Jerrod Niemann: Rodeo tough guy It must be tough following the World's Toughest Rodeo. Rising country star Jerrod Niemann drew the assignment Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center and let's say he fared about as well as the first several bull riders. In other words, he came up short. Why? Niemann, who released an encouraging breakthrough album ("Judge Jerrod & the Hung Jury") last year, didn't seem to grasp the situation. One, why banter and joke about drinking, stripping and sex when you're playing to a family crowd of maybe 9,000? Two, why play so many covers songs (including "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" without a fiddle)? Three, why treat this like a bar gig? Four, why play an encore when the audience didn't demand one and there were only 300 or 400 people left in the arena when the house lights came up and you returned to the stage? Seems like Niemann needs a little more seasoning. Granted, if he'd been playing in a bar, Saturday's 75-minute set might have been more successful. Still, at first, he seemed to be pandering to the crowd (many of whom were standing in the dirt of the rodeo corral) by opening with Alabama's "Mountain Music," playing his own "One More Drinkin' Song" and then doing the rodeo-friendly "Good Ride Cowboy," Garth Brooks' tribute to the late singing rodeo star Chris LeDoux. (Niemann actually cowrote the song for Garth.) His own "The Buckin' Song" was a good fit for the evening, though it probably wasn't necessary to comment about how listeners sometimes get confused by the key word in the title and refrain. Niemann does have some good songs. "What Do You Want," his current single, captures the confusion about trying to get back together with an ex-lover. He hoisted a couple of honky-tonk winners with "For Everclear," about a night of partying with a college teacher, and "How Can I Be So Thirsty in the Morning," an ode to a hangover. His lone hit, "Lover Lover," a remake of the 1992 Sonia Dada pop-soul tune "You Don't Treat Me No Good No More," connected in an acoustic soul Uncle Kracker kind of way. Niemann's choice of covers seemed curious. Several people sang along with David Allan Coe's country classic "You Never Even Call Me By My Name" but Charlie Daniels' "Devil Went Down to Georgia" (with electric guitar taking the fiddle parts), "Louisiana Saturday Night" (which has been done by Don Williams, Mel McDaniel and Alabama) and Stevie Ray Vaughan's blues-rocker "Pride and Joy" seemed like bar-band fare. And then, after the crowd had exited in darkness, the house lights finally came on and the band came back onstage even though there was no encouragement from what was left of the audience. The song selection made about as much sense as doing an encore – Sublime's 1997 ska-punk hit "Santeria."