Reba Mcentire Tour Comes To Town At Its Peak

------------------------------- Concert preview

Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn, Terri Clark and David Kersh, 7:30 tonight, Tacoma Dome; $44, 206-628-0888. -------------------------------

Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn are coming down to the wire of a two-year tour. And that means that Tacoma, being one of the last dates, is going to get an especially good show.

"Reba is very organized, very well rehearsed, a consummate performer," says Kix Dunn, the guitar-strumming, cowboy-hatted half of Brooks & Dunn. "And Ronnie and I, we're lucky if we come out there with a set list, ya know? During the course of a tour, we usually find a show. By the last few dates we're goin', `Yeah, I think we've got it!' So we should have it together by the time we get there!"

The tour is one of the most successful in country-music history, with sold-out crowds at almost every date. Reba - as she has billed herself on her most recent recordings, dropping her last name - has one of the great voices in country music, and puts on quite a show, with lots of dancing, special effects and costume changes. She also does a couple of numbers with Brooks & Dunn.

Brooks acknowledged in a phone interview that such long tours do get tiring, but something happens at showtime to renew his energy.

"I swear, there's something about turning the corner to the stage, when you hear and you see the crowd, all those fresh faces, and everybody's so excited to be there, and for you to be there, and you just can't help but be caught up in the enthusiasm. Every night it's new and different and fun. And that's really the whole key to it."

Brooks & Dunn are the most popular duet in country history, with such huge hits as "Boot Scootin' Boogie," "My Maria" and the current "Husbands and Wives," a Roger Miller tune. A duo since 1991, they no longer spend as much time writing songs together as they used to.

"Anymore, we really don't write together that much," Brooks said. "We kinda do it to preserve our working relationship.

"It's real hard to spend as much time together as we do, to travel together all the time, to do so much business together. Right now we've got 19 semis and 110 employees and race cars and hot-air balloons and a clothing line and all this stuff, and by the time we get done with it, the energy it takes to sit down with somebody and write a song, we don't really have that kind of energy anymore."

He was quick to add, however, that Dunn had jumped on his tour bus just the day before with a song idea. "We're hacking at it, and it's coming along," he said.

Brooks was born in Shreveport and said the strong musical traditions of Louisiana can be heard in the varied rhythms and textures of his songs.

"Louisiana has got some stuff that you just can't get offa ya, ya know?" he quipped. "There's a different kind of soul down there and I'm proud to carry that with me."

He said the show is more than three hours long, but that fans should get there on time to catch the young and promising opening acts.

Terri Clark is one of country's brightest newcomers, with a traditional sound heard in such hits as "Better Things to Do" and the current "You're Easy on the Eyes."

Kersh is one of the newest names in country, currently riding high with "Something to Think About."