Until I stepped into Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on Monday night, I had no idea that Victoria had so many cowboys. They were there to see Alan Jackson’s soulful performance, and so was I.
After 25 years of performing, Jackson sure knows what he’s doing. He didn’t sing a single note off key and manned the stage like the seasoned veteran he is, venturing off to the sides to toss out a seemingly infinite number of guitar picks and T-shirts. You could see his humble blue eyes from the monitor, while outdated music videos from the ’90s played on giant screens. It takes some guts to show videos with your younger self strutting around as your current-day grey hair peeks out from your cowboy hat (although he still looks pretty good, if you ask me).
Most of the crowd simply swayed in their seats throughout the concert, but that changed when he introduced “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” 20 minutes before the end of the show. The crowd had finally awoken.
One thing needs to be mentioned aside from Jackson. His band, The Strayhorns, were incredible; “hotter than gold dust,” as he put it. Each member was able to have their chance in the spotlight and performed solos throughout the show. I could have spent the whole 90 minutes listening to the fiddler and the pianist alone, as their talent and passion filled the room.
Although some of the show felt a bit scripted, almost like an older man telling his autobiography, I must admit that even I shed a little tear during the intimate song “Drive,” as he spoke about his father, now passed away, and the traditions that Jackson passes down to his own daughters.
Jackson played everything that I was hoping he would. When you grow up listening to certain songs, those are what you want to hear. Unlike some artists who don’t want to play hits that they’ve played thousands of times before, he played every hit as if it was the first time. The crowd finally began to dance with the fun and catchy “Chattahoochee” (where it gets hotter than a hootchie cootchie… it’s still ringing in my head).
Although during the show I thought that his performance could use a serious push into the 2000s, with some afterthought I changed my view. That is Jackson’s schtick. Those songs we grew up on and the music videos that were grainy and outdated were nostalgic, and that’s what people want to see when they go to his concerts. Every song brought on a new memory, and he made people actually feel, something I don’t see at many concerts.