By Austin Tackett
pop writer
Busy thinking about the long gone dead rock star who you'll never be able to see play live? Never fear, with any luck your fallen hero may already be semi-immortalized in the form of a tribute band.
That's right, even though Guns 'N' Roses will never get back together and half of the Beatles are dead, there's a good chance that you may still get to see them live -- or rather see the fake version consisting of people pretending to be them live.
Such is the premise of "He Wears Black," a tribute act who describe themselves as: "A celebration of the music of Johnny Cash." Featuring Oklahoma native Scott Keeton as the man in black himself, "He Wears Black" has emerged at a time when Johnny Cash mania is at an all time high.
Keeton, who actually happens to be a distant cousin to Cash, has made an effort to present the show as an actual tribute, and not just a simple impersonation.
I was able to attend the show Saturday night at Thunderbird Casino, located at the corner of No-Cell-Phone-Coverage Lane and Raped-By-A-Hillbilly road. On the way from the parking lot to the exhibition hall I literally saw a man unpacking his oxygen machine from the back seat of his car, where only three cars down a Rascal Scooter was being lifted safely to the ground by a hydraulic lift. I knew the free ice cream line was going to be a long one that night.
Entering the casino's auditorium revealed a surprisingly large crowd which consisted of mostly ex-Stuckey's employees and overzealous rock-a-billy dudes. It was clear that the "Hee Haw" crowd had gotten there early to make full use of the bar, and by the time "He Wears Black" took the stage everyone not hooked to an oxygen machine was screeching out hostile, "YEEEE HAAAAWWWS" and other semi-inappropriate heckling.
My personal favorite was the guy staggering to the beer line who, in the most threatening voice I have ever heard, kept yelling, "ELVIS IS DEAD, MAN!"
"He Wears Black" hit the stage right on time, opening with "Folsom Prison Blues," followed by about every Cash hit you could think of. Classics like "Boy Named Sue" and "Cry Cry Cry" were spiced up from time to time with extended guitar solos and small improvisational pieces which were met with mixed crowd response. In fact the only time the crowd really could agree with anything were when Keeton would say the word "beer" onstage, which he did at least 10 times.
The likeness to Cash was not dead on, nor was it supposed to be.
"No one can replace Johnny Cash, and no one ever will -- this is not what this is about," Keeton said from the stage. "He Wears Black" is meant to be a tribute band in the truest sense. Keeton never pretends to be the great Johnny Cash, he merely shows his appreciation for a great artist in a way that a lot of people can relate to.
Is it corny? Is it kind of pointless? Is it borderline creepy? Sure, it's all of these things, but what better act are you are you going to see in a casino? Sure beats Elvis impersonators, because remember, "ELVIS IS DEAD, MAN!"
