It’s been nearly 50 years since Alabama began playing country music together.

While not all the original members are still in the band and lead singer Randy Owen seems to prefer New Balance shoes over cowboy boots, the band showed it can still play it’s classic country songs well enough to please their legion of fans.

Alabama stopped at the Family Arena in St. Charles on Saturday night, playing 17 of their hits to a few thousand of the band’s loyal fans.

While the band may be using a number of hired guns, Alabama still sounds great after nearly a half-century together. Led by Owen and his cousin, Teddy Gentry, the group plowed through hits such as “Can’t Keep a Good Man Down,” “High Cotton,” “Born Country,” and “Mountain Music,” which closed out the show.

While the show was enjoyable, there were some unneeded moments. It got quite repetitive at times, as the band would finish each song by doing a singalong with the audience. Several people in the crowd seemed to be annoyed by the constant singalongs, but overall, it was a strong showing by country music band that has influence so many of today’s top stars.

Montgomery Gentry opened the show. Nearly six months after Troy Gentry’s death, Eddie Montgomery pledged to continue the band. Gentry’s verses were sang by band members, while one of his guitars was placed on the stage with a light shining on it. While Montgomery was enjoyable to watch, it’s easy to see he and his bandmates miss their friend. Montgomery Gentry will release a new album on February 2.

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Jeremy Housewright

Jeremy has been a journalist in the St. Louis area since 2000. He has covered everything from hard news and pro sports to movies and concerts. In his free time he enjoys writing movie reviews, watching professional wrestling and MMA, as well as being an avid football fan. Jeremy is a regular contributor to Review St. Louis, as well as his own sports website: clubhousetalk.com.

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