Gary Allan fans crowded into one of Nashville’s newest clubs on Oct. 5 to show their support for an entertainer whose influences come as much from his home state of California and the Bakersfield sounds of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard as they do from Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings.
Allan is an artist who doesn’t worry about being politically correct when it comes to his music, and would rather deliver a song with depth and substance over a song that is cute or lovable. His live performance delivers the same attitude, with the added bonus of seeing him and his seven-piece band having one heck of a good time on stage.
The show opened with “Right Where I Need To Be” and powered into “Tough All Over,” the title track from Allan’s brand new album. The early portion also featured the Todd Snider-penned “Alright Guy” and “Songs About Rain,” a hit from 2003’s “See if I Care.”
Allan doesn’t offer much conversation with his performance, just mostly solid renditions of his greatest hits. “Drink some beer and sweat with us for awhile,” he suggested to a roar of applause before launching into “Man to Man.”
He sprinkled in a good sampling from “Tough All Over,” including “Best I Ever Had.” In introducing the song he made the only reference of the evening to his wife’s suicide last year, noting, “Most of you know it’s been a pretty bad year for me and I found myself listing to this song for months.” Lighters were held high as he sang the beautiful ballad.
The opening act, new hot country duo Hanna-McEuen, sang songs from its self-titled debut and energized the crowd with a rockin’ country approach. The sons of pioneering Nitty Gritty Dirt Band members Jeff Hanna and John McEuen, cousins Jaime Hanna and Jonathan McEuen evoked Everly Brothers harmonies on “Fool Around,” “Something Like A Broken Heart,” “End of Me,” “Prayer For You,” “Ocean” and “Read Between the Lies.”
There was little chatter between songs except to express their thrill at playing in Nashville, but there were some great guitar licks from McEuen, especially on “Biggest Fool on History,” which drew appreciative applause from the audience.
Here is Gary Allan’s set list:
“Right Where I Need To Be”
“Tough All Over”
“Alright Guy”
“Songs About Rain”
“Man to Man”
“Tough Little Boys”
“Smoke Rings in the Dark”
“Guys Like Me”
“Best I Ever Had”
“He Can’t Quit Her”
“Nickajack Cave”
“I Don’t Look Back”
“Putting Memories Away”
“No Damn Good”
“Her Man”
“The Devil’s Candy”
“It Would Be You”
“Nothing on But the Radio”
“Can’t Do It Today”
“Runaway”
“Drinkin’ Black Whiskey”
“Man of Me”
Here is Hanna-McEuen’s set list:
“Fool Around”
“Wild Eyes of Love”
“End of Me”
“Something Like a Broken Heart”
“Read Between the Lies”
“Ocean”
“Blue Sunrise”
“Tell Me”
“Rock and a Heartache”
“Kiss”
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