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Neal McCoy
A Concert Review |
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Have you ever been in a really lousy mood and then you hear a new
song on the radio from someone you weren't really familiar with that
just turns that frown upside-down, gives you a boost of instant
energy, makes you think things aren't that bad, or at least forget
them things for a little while? Well, one day I was in my car and
that exact thing happened to me. The song - "You Gotta Love
That." The singer - Neal McCoy.
As I was driving I made a quick u-turn and headed to the record
store. I had to have the CD, and I got it. It was then I realized I
had found a new, cool singer, that Neal guy, and eagerly awaited his
coming to the Chicago area. He finally did, to the Star Plaza
Theatre in Indiana, and yours truly was there.
In my show prep I had read that Neal was a great performer, full
of energy, and a lot of fun. I guess I was a little skeptical - I've
read enough press material that says one thing when the opposite is
true. But from the start of "You Gotta Love That" I knew
this was going to a really cool show. Little did I know at that time
how cool it would be. And little did I remember all of the songs
Neal McCoy is famous for. And little did I know how many notes I
took at the show and now I have to put them all together for this
little article.
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A Neal McCoy show isn't just a guy with a good voice hanging out
behind a microphone and singing his hits. Nope, Neal mixes a little
bit of comedy, a little bit of seriousness, and a lot of bit of fun
into his hour and a half performance. It was after the second song
that this really began to become apparent. There he was, up on
stage, bustin' on little ol' Bryan White who opened up for him.
Nothing bad, and all in fun, but it was plain to see that there
wasn't anything that would be sacred this night. If Neal could poke
fun at he would, and he did, between many of the hits that has made
him one of country's hit-makers.
And his band was fun too. There was Senor McCoy working the
ladies (oh, like he really needed to work them - I haven't seen that
many roses since last year's Rose Bowl Parade, and Neal even said
that someone must be making a killing selling those things. From
every swoon in songs like the classic "My Girl" to
"Kiss Me Each Morning," women were screaming, hell, one
lady even tried to give him some jewelry, but I digress, back to the
band) while his band, a talented group of dudes, were dancin' and
making "ripping" noises as Neal bent over to grab his next
rose. It was a great combination of great love songs, peppy fun
songs, and a man who could probably be a stand-up comedian if he
weren't such a damn good singer.
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This night he busted on the "Marcarena" by commenting how
any song that Gore (as in the Vice-President) can dance to he
definitely doesn't want to learn because "that's about as white
as a boy could get;" that night he questioned why these two
guys who came up to the stage to shake his hand were bullied by
security to go and sit down while the ladies were almost allowed to
jump on stage with him; that night he pretended he was at a beauty
pageant with all of the roses he had collected; that night Neal sang
some Barry Manilow, the "Mandy" song to, oddly enough, a
girl named Mandy who asked to dance with him; that night he became
"Grand-Master Neal" as he did a rap version of the Beverly
Hillbillies theme song; and that night he showed me that I'm really
glad I was in that rotten mood that first time I heard "You
Gotta Love That" because if I didn't I may have never become a
Neal McCoy fan and would have never gone to see one of the better
singers, one of the better bands, and one of the best shows I have
been to in a while.
As I'm looking over my notes some more, I see I forgot to mention
the band a little more. Well, Neal spotlighted them all in a
"band-intro" set that for all intensive purposes was too
long - that is if it wasn't for the fact this was probably one of
the freshest band introductions I have seen - I guess that's really
why I have to comment on it. See, I've been to many shows where the
lead singer dude just goes "Give a hand for so-and-so on lead
guitar," then the lead guitar dude jams a little, then it moves
on usually taking too long and not adding too much to the show. Neal
would have none of that. Nope, meeting the band was nearly as much
fun as the rest of the show. Now, send me all of the hate mail you
want because I didn't get these dudes names, but I will say they are
a marvelously talented bunch. The guitar dude, who Neal said was 16
but I'm not sure I believe it, but in any case, he wailed. Then the
fiddle player donned a little hat and started jammin' out some AC/DC
and the drummer kicked in with some classic "Wipe-Out." Oh
yea, that drummer dude can sing too, as was most heard on a great
rendition of "For the Good Times." A few more intros with
the "Chip 'n Dale" dancers and it was time for a
full-blown band jam complete with a little "Stairway to
Heaven" and "The Banana Boat Song."
Neal is one of those artists that has the radio hits but
sometimes falls into that "I didn't know he sang that
song" category. This I will guarantee, if you go see Neal McCoy
in concert you will from then on know exactly who Neal McCoy is.
It's TWO BIG OL' HONKIN' THUMBS UP for Neal and his band.
That's it for this one, I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!! |
