Review by: Kirsten Kauffman

The Dixie Chicks and Michael Peterson opened for Clay Walker when the country artist appeared on Friday, Nov. 20 at the Bryce Jordan Center. The show began five minutes before its scheduled 7:30 start, leaving nacho-toting fans to scurry to their seats as the Dixie Chicks launched into their recent hit "There’s Your Trouble." The three twenty-something Texans abandoned cowboy hats and snakeskin boots in favor of the Generation X look: lead singer Natalie Maines strutted across the stage in black pedal pushers and platform shoes. Behind her, sisters Emily Erwin and Martie Seidel sang back up and did all of their own fiddle and banjo playing. During "Let ’Er Rip," Natalie delivered a foot-stomping, head-banging performance worthy of alternative rock band No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani. The band’s hot instrumental bluegrass number "Roanoke" had the audience clapping along. As the Chicks played the title track from their double-platinum album Wide Open Spaces, the audience gradually rose to its feet as Natalie’s powerful vocals echoed around the arena.

After tossing three yellow feather boas into the crowd and taking a bow, the trio made way for Michael Peterson. The black-clad Peterson walked onto a darkened stage. When the lights came up with a sudden flash, he dove straight into his first single, the light-hearted love song "Drink, Swear, Steal and Lie." "If you sing good, sing loud!" Peterson shouted to the crowd. "If you don’t sing good, sing louder!" Peterson leaped off the stage near the end of his set. He dashed up and down the aisles, one hand holding his black cowboy hat onto his head. As his band played, he climbed into the stands, shaking hands with screaming fans. After making a circuit around the entire arena, he returned to the stage to perform "Too Good To Be True." "Give my best to your Nittany Lions!" Peterson roared as he waved goodbye.

Fog shrouded the stage and floated to the rafters as stagehands scurried for over 20 minutes to prepare for Clay Walker’s entrance. At last, the stepped pedestal in the middle of the stage rose up to reveal Walker beneath it. He ground out "Bury the Shovel," a bitter look at the wrong side of love, with knees bent and eyes closed. Clouds and moons spun across circular screens suspended behind and above the stage, and a constellation of projected stars swirled around the singer’s feet. Smokey blue and green lights played across the stage as he sang the romantic "Watch This." In mid-melody, Walker tipped his black hat to a cluster of teen-age girls who had carried flowers to the edge of the stage. The wide-eyed girl holding the bouquet covered her mouth before handing the gift to Walker. She scurried back to her seat, giggling with her friends and looking over her shoulder at the artist as he finished the song. One song segued directly into another, since the audience’s cheering gave Walker little chance to talk. Fans shouted out the title of the calypso-flavored "Then What" throughout the evening, applauding when stagehands finally carried out the set of conga drums used in the song.

One of the crew members also brought a gift for Walker: a Penn State football jersey with Walker’s name and the number 98 on it. Grinning, the singer donned the jersey to shouts of "We are... Penn State!" Before slipping back into the shadows, crew members lofted half a dozen brightly-colored beach balls into the audience as Walker began to sing.

The artist closed his performance with another unorthodox choice: his last number was the marching band staple "Louie Louie." He strutted, spun, and limboed his way across the stage before bowing out.

Concert-goer Jason Whittle, 19, remained on his feet, dancing and clapping to the beat, until the last notes had faded. An Annapolis native, Whittle studies electrical engineering and biology at the Pennsylvania State University. He attends class near the Bryce Jordan Center, but had never been to a show like this one. "That was my first country concert," Whittle exclaimed after the show, "and I think it just made me a convert!"