Country headliners coming to Show Me Center

Toby Keith and Rascal Flatts, currently two of the hottest acts in country music, will perform at the Show Me Center March 9.

Keith, the Country Music Association Male Vocalist of the Year in 2001, was the top drawing country concert act last year. Rascal Flatts' first CD went platinum and produced four top 10 singles, something that rarely happens to a group the first time out.

Rascal Flatts' "These Days" and Keith's "Who's Your Daddy?" are at No. 9 and No. 10 respectively on this week's Billboard country charts.

Tickets go on sale Feb. 8. A drawing will be held at 7 that morning at the Show Me Center box office to determine places in line when the sales begin.

The catch to landing country music's hotshot tour is the price tag. All 7,000 tickets available in the Show Me Center will cost $44.75. Show Me Center director David Ross agrees that seeing the price of the tickets is sure to startle some people.

"Probably some will faint," he said. "There is a certain amount of sticker shock much like buying a new car after driving your old one eight years."

In comparison, tickets for December's concert by Neal McCoy, who is not on the top rung of stars, were $26.25.

Tickets to see the Toby Keith/Rascal Flatts concert are the same price everywhere in the country, Ross said.

The Show Me Center has had difficulty attracting top-of-the-line rock 'n' roll bands because those groups command top prices. Tickets must be priced high to make money or just to break even because the venue is relatively small, holding 3,000 fewer seats than the SIU Arena in nearby Carbondale, Ill.

"We don't have the economic base that will support $50, $60 and $70 tickets," Ross said.

As a lesser star in 2000, Keith performed for about 3,000 at the SEMO District Fair. Those tickets were $17.50.

Will thousands of people pay $44.75 apiece?

"We're going to see what kind of reaction we get," Ross said, adding that he expects the concert to draw a regional audience.

Booking country music is different from rock 'n' roll because acts tend to play more dates. The Show Me Center has been host to a number of top country acts during it's 15-year history. Randy Travis played the Show Me Center at times when he was one of the top draws in the country. A Randy Travis/Tammy Wynette show here in 1988 and a Travis/Shenandoah/Shelby Lynne show in 1990 both sold out. A show in the late 1980s with Kenny Rogers, Garth Brooks and Eddie Rabbit sold 6,500 tickets.

"We have had some good names come through when they were hot," Ross said.

The national radio group Clear Channel is promoting the concert.

Keith broke onto the national scene with a double-platinum, self-titled album that spawned the No. 1 hits "Should've Been a Cowboy," "Wish I Didn't Know Now" and "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action." He has a penchant for recording songs with catch-phrase titles.

Subsequent hits included "Dream Walkin'," "We Were in Love" and the Sting duet "I'm So Happy That I Can't Stop Crying."

In 2000, his in-your-face hit "How Do You Like Me Now?!" was the top-rated video of the year.

Rascal Flatts' singles "Prayin' for Daylight" and "I'm Movin' On" kept the band's first CD on the charts for two years. Their latest CD is titled "Melt."

Toby Keith and Rascal Flatts make an extremely strong package, Ross said.

"We're excited. It says good things about Cape Girardeau being a country market and people supporting that format."

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182