Ballads of the Sensitive New Age Cowboys

One reason the women of country music have stolen so much thunder from the men in recent years may be that the men have become so sensitive they’ve turned positively mushy.

Certainly the millions-selling headliner, the rising-force middle act and the up-and-coming opener on Sunday’s Brooks & Dunn triple bill at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim all were up to their tear ducts in the weepy sentimentality that passes for love songs in country these days.

The only line these New Age cowboys are likely to walk is the one for long-stemmed roses at Conroy’s.

Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, of course, balance that side of their music with enough party-hearty tunes, such as the snappy “Beer Thirty,” and eye-popping showmanship in concert to keep the guys from heading to the parking lot to wait it out.

But the big payoff for the crowd is ballads such as “You’ll Always Be Loved by Me,” a song that reveals less about the human condition than about its target audience.

Likewise, second-billed Lonestar’s pop and country chart-topping “Amazed” sounds ripped from the pages of Redbook, the one listing Seven Things She Wants to Hear Most. As delivered by lead singer Richie McDonald--he of the lost-puppy-dog eyes--it’s a sure-fire hankie-grabber. Monroe, La.-reared opener Andy Griggs suffered microphone problems and appeared to cut his set short. But not before applying his strong tenor and Brad Pitt-like good looks to his recent hit “You Won’t Ever Be Lonely.”