Chris LeDoux Live

This concert album was recorded in the first weeks of 1997 at three venues beloved in country music: Grizzly Rose in Denver, Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth, and Wyoming's Casper Events Center, site of many national rodeo competitions in Chris LeDoux’s home base. Live is wonderfully raucous. It shows LeDoux feeding off the energy of his audience, which gives the performances the electric delight of rock music, even as they define everything that’s great about modern country music. “Take Me to the Rodeo,” “Cadillac Ranch,” and “Honky Tonk World” have the surging momentum of Bruce Springsteen in his most galvanized state. Formerly quaint tunes are transformed, like “Bareback Jack,” which becomes a wild Bo Diddley–infused workout. Even during the quiet passages of “This Cowboy’s Hat”—the closest thing LeDoux has to a signature song—you can hear the crowd reveling in the excitement of an authentic old-world cowboy blowout. Anyone who thinks country music is staid and corny will have a change of mind after hearing LeDoux’s Live.