GARTH: A COWPOKE SO CUDDLY YOU WANNA RUN UP AND HUG HIM.Byline: Reed Johnson Daily News Staff Writer Unlike some of his anxious Nashville peers, Garth Brooks never has been overly concerned with acting like a tough guy. He sports an easygoing eas·y·go·ing also eas·y-go·ing adj. 1. a. Living without undue worry or concern; calm. b. Lax or negligent; careless. c. machismo machismo Exaggerated pride in masculinity, perceived as power, often coupled with a minimal sense of responsibility and disregard of consequences. In machismo there is supreme valuation of characteristics culturally associated with the masculine and a denigration of as casually as an old pair of Wranglers, and neatly two-steps across the line dividing masculine and feminine interest. Few singing cowboys ever have written so astutely from a woman's point of view, or worn their emotions as nakedly. Like Bill Clinton, the Oklahoma hit-machine cultivates the image of a beefy beefy, beefyness 1. in dog conformation, used to describe overdevelopment of musculature in the hindquarters. 2. in cattle, used to designate the desirable physical conformation of a beef animal, but an undesirable character in dairy cattle. teddy bear, overwhelming skeptics by smothering smothering death by asphyxiation. Occurs where poultry are carelessly herded into a corner where they cannot escape and where they are piled four or five birds deep; they will die of asphyxia very quickly. See also crowding. them in aw-shucks affability. That aura of rugged sensitivity sells well, too, as evidenced by Brooks' current six-show lineup at the Great Western Forum. Wednesday night, Brooks demonstrated again that he's a pop showman to be reckoned with. Muscling his way through an 18-song set of all-hit material, the singer gave the impression of a fraternity brother throwing himself a blowout graduation party. ``We came here to raise hell and have some fun,'' Brooks told the shrieking masses, before banging out the opening chords of ``The Rodeo,'' an early hit. Burly yet graceful, Brooks stumbled, pirouetted, leapt and waltzed his way around the stage, wrestling his guitar as if subduing a willful dogie do·gie also do·gy n. pl. do·gies Western U.S. A stray or motherless calf. [Origin unknown. . In addition to ``the old stuff'' (which happened to be the title of the show's opening tune), Brooks and his well-oiled seven-piece band also tossed out recent hits from their 1995 release ``Fresh Horses,'' including ``The Beaches of Cheyenne,'' a fiddle-haunted, ``Twilight Zone'' tale of star-crossed lovers. At other moments, Brooks struck the pose of an arena-rock preacher, exhorting the faithful with fervent renditions of ``We Shall Be Free'' and ``The Change.'' The home-and-hearth sentiments in songs like ``If Tomorrow Never Comes'' would fit comfortably into a Promise Keepers' meeting, while ``Friends in Low Places'' and ``American Honky Tonk Bar Association'' are near-classic expressions of good-natured Middle American hope and resentment. For an encore, Brooks emerged alone with an acoustic guitar to perform two oldies Oldies is a generic term commonly used to describe a radio format that usually concentrates on Top 40 music from the '50s, '60s and '70s. Oldies are typically from R&B, pop and rock music genres. . After garbling garbling, v in herbal medicine, to separate the useable part of the plant from any irrelevant matter, including dirt or other plant parts. the words to Bob Seger's ``Night Moves,'' he belted out an abridged version of Don McLean's ``American Pie,'' closing the night on an oddly melancholy note. Two of Brooks' favorite tunesmiths, Dan Roberts and Bryan Kennedy, opened the show by a synthetic campfire, with a haphazard, four-song acoustic set, including a tribute to John Wayne that played like a eulogy for lost chest hair. ``Lord, how we miss John Wayne,'' the pair sniffed, Stetsons draped drape v. draped, drap·ing, drapes v.tr. 1. To cover, dress, or hang with or as if with cloth in loose folds: draped the coffin with a flag; a robe that draped her figure. from their guitar necks. If this is true grit, '90s style, the tour crew should think about stocking up on a few copies of ``Iron John.'' |
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