Pop Music Reviews : Cowboy Chris LeDoux Rustles Up a Rousing Show

Roll over Roy Rogers and tell Gene Autry the news. In his energetic 50-minute early show at the Crazy Horse Monday night, real-life cowboy Chris LeDoux took the crowd on a wild eight-second ride of a set.

With the volume cranked up to ear-scorching levels, he rocked, rolled and even duck-walked his way through 50 minutes of Western-themed songs. “Git Along Little Dogies” was never like this.

Chris LeDoux’s cowboy hat is no mere fashion statement: He is a world-champion bareback bronc rider. LeDoux started performing cowboy songs at rodeos as a sideline. With the help of his parents, he recorded more than 20 cassettes that he sold on the rodeo circuit.

When Garth Brooks wrote a song about a down-and-out rodeo rider (“Much Too Young to Feel This Damn Old”), he referred to his “worn-out tape of Chris LeDoux” as an integral part of that lifestyle. It helped LeDoux skyrocket from cowboy cult hero to mainstream country star.

Monday night LeDoux showed that he had more in common with Brooks than just an interest in Western music. As Brooks does, LeDoux served up country music with a whopping dose of techniques borrowed from stadium rock.

With a larger-than-life charisma and a visual presence guaranteed to transmit even to the upper reaches of a stadium, LeDoux absolutely galvanized the 275-seat Crazy Horse.

In constant motion on stage, he punctuated his songs with well-timed gestures and, during the instrumental breaks, ran from one band member to the next urging them to greater heights.

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Sometimes it seemed as though the small stage could barely contain him, although he occasionally slowed the pace with a ballad like “Look at You Girl.”

LeDoux drew his selections almost entirely from his three recent hit albums on Liberty Records and bypassed almost all of his early more cowboy-oriented songs. Acceding to a request from someone in the audience, LeDoux did perform the old favorite “Copenhagen,” about chewing tobacco. He also introduced one new number, “Dallas Days and Fort Worth Nights.”

From his explosive opening version of his hit “Cadillac Ranch” to his hard-driving final number, “Little Long-Haired Outlaw,” LeDoux segued rapidly from song to song, not even stopping to introduce the members of his band, Western Underground.

The five-piece group gave him the energetic support he needed but never grabbed the spotlight. Although fiddle and steel guitar added a country flavor to the music, the screeching lead guitar and heavy rhythm section owed more to Aerosmith than to the Sons of the Pioneers.

LeDoux seemed to have reached a peak mid-set with a thunderous version of the rodeo anthem “Hooked on an Eight-Second Ride.” But after slowing briefly to deliver the contemplative “Riding for a Fall,” he built to new levels of excitement to climax his set with “Cowboys Like a Little Rock and Roll” and Joe Ely’s “For Your Love.”

When LeDoux returned for an encore, he ended “Little Long-Haired Outlaw” by grabbing the electric guitar from his lead guitarist and stabbing himself in the belly with its neck.

Although his set lasted less than an hour, by the time the lights went on, he left folks feeling as drained and satisfied as though they had ridden a bronc, roped a steer and wrestled a bull.