A Toby Keith show in New England is more than just a concert, though; it’s a gathering of what Keith affectionately called “rednecks’’ (his people, he said) in a region that tends to look down on that culture. That probably explained the sheer exuberance of the nearly sold-out audience.
And Keith liked what he saw, too, starting with the tailgating crowd already living it up in the Comcast Center parking lot when he left at noon earlier in the day to ride his motorcycle down to Cape Cod.
The good times kept right on rolling into the music, kick-started by a blast of pyrotechnics and “Big Dog Daddy.’’ That was after a video skit - brought to you by Ford, a sponsorship you couldn’t miss, especially since the drummer’s kit rested on the bed of a Ford truck - showed Keith winning the title of America’s toughest headliner, beating out a fey boy band and a hip-hop outfit.
The message was clear: You don’t mess with Toby Keith. He kept up that swagger in “American Ride,’’ which exalted one of Keith’s bedrock songwriting themes, patriotism. “Never apologize for being patriotic,’’ Keith said on a closing note after an encore of “American Soldier,’’ during which a local Marine was brought on stage to wave a US flag.
Keith got looser as the night wore on - perhaps emboldened by the long pulls from his red plastic cup and instructions for the crowd to follow suit.
A party vibe ruled the evening with hard-driving opening sets from promising newcomer Sean Patrick McGraw and seasoned hitmaker Trace Adkins.
Reed can be reached at jreed@globe.com.
