On a Saturday night in February, Diamond Rio came onto the performance stage of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to deliver their concert. It started out like all other concerts: the band came onstage and started to play their songs.

I thought that this concert was very dull, lifeless, and boring. The band members did nothing interesting; they just stood on the stage and played their guitars and other instruments. During parts of the concert it was as if they weren't even real, just propped up figures. Diamond Rio played many of their older, slower songs that seemed to be even slower sounding in the Astrodome.

Diamond Rio did nothing to get the audience involved, so many people just sat, lifeless, in their chairs. At the end, however, many people did stand up to applaud the band as they left, but during the concert hardly anyone was standing. This concert was one of the worst I have ever been to, and unless you like slow, dragged-out music with no life to it, you would not like to see Diamond Rio perform.

After Diamond Rio, a new performer came onto the stage: Neal McCoy, and for once I was actually glad to see a band leave the stage as soon as Diamond Rio did.

If you didn't get to see Neal McCoy in concert at Houston, you have no idea what you missed. McCoy has that special talent of mixing both new and old, fast and slow music to give an exciting concert.

At the begining all was calm until Neal McCoy came out. All of a sudden there was an explosion of sound, lights, and movement. Throughout, Neal was always moving. He even would get off the stage to walk around the arena to shake hands with his fans.

"A live wire" is the phrase I think best suits Neal McCoy's actions. Halfway through the concert he jumped off the stage, got in a golf cart, and drove from one side of the Astrodome floor to the other. He then jumped out of the cart and start dancing. Once he got onto the camera stand and started a conversation with the camera man.

After going to each side, he would jump out of the golf cart and start singing "Day-O," trying to get the audience to answer back. He started to sing to the theme to the Beverly Hillbillies, but it wasn't the original, it was a rap/country version. This had everyone singing and dancing along with him.

As with all good concerts, it had to come to an end, but not until he played "The Shake." Since it was the last song, McCoy poured all his energy into it and started to do the shake. By this time my sister, two friends, the rest of the section and I were all standing and dancing. It was a shame to see McCoy end the concert because we were so excited, but all good things must come to an end. If you ever have the chance to see Neal McCoy in concert, do it. He gives an unforgettable performance