Brooks & Dunn brought classic country to Morton on Friday night

Brooks & Dunn. // photo by Nick Spacek

Brooks & Dunn
with David Lee Murphy and Alex K
Morton Amphitheater
Friday, October 2

For some reason, from about 1991 to 1994, my mom switched to listening to country. For 2 or 3 years, whenever she was driving her white GMC Safari, we’d be listening to KFKF. At the time, I was not thrilled. I was in the process of discovering music on my own and it was decidedly Not This.

Fast forward 30 years, and it’s the morning after seeing Brooks & Dunn, and I sang along so much and hollered so loud, my voice is raspy and throat-sore. Somehow, all that music for which I didn’t care seeped into my unconscious, percolated, and left me tearing up with joy while Kix Brooks hit those high notes in “Neon Moon” and “My Maria.”

It helps that Brooks & Dunn, along with opener David Lee Murphy, have written enough hits that even the lesser-known songs performed at Morton Friday night have definitely found their way to your ears, especially if you grew up in small-town Kansas.

Brooks & Dunn. // photo by Nick Spacek

It was the songs folks came for. Opener “Brand New Man” kicked things off with a raucous bang. “Red Dirt Road” was one of the most passionately massive sing-alongs of the night, and following it up with “Lost and Found” only kept the vibes going. “Neon Moon” was pure bliss, even if Morton’s roof lessened the impact an open sky might have brought to the timeless ballad. “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” filled the aisles with line dancing folks and bless security for letting it happen. Every single person was joyful to boot scoot while the guys who wrote it were up there on stage.

Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn made a brave attempt at sharing stories during their career-spanning set, but it was the quick quips which left the most impressive marks. Dunn saying that “Red Dirt Road” was his favorite song he and Brooks wrote together got a massive whoop, but a rambling story from Brooks about how he came to write “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” to pay for his youngest daughter’s horses drew polite applause.

Their set was the duo and their backing band, with the massive video wall which has become the default for every major tour as of late. While the visuals were admittedly impressive, blending video footage of the musicians playing live with whatever desert or honky-tonk setting felt right for each song, you can’t help but miss actual pyro or stage sets instead of digital backdrops.

But the night was beautiful, the songs were stellar, and the crowd was rarin’ to go. The sold-out Morton was as close as you’re going to get to a honky tonk this weekend, and goddamn if I didn’t have a good time. It was one of those shows you pulled onto the interstate afterward, positively buzzing with elation and just bursting to tell everyone you know about it.

David Lee Murphy. // photo by Nick Spacek

David Lee Murphy demonstrated that even if you don’t know him outside of “Dust on the Bottle,” you sure as shit know his friends. As the songwriter worked his way through a set of hits he wrote for the likes of Parker McCollum, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, and Blackberry Smoke, his voice was in as fine a form as Kix Brooks’ would be an hour later, with a crack band making his set a country-rocking affair.

Murphy’s voice and storytelling demonstrate that more than a few bands on the red dirt circuit, such as American Aquarium and (to a lesser extent) Turnpike Troubadours, owe what they do to his work over the years. It’s hard not to draw a straight line from Murphy to American Aquarium’s BJ Barham both in terms of songwriting and vocal delivery and I don’t hate it.

Angie K. // photo by Nick Spacek

Initial opener Angie K brought her solo singer-songwriter vibes to warm up the crowd with a set of looped songs she built from the ground up. It was charming and heartfelt, and the crowd was politely attentive, but putting one person on that massive stage while folks still stood in line getting drinks and tried to find their seats is a lot to ask. The more upbeat songs saw a louder response, while the more folky strum-and-sing numbers were lost to the sky.

All photos by Nick Spacek

Brooks & Dunn

Brooks & Dunn setlist
Brand New Man
My Next Broken Heart
She’s Not the Cheatin’ Kind
Mama Don’t Get Dressed Up for Nothing
We’ll Burn That Bridge
You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone
Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You
Red Dirt Road
Lost and Found
Hard Workin’ Man
Play Something Country
Cowgirls Don’t Cry
Neon Moon
Rock My World (Little Country Girl)
My Maria (B.W. Stevenson cover)

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Boot Scootin’ Boogie
Only in America

David Lee Murphy

Angie K