This much was evident after Saturday night's concert: a) Alan Jackson's stage act hasn't changed much over the years and b) it doesn't need to. His trademark saunter, that easy shrug, the slight tip of the hat, the way he steps to the side of the microphone and sings back over his shoulder - he's been doing it for years. His movements are the regalia of country royalty, they subtly attest to the fact that he's got "it" --that undefinable something that separates one from so many others.

Jackson opened the show with "Who's Cheatin' Who," followed, in quick succession by "I Don't Even Know Your Name," "Livin' on Love," and "She's Got the Rhythm (and I've Got the Blues)." He then jumped into a little Hank Jr. with his rendition of "Long-Haired Country Boy."

After asking how the audience was feeling, and saying that it "feels good out there tonight," Jackson introduced a song that some friends had written, saying it was a song he could relate to because "we're always being told that everything these days is bad for you, everything you eat, everything you drink, ..." The song? "Everything I Love is Killing Me," naturally.

Jackson is working on a new album, due out September 1st, and he played his first single," I'll Go On Loving You", written by Kieran Kane. It was an extremely different sounding song with an almost "south of the border" flavor. Most of the words were spoken (a traditional country "recitation") rather than sung. This will definitely be an interesting radio release.

An old favorite was brought up next, "Summertime Blues," followed by "I'll Try,'" during which one could see a sea of cowboy hats swaying in time to the music. The next song was one Jackson had begun writing when he first moved to Nashville. In the song, actually written as a Mother's Day gift for his mother, Jackson philosophized that no matter how many places you go in this world there's really only one place that can be called "Home."

An always-interesting number followed, "Between the Devil and Me" with well-timed lighting effects - red strobe lights shooting up from the stage floor with green shafts of light emanating from the sides of the stage and yellow light cascading down from above, all enhanced by smoke.

Jackson next sat down to perform an acoustic set. It was odd to see the drummer bring a stripped down set of drums right up to the stage front, to join the fiddle player, and lead guitar. I don't know what was more entertaining, the actual songs or the fact that Jackson went into his "chat" mode. For those who thought Alan Jackson was always uncomfortably shy when speaking in public, this had to have been an eye-opener. The man can talk a blue streak if he wants to (does anyone remember Tanya Tucker having to pull him off stage during the TNN/MCN Awards show 2 years ago)? What makes it so interesting and fun is that fans don't get to see it very often. At times Jackson's intros to the songs were longer than the actual pieces of the songs that were played!

The "chat" started off with Jackson reiterating how niceconcdrt-goers had all been. He said he wanted to "bring it on down a little" and do an acoustic set, or an "unplugged" set as some call it. He said "unplugged" isn't really fitting because there's still some little wires running to the instruments so he calls it his "half-wired" set. The first song played was" Here in the Real World" (the first #1 single), then "Dallas" a song he had appropriately enough, written after playing a show in Dallas, Texas. He reminisced as to how it was at a gig in Dallas that he first noticed a crowd of people responding to his music because they recognized it from the radio.

He next talked about how, as a songwriter, you get your ideas wherever you can. One day he had been sitting alone on a bed in a basement apartment in Nashville (where he lived for 5 years) and a John Wayne movie was on TV. In the movie, "The Duke" walked into a sheriff's office and there was a wanted poster on the wall in the scene. Thus was born "Wanted."

Jackson also talked about how he liked cars and told stories of traveling around the countryside looking for old cars to buy and fix up. Often he'd stop at some old house out in the country and approach someone about buying the car only to hear the owner say, nah, the car wasn't for sale, someday, it'd get fixed up (you guessed it - the idea for the hit "Someday"). Jackson spoke about Clay Walker recording one of his songs and having a big hit with it," If I Could Make a Livin' Out of Lovin' You." Then he launched into "Who Says (You Can't Have it All)." Jackson followed with a song previously recorded by many artists in many musical styles. "Seven Bridges Road" was performed as a bluegrass number. That signaled the end of "chat mode" and the end of the "half-wired" medley.

A short solo by the lead guitarist followed. This led into "Don't Rock the Jukebox" then "A House With No Curtains." One of the best portions of the show followed when Jackson sang "Midnight in Montgomery," his tribute to Hank Williams. This is an always haunting melody and it was enhanced by the swirls of smoke filling the stage often totally obscuring the performer.

"Little Bitty" was next and the show was closed with what's become a certified sing-along country anthem, "Gone Country."

An encore followed raucous applause as Jackson played probably the biggest crowd-pleaser of the night, "Chattahoochee," and closed with" Mercury Blues," changing the original words of the ending chorus to "crazy ‘bout a Ford truck" as he did in his television commercials.

The hour and a half show was a continuous stream of very traditional-sounding country music sung in a traditional way, with steel guitar and fiddle prominent. Yet, because of who he is and how the music is packaged, Alan Jackson appeals not only to those who love the traditional sound but to listeners of all types or genres of country music. Several times during the evening, between songs, all the lights were turned off and the stage was encompassed by the dark of the night. Alan Jackson, the man who doesn't want to be thought of as anything special, stood silent in front of the crowd, silhouetted against the cloudy Wyoming sky, indelibly, country greatness in the making.

Alan Jackson Concert Review 1994

Mountain West Music 2002