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Yoakam gives crowd everything - or almost

By SEAN DALY
Published June 11, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - Honky-tonk hero Dwight Yoakam has always been more of a cowpunk than a cowboy. The lanky legend is a behatted rule-breaker who juices his country cuts with the raw, go-go-go energy he learned to unleash in Los Angeles rock clubs in the early '80s.

He's not just as fast as you, son. He'll blown on by and tip his hat.

Proving that he still has a heckuva lot of gas in the tank, the 49-year-old Kentucky native machine-gunned a sweat-slicked capacity crowd at Jannus Landing on Saturday with what he said was "everything I've recorded in the last 20 years."

That wasn't too far off, either.

Dressed in his finest black Western wear and with his trademark hat properly curled and pulled too-cool low, Yoakam showed that his part-time job acting in and directing Hollywood films hasn't taken the edge off what he does better than most. He'd unload one song and immediately kick start another - even when his crack four-piece band was still working on the last sucker.

He tore off great chunks of his own stuff. Opener She'll Remember was one of the those oomphy mid tempo laments Yoakam nails every time. Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose was a rambling goodie with a berserko rock break thrown in for a crowd-rousing twist.

And the new Blame the Vain, from his 2005 album of the same name, proved that even Yoakam's slow, sad songs have sonic punch.

But the night's highlights came during the covers. With his high, lonesome yodel, he's always been a slick interpreter of other people's hits, whether he's pleading with a paramour on Cheap Trick's I Want You to Want Me or helping sell khakis with Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

The night's most moving moment came early, when Yoakam paid "tribute to my friend" and most obvious influence, Buck Owens, who passed away in March.

Yoakam put extra feeling into a sing-along rendition of Owens' bittersweet beauty Act Naturally. And he seemed genuinely moved during a fine rendition of Streets of Bakersfield, which, when Owens and his protege teamed on the number back in 1988, went No. 1.

Of course, part of the fun of a Yoakam show - besides trying to keep up with the man - is watching his dance moves, which kind of look like a hillbilly courting ritual. He boot-scoots, and slides, and dips and spins. Don't try that at home, kids: You'll pull something without the proper training.

Whenever I'm at a pool party or a poker night, someone inevitably corners me by the clam dip and asks, "So what's the best show you've ever seen?"

I always give 'em a long list - Prince, U2, Springsteen - but I always manage to sneak Yoakam in there, too.

Now you know why.

Sean Daly can be reached at sdaly@sptimes.com or 727 893-8467. His blog is at www.sptimes.com/blogs/popmusic.

[Last modified June 11, 2006, 05:52:49]