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THACKERVILLE, OK -- Alan Jackson is a legendary country music star. Legendary enough that he is mentioned in the same category as Garth Brooks and George Strait. His Greatest Hits album is titled 34 Number Ones. That's right, he has 34 singles that have topped the charts! He has won two Grammy Awards, 16 CMA Awards and 17 ACM Awards and has career sales of more than 50 million albums. Jackson even has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Yet for some reason, I had yet to see this iconic star live in concert. When I saw he was scheduled to perform at WinStar World Casino, I circled the date as an event not to be missed.
We arrived well before the concert and stopped by Chips 'N Ales (one of the casino's eateries that I had yet to try) inside the London Gaming Plaza area. I really enjoyed the Chicken & Shrimp combo while my buddy gave me a hard time for not trying the Cod Combo after saying how much he enjoyed the beer batter.
Jackson took the stage at 8:30 and brought the capacity crowd to its feet throughout the Global Events Center . And much to my surprise, there were a ton of gorgeous ladies in the house. A group of five extremely hot girls -- ranging in age from 21-25 -- on the front row were passionately cheering Jackson's arrival. One even screamed out "I love you Alan!" I turned in Jackson's direction to give him props and realized that he had shaved his signature mustache. That certainly caused a double-take. But there was no mistaking the smooth voice and the many memorable songs that were ahead.
The appreciative fans were in for a treat as Jackson provided a running commentary during the show. Prior to Who's Cheatin' Who, Jackson confidently proclaimed, "What better place to play a cheating song than a casino?" The audience really got into some of his slower songs like Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning and Remember When. He closed with It's Five O'Clock Somewhere and Chattahoochee. My favorite part came in the encore during Where I Come From as a video montage behind the stage featured shots of the 'Welcome to Texas' sign and drew a huge cheer from the crowd full of people who, like me, had driven up from DFW. Other clips in the video showed the Texas Longhorns, Oklahoma Sooners, Dallas Cowboys and even a Chicken Express before closing with Jackson in front of his tour bus. And after close to two hours, a great show had reached its conclusion.
Alan Jackson is not currently scheduled to play in DFW. His upcoming Texas concerts are Feb. 23 in San Antonio (At&T Center) and March 18 in Houston (Reliant Stadium). For the upcoming entertainment lineup at WinStar, visit here.
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