Three hours later it was time for the doors to open to the Mohegan Sun Arena! Security was pretty strict at this venue and there were even pat downs as you entered. I can't remember ever going to a concert where they did that. I've been wanded, but never actually had the lovely pat down. It was quick and painless though, and I'm pretty sure the security didn't like having to do it any more than the concert goers liked having it done.
The concert started at 7:30 with The Wrecker's opening the show. Jessica Harp and Michelle Branch are certainly a talented duo. It's unfortunate that they will be going their separate ways in the near future. With the success of Keith's previous opening acts such as Little Big Town and Miranda Lambert, I'm sure the exposure of being on his Love, Pain, and the Whole Crazy World Tour would have really boosted the Wrecker's popularity. One thing about Keith's fans, is that the majority of them respect his choice for an opening act and tend to really enjoy their music.
The Wrecker's put on a great 30 minute set singing several songs from their debut album Stand Still, Look Pretty including their two hits "My Oh My" and "Leave the Pieces." They ended the set with "Leave the Pieces" and had the crowd singing along to the chorus.
The set change took about 30 minutes with Keith taking the stage at precisely 8:30 pm. I absolutely love the intro to the show this tour, so I am going to try to describe it so you can feel the anticipation the audience feels at the show. During the break while the crew is working to set up Keith has a DJ playing tunes and mixes to keep the crowd pumped. At about 8:25 there is a little orange dot that appears on the huge video screen behind the stage. At first, you don't really think much of it. Then every once in a while you heard this thud like a heart beat. You know it's not part of the song that is playing because they are all songs you know like "Sweet Home Alabama" by Skynyrd and "Life Goes On" by Mellencamp. The little orange dot on the screen gets progressively bigger and the heartbeats start getting closer together. As 8:30 approaches the dot is now a fairly large circle. When the lights finally go down the circle gets bigger and the heartbeats are thudding very loudly until finally there is a huge orange heart on the screen with a crack in it (the symbol Keith is using for the tour this year). All of a sudden the music for "Once in a Lifetime" starts, and there is a blinding white light emanating from the crack on the heart. Then as the light starts to dim you hear, "Mmm hmm hmm hmm, I can see it your eyes I feel it in your touch, I know that you're scared but you've never been this loved... mmm hmm..." and you can see Keith's silhouette at the top of this ramp on the stage. He's got his guitar slung behind his back and he poses with the mic in his hand. When he gets to the part of the song "just keep on moving into to me..." he starts slowly walking down the ramp towards a mic stand set at center stage. By the time he gets to the stand and puts the mic in the stand it's time to grab his guitar and break into the chorus of the song. And so the night has begun!
Just a quick note about the way the venue is set up for the show before I begin the review. There is the main stage and then a big long catwalk running up the center of the floor. Mohegan is a smaller arena so the catwalk actually stretched almost the entire length of the floor. At the end of the catwalk there is a small rectangular platform which is converted into a stage later in the show. Behind the main stage there is a GIGANTIC screen. When Keith does something he goes all out! None of those small screens on both sides for this man, he's got a massive video screen behind him giving even the furthest seat away a larger than life view of the show.
The set list for the show was heavy with songs from the new CD such as "Shine," "Faster Car," "Everybody," as well as the last single "Stupid Boy" and the current single "I Told You So." But Keith didn't neglect the older hits, even going back to his first solo studio album in U.S. to bring us "Where the Blacktop Ends."
"Faster Car" is a catchy tune from the current album Love, Pain, and the whole crazy thing. Keith puts down the electric guitar and actually plays bass for this song because he wrote the song using a bass guitar.
During "Shine" there is a really cool effect on the big screen. There are clips of Keith and all the band members in silhouettes of different colors displayed on the screen through out the song. The first silhouette is of Keith playing the piano because the song actually begins with a piano lick before going into the more guitar heavy music.
