackluster performance, I will see Toby anytime he comes back. Great job Toby!!!
June 29th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
“everyone cheered wildly from the time Keith’s extended Ford truck commerical aired”
see, that right there is all you need to write about this show. BLAH! i guess the majority of the folks in attendance didn’t mind paying god knows how much for a ticket to only be forced to watch a fucking ford commercial before the show. i can’t call toby a sell-out as i don’t think he every had any artistic integrity to begin with; i guess that makes him at best, a corporate puppet.
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Did you even really GO? “Stick a boot in your ass?” That’s not even the right words. Face it, you’re a liberal who hates his flag waving and you were forced to go or pretend to see this concert.
Jeff
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:08 am
This looks like you came in late to the show. Can you give examples of what songs at the beginning of the set seemed “tired?” Half your review is a weak biography of Keith.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:45 am
Jeff: Gee, you got me. I was off by one word. “Stick a boot,” “put a boot,” does it really matter? Look, partner, I went into the show (on time, Constance, even cuaght those hacks Montgomery/Gentry) with high expectations and I caught T.K., a guy I like and had a good interview/concert experience with a couple years back, on an off night. It happens. The guys isn’t god.
http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/toby_keith_saddles_up_at_the_ford_amp/Content?oid=467774
September 12th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
You should have been in Atlanta on September 11th. He Rocked the house.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Saw this same concert in Ohio last night and found Toby Keith dsigusting, what a low life entertainer. There were many older people in the audience and families and his show was R rated at best.Giving the audience the finger for one minute to close the show. What a sad story for this talented man
September 14th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Wow. Sounds like Keith might be unraveling. Like I noted earlier, I think he has too much on his plate: running a record label, writing/recording a new album per year, touring stadiums, launching an acting career, the TV ads. The man needs a vacation. I’m sure he can afford it.
September 17th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I have no Idea what concert “Terri” saw in Atlanta, but the one I saw reflected the one in Tampa, and Ohio. I saw him about 5 or 6 years ago at the Strawberry Festival and it was a lot better show…and free.
I agree, he acts tired and needs to take a break. He acts like he doesn’t even care.