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Having Coors build a special one-time only stage on the beach at Camp
Pendleton to entertain 35,000 Marines on their way to or from active
duty in Iraq seemed like the least Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks could do
to salute the men and women serving our country. But when you get an act
like Brooks & Dunn -- along with their special guests Rascal Flatts and
Steve Holy -- doing something big and unprecedented, you can always
count on it getting even bigger than anyone imagined.
"You know, there were another 10,000 Marines and their families who
wanted to come to the show," says Kix Brooks as if it were just picking
up another dozen eggs. "And when you consider what they're doing for
this country, you figure, 'What the heck?! It'll be a little tight, but
it'll be okay… we'll just get real friendly is all."
So with the Coors Twins in camouflage mini skirts as emcees, Brooks &
Dunn blew it up B&D style for what ended up being 45,000 people. And
given how high emotions were running for the troops and their families,
it was an emotional night for the men whose "Only In America" went into
#1 the week after Sept. 11.
"All those troops really want to know is that we support them and what
they're doing," says Ronnie Dunn solemnly. "You know, they're the ones
at risk… So it was a good thing to let them know we ARE behind them as
they put their lives on the line for all of us. My only regret was that
we didn't think to film the show, because when we did 'Only In America'
and that color guard came out, it was pretty powerful stuff."
Brooks & Dunn continue moving up the charts with "That's What It's All
About," a sweeping Jessie Collin Young meets Poco in a back alley
celebration of savoring the simple realities that make life sweet.
Currently barnstorming across North America and getting back to the
fairs -- in the same spirit as the Red Dirt Road Tour earlier this year
-- B&D are gearing up for a more hardcore honky tonk road show with
former Neon Circus supporters Montgomery Gentry and redneck woman
Gretchen Wilson.
"It's all about how you light these people up," adds Brooks. "You wanna
show'em a good time. Man, when the wind started blowing off the Pacific
and sent all those red, white and blue streamers all over the stage --
instead of in the audience -- it was one of those moments that could've
been a drag, but wasn't! When the audience is into it, they carry you --
and we've always been lucky that way."
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