DATE: Sunday, March 9, 1997                 TAG: 9703110530

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Music review

SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: HAMPTON                           LENGTH:   72 lines

VINCE GILL PERFORMANCE A LONG, STOMPIN' GOOD TIME

It seems to be standard operating procedure: singers opening their concerts by saying something like, ``We're all gonna have a big time. We're gonna be here all night.''

About 90 minutes later, if that long, they usually wave bye-bye and head backstage.

In the `50s and `60s, the great Marty Robbins used to close the Grand Ole Opry shows because he loved entertaining so much he knew he would hang in there longer than anyone else.

In the `80s and `90s, Vince Gill is the guy who hangs in there.

Friday, at Hampton Coliseum, a packed house enjoyed more than two hours of the man. At one point, he was in a ``ballad'' mood, sticking to the slow stuff for about 30 minutes.

Lovely - but some jammin' was needed for balance.

Not to complain, though - there was plenty of up-tempo stuff with Gill singing and/or playing every string instrument in sight.

He is not one of those performers who walks around with a guitar for effect. He is a master musician.

Gill first gained fame as a bluegrass musician. Unfortunately, he did not return to those roots Friday, concentrating instead on country and country-rock.

Good stuff, but a little 'grass would have been appreciated.

Gill has a fine band behind him, and they were given some time in the solo spotlight, but not enough. The Friday concert was, virtually, a one-man show.

The show had a wonderful background, a replica of a western town of the 1930s, complete with a Route 66 gas pump, a few wooden poles, a replica of the OK Border Cafe and, of course, a sign pointing the way to the High Lonesome Motel.

Gill galumphed - he is not a graceful walker - from one end of the set to the other, saying very little. After about 90 minutes he told his fans, ``If y'all ain't tired - I'm not, either.''

The audience screamed their ``not tiredness,'' and it was on with the show.

``One More Last Chance,'' ``When I Call Your Name,'' and the song that is No. 2 on the Billboard chart, ``Pretty Little Adriana,'' were among the offerings.

The rousing finale was a jammin' ``Liza Jane,'' featuring Gill, his band, and a return appearance by Bryan White, who opened the show.

White is a good singer with a strong, expressive voice. But who can hear him?

Remember the Sinatra, Elvis, Beatles adulation periods? Women and girls screaming so loud you couldn't hear the words to the songs?

It is happening again. White, whom the teen fan mags keep referring to as ``adorable,'' is the current mayor of Yell City.

His 30 minutes on stage were a mix of screaming and ``We love you, Bryan!''

White, who has the huggable little boy personality of early Michael J. Fox, smiles through it all, singing such hits as the beauteous ``Rebecca Lynn.''

He arrived in Nashville in 1992. At 18, he became a songwriter for Glenn Campbell Music.

Friday, he offered a swinging version of the Campbell hit ``Southern Nights.''

Now, at the ripe ol' age of 22, he has many honors. Last year, The Nashville Network/Music City News Country Awards dubbed him Star of Tomorrow. The Academy of Country Music called him Top New Male Vocalist.

All of the White band members look like recent high school graduates. Steel player Randle Currie is all of 19.

The audience, representing all age groups, seemed equally appreciative of both White and Gill.

Why not? The veteran and the kid combined for a pretty decent show. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

REVIEW

Vince Gill and Bryan White, Friday at the Hampton Coliseum.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu