Kip Moore is a country-music contender. He asserted that onstage and in words on Saturday night at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis.
"Next time we come back, it's gonna be a damn arena," Moore proclaimed near the end of his show.
He said it like he meant as a headliner, not an opening act.
That's a pretty bold statement for an artist who has released only one album. But then how many artists with only one record can fill a 1 ¾-hour performance and keep the fans entranced, as Moore did Saturday.
Not many country stars play downtown theaters any more. Hunter Hayes is one who comes to mind. And he's ascending faster than Moore. In fact, Moore, who's nominated for best new artist in next month's CMA Awards, pointed out that he hasn't had much radio support in the past year – his sophomore album is overdue (next year he promises). But he was still able to thrill his theater full of mostly female fans.
At 34, the Georgia native is hunky (tight jeans, sleeveless shirt to show of his guns) but tender (though he dissed selfies). He's a bit of a bad boy without being too dangerous. After all, musically he sounds like Bon Jovi with John Mellencamp's cigarette-stained rasp and Bruce Springsteen's electric guitar overload (three guitars in a five-man band).
As he proudly declared, he doesn't follow country trends. No bro-country for Moore, though he did sing the new "Dirt Road" and his big hits "Somethin' Bout a Truck" (loved the swampy slide guitar vibe) and "Beer Money" -- the three together could be mashed up into a bro-country anthem.
Moore did at least six songs not on his debut album plus covers of Kings of Leon, the Faces and Tom Petty. Mashing up Petty's "Free Fallin'" with Moore's own "Faith When I Fall" was a nice touch on the encore. But the Faces' "Stay with Me" was more half-hearted than free-spirited, and Kings of Leon's "Back Down South" was all chiming guitars and didn't give the last third of the show the kind of boost it needed.
