Dwight Yoakam

DWIGHT YOAKAM

The Stiefel Theatre

Salina, KS

© Lydia Lowe  1/26/2012

Dwight Yoakam . . . I had the pleasure to see Dwight Yoakam in concert last night and he was terrific.  When you enter a concert and they hand you earplugs at the door, you know this is going to be wild and loud.  Once he hit the stage, the crowd let out a hollar and the show was on.

Dwight played his set clear through without a break.  He sang, he did a few little jigs across the stage, and told a few jokes.  Early on in his set he sang "Streets of Bakersfield" and inserted Kansas towns in place of San Francisco.  He began with Hutchinson, then switched to Lawrence, then Manhattan and finally, Salina.  The crowd roared when he finally got to Salina.  It was pretty funny.

Later on he sang his remake of "Little Sister", an Elvis song.  I know that the Elvis fans out there are going to hate me for saying this, but I believe Yaokam's remake is really more how the song should have been sung in the first place.  Sorry Elvis.

Then there was Yoakam's remake of a Johnny Cash song, "Ring of Fire".  I think it's a toss up there.  I like both versions.  Metal Mom attended the show with me and said she preferred Yoakam's rendition. 

This is a flashy show with lots of shiny stage costumes, jeans, and stage lighting.  There were typical country western melodies (Guitars, and Cadillacs) as well as tunes to rock out too.  The ladies behind us were clearly there for the lead guitar player, Eddie Perez.  They were doing shout outs to him throughout the concert. 

This was nothing like what I expected.  Not your typical country show.  I went to a Clint Black show a while back and everyone there was dressed in typical country western gear and were what you'd think of as typical country western fans.  Not so with this show.  Dwight Yoakam appeals to a broader audience and it's unexpected.   It was very refreshing.