photo by Mike Carroll

Gary Allan came to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL this past Sunday evening to play at the Hard Rock Live, a beautiful venue with amazing acoustics.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard a concert’s sound being so spot on.

It’s rare that a show, especially one that’s scheduled to start at 7pm, does not have an opening act…but the night started with his 7-piece band coming out playing a long intro with an instrumental piece that had the signature Bakersfield Sound that is a big influence on him.  The stage backdrop then began playing a rainy scene before Allan came out to sing “Tough Goodbye” (co-written by Josh Thompson), the first track off of his latest album, Set You Free.

As the band began “A Feeling Like That,” Allan took his leather jacket off and took a swig from a large bottle of Jack Daniels,  then performed “Right Where I Need To Be” before introducing his first ever #1 hit, “Man to Man.”  A couple of songs later, he declared that “This song is our next single here,” then proceeded to start singing before his cue.  He paused to joke, “Oops…at least I messed up before it started,” before launching into “It Ain’t The Whiskey.”

photo by Mike Carroll

The next few songs were a mix of hits and new songs, including one from his newest album titled “Sand In My Soul,” which was co-written by the Warren Brothers and had a unique sound to it that reminded me of something that Jace Everett would sing.  “One More Time” was another one off the new album, one that he noted was about his dad, who he lost a few years ago.

He then declared that he hates it when he doesn’t get to hear a band play all the hits he wanted to hear in lieu of a bunch of new stuff, so he was going to play parts of a few hits that he didn’t have time to play fully in his set.  These snippets included “Tough Little Boys,” “Life Ain’t Always Beautiful,” and “The One.”

He finished his set with seven of his biggest hits, closing with “Watching Airplanes.”  After a two minute break, two gals came out on stage with what appeared to be disco balls that they placed on the stage.  Then the electric guitar player, who was wearing a kilt all night, came out on stage with the keyboard player.  The keyboard player knelt down in front of him with a bullhorn held up to the microphone, and he proceeded to sing INXS’ “Never Tear Us Apart.”

photo by Mike Carroll

Gary Allan then came back out on stage to introduce the band, then finished the show with “Best I Ever Had” and “Drinking Dark Whiskey,” an album cut from his See If I Care album.  I never did figure out what the disco balls were for, and during the final song two big fluffy dogs came out on stage!  One climbed the steps of the stage backdrop and just plopped down, and the other wandered around stage wagging it’s tale and sniffing around all the equipment.  It was a bizarre finish to an otherwise awesome show that lasted an hour and 34 minutes.  He paused to shake a few hands and signed some autographs before leaving the stage with the dogs.

Gary Allan Set List

• Tough Goodbye
• A Feelin’ Like That
• Right Where I Need To Be
• Man to Man
• Pieces
• It Ain’t The Whiskey
• Learning How to Bend
• Smoke Rings in the Dark
• Sand In My Soul
• Get Off on the Pain
• One More Time
• Tough Little Boys/Life Ain’t Always Beautiful/The One (medley)
• Songs About Rain
• Nothing On But The Radio
• She’s So California
• Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)
• Bones
• Man of Me
• Watching Airplanes
• Never Tear Us Apart (sung by electric guitar player)
• Best I Ever Had
• Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey