Kevin Costner & Modern West

The Postman cometh. Following in the fine tradition of Kevin Bacon, Keanu Reeves, and Bruce Willis, aging Hollywood icon Kevin Costner now fronts his own band, a safe but surprisingly palatable country-rock outfit for fans who think the Eagles play too many slow songs but Tom Petty rocks just a little too hard. Modern West's talents were on display in the recent Costner-produced vehicle Swing Vote, in which the Waterworld star serenaded the various non-functioning cars in his backyard. It's a ditty that would, for better or worse, fit nicely in the self-consciously folksy world of hot country Top 40. Yes, there's dull-edged hypocrisy in a mega-rich movie star singing about the true joys of NASCAR watchin' and trailer livin'—rarely does K-Cost miss an opportunity to mention driving old pickup trucks on the band's debut album, Untold Truths—but that's Nashville for you. Come to see Costner channel his inner John Cougar Mellencamp; stay for the cougars prowling the stage looking to bite off a hunk of Robin Hood. With Molly Maher. 21+.
Tue., Jan. 27, 7:30 p.m., 2009