Of the new generation of country music performers on user-friendly terms with modern technology, Alan Jackson is the white-crowned prince.
Jackson's "Who I Am" tour, consisting of three buses and four tractor trailers hauling 39 tons of stage and lighting equipment, will take over the Show Me Center at 7 p.m. Sunday. Also appearing will be Faith Hill.
"That's a lot (of equipment) for a country show," says Will Lofdahl, events coordinator at the Show Me Center. "Usually only the rock acts travel with that much."
In Jackson's show, the audio monitors are lowered into the stage floor; and 22, 25-inch television monitors line the base of the three-tiered stage. A 12-by-14-foot video screen is suspended on each side.
Five cameras will follow Jackson around the stage, incorporating live shots with images from his videos.
It's a multimedia bazaar designed to give concertgoers their money's worth, whether they're sitting on the front row or atop the last one. Apparently, Jackson's fans appreciate the effort.
Vince Gill may have won the Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist awards this year, but Jackson was the favorite in a poll of listeners conducted by radio station K-103.
Mr. "Don't Rock the Jukebox" was an unknown six years ago. The No. 1 hit "Here in the Real World" instantly made him a star. The hard part, everyone knows, is doing it again and again.
His first two albums spawned 10 No. 1 singles and the third, "A Lot About Livin' (and A Little 'Bout Love)," has delivered three: "She's got the Rhythm (and I got the Blues)," "Tonight I Climbed the Wall" and "Chattahoochee."
Jackson recently released his fourth album, titled "Who I Am." "Summertime Blues," the Eddie Cochrane classic, already has been a Top 10 single, and the new "Livin' on Love" is at No. 7 locally.
Jackson didn't pay any attention to music in high school in Newnan, Ga., and didn't attend his first country concert until he was 20. Seeing a performance by the Kendalls inspired him to form a duo and begin singing traditional country songs. Eventually, people suggested he move to Nashville.
He and his wife did so when he was 25. He spent four years there trying to get noticed, working as a staff songwriter at a publishing house by day and making demo tapes at night.
His wife paid the bills while he was turned down by everyone in town, most of them twice.
Finally, Arista Records' new Nashville branch signed him as its first performer.
This will be Jackson's second appearance at the Show Me Center. He was here in December 1991.
Hill's first performance ever in an amphitheater occurred at the Show Me Center last January with the Oak Ridge Boys. Her singles "Wild One" and a remake of Janis Joplin's "Take a Little Piece of My Heart" have put her on the country music map.
Hill's debut album is titled "Take Me as I Am," which is also the title of her current single.
Tickets for the show are still available. Lofdahl said slightly more than 5,000 of the 7,000 tickets had been sold through Tuesday.
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