Entertainment

Detroit Rock City living up to its moniker Friday

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Concert preview-Dylan, Henley, The Cult, Montgomery Gentry

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DETROIT ROCK CITY (WJRT) -- This Friday, Nov. 6, Southeast Michigan will feel a little like summer, at least concert-wise.

You'd be hard-pressed to find any day in the summer with as many high-profile musicians playing in one area.

Montgomery Gentry, Bob Dylan, The Cult and Don Henley all be in the greater Detroit area for shows.

The boys from Montgomery Gentry will be featured just down I-75 from Flint at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Celebrating ten years on the national stage, the new-age outlaws are performing a few one-off gigs this fall and winter in preparation for the just-announced summer amphitheater tour with Jamey Johnson.

The duo, consisting of Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, recently finished working in their main support slot for Kenny Chesney's "Sun City Carnival Tour," which hit Ford Field in Detroit back in August. But with three platinum albums, five chart-topping songs and ten more top-ten hits, they have plenty of firepower to return to the Motor City anytime they please.

Fans should expect an evening of whiskey-bent ballads, rowdy rockers and an all-around hell of a time from the Kentuckians, showcasing their plethora of hits.

Moving on down I-75 to downtown Detroit, Bob Dylan takes the stage at The Fox Theatre at 7:30p.m. The veteran rocker is nearing the end of yet another leg of what's been dubbed "The Never Ending Tour." This is Dylan's first theatre show in Detroit since playing the Masonic Temple in 2005, which followed a three-night run at The State Theatre (now known as The Fillmore Detroit) in '04.

Dylan's shows, in general, fully represent his ever-evolving repertoire, mixing the folk classics from the early 60s, the groundbreaking blues-rock anthems from the mid-60s, the hit or miss tunes from the 70s and 80s and his stellar, more recent work are all intertwined throughout the set lists.

The show changes most every night, as do the arrangements of the songs at times. This leg of the tour will feature a drastic change with the return of lead guitarist Charlie Sexton, who previously played in Dylan's band from 1999 to 2003.

So far, at least, Dylan has not played any songs off his recent Christmas release "Christmas In The Heart," but he has been featuring several selections a night from his April 2009 album "Together Through Life."

Just a couple blocks down Woodward, British rockers The Cult take over The Fillmore Detroit as the American opener of their "Love Live Tour."

The first set of the show will be the band performing its critically-acclaimed and fan favorite 1985 album "Love." They play all 10 songs, in order, in their entirety.

The encore features several of the band's other greatest hits from their more-than-25-year history.

Across the Detroit River, Don Henley plays The Coliseum at Caesars Windsor. A founding member of The Eagles, along with Royal Oak native Glenn Frey, Henley's voice is as recognizable and unique as anybody's out there.

With such a vast solo catalog from "Dirty Laundry," "Boys of Summer," "All She Wants To Do Is Dance" and "New York Minute," added to his classic Eagles selections, the Texan has plenty to choose from to make up an unforgettable show.

So there it is -- four big-name acts on stage near you. Any of these shows would make a great start to your weekend, and tickets are still available for all four shows.

If you can't make it out Friday, The Listening Room on abc12.com will have you covered, at least for the Montgomery Gentry show. So log on this weekend to get my review of the show and see the slideshow.