{"id":405119,"date":"2026-09-20T04:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T04:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/405119\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T04:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T04:18:10","slug":"clint-black-brings-wit-hits-to-dr-phillips-center-country-series-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/405119\/","title":{"rendered":"Clint Black brings wit, hits to Dr. Phillips Center country series | Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clint Black<\/a> didn\u2019t waste time with pleasantries to open his Friday-night concert in the Walt Disney Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts<\/a>. Instead he launched into a 1-2-3 punch of \u201cThe Shoes You\u2019re Wearing,\u201d \u201cSummer\u2019s Comin’\u201d and \u201cA Better Man\u201d – all No. 1 hits.<\/p>\n

He has the catalog to do that.<\/p>\n

Black, who stocked his 95-minute set with hit after hit, was the latest performer in the Country at Dr. Phillips series<\/a> at the downtown Orlando arts center. The series already has hosted Sawyer Brown, Sammy Kershaw and Vince Gill – acts that, like Black, saw their greatest successes from the late 1980s through the 1990s.<\/p>\n

Black, now 64, has seen his distinctive nasal twang age – even he jokes about how easy it is for him to impersonate Willie Nelson these days. But the charming grin and warm sense of humor remain intact.<\/p>\n

After his high-octane opening, in fact, Black shared plenty of anecdotes, reminiscences and dad jokes with the crowd. At one point he told the audience, straight-faced, that he had to \u201ccut all the dance numbers and costume changes\u201d from the show. \u201cYou\u2019re dripping with disappointment,\u201d he deadpanned, eyes twinkling.<\/p>\n

But Black has never needed such fancy trappings; his strength lies in the catchy songs he writes, often with collaborator Hayden Nicholas, who was among the singer\u2019s six-piece band on Friday. The two have a working relationship that goes back some 40 years.<\/p>\n

Among the duo\u2019s best-known songs included in the concert: An energetic \u201cGood Run of Bad Luck\u201d and crowd-pleasing \u201cKillin\u2019 Time,\u201d which turned into an audience singalong.<\/p>\n

Black paid tribute to Merle Haggard with a rousing performance of \u201cUntanglin\u2019 My Mind,\u201d which he co-wrote with the country legend. And he also saluted Waylon Jennings with a rollicking rendition of \u201cAre You Sure Waylon Done It This Way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Free programs bring thousands to Dr. Phillips Center each year<\/a><\/p>\n

The shoutouts emphasized Black\u2019s role in reviving a more traditional country sound, which remians evident in his music\u2019s fiddling, harmonica and pedal steel.<\/p>\n

Black also name dropped Nelson as part of another anecdote about an, ahem, smoky encounter on his tour bus. How much of it was true? Hard to say, but it was one of many times Black got the crowd laughing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you\u2019re up to 97 theme parks now?\u201d he quipped about how Orlando has grown since his last Central Florida concert.<\/p>\n

Howdy, y\u2019all: Country music hangs its hat at the Dr. Phillips Center<\/a><\/p>\n

Black\u2019s comic way with words extends into his music; he offered a preview of an upcoming release, a clever twist on a traditional country love ballad, called \u201cNow the Devil Don\u2019t Live Here Anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

He finished his set with a revved-up \u201cNothin\u2019 but the Taillights,\u201d and returned for an encore with a zippy \u201cWe Tell Ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duo Bryan Malpass and Tanner Johnson opened for Black with a 35-minute set that highlighted Malpass\u2019s rock-edged baritone and Johnson\u2019s dynamic fiddling. The musicians, who perform at Disney Springs, piqued the crowd\u2019s interest with an unusual countrified version of Michael Jackson\u2019s \u201cBillie Jean.\u201d Unsurprisingly, it\u2019s not as danceable as the original.<\/p>\n

The Dr. Phillips Center\u2019s country series is designed to evoke a sense of nostalgia – the official website<\/a> refers to \u201cthe spirit of classic country\u201d – and Black\u2019s concert fit the bill nicely. As he sang \u201cAin\u2019t it funny how a melody can bring back a memory,\u201d a lyric from 1993\u2019s \u201cState of Mind,\u201d I was immediately transported back to my tiny windowless office at a tiny Central New York newspaper where I was employed at the time – and passed the workday listening to Black\u2019s hits on cassette (yes, cassette).<\/p>\n

How Opera Orlando is centering Japan in \u2018Butterfly,\u2019 plus more opera news<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIs it working?\u201d Black asked the crowd about the song\u2019s promise to \u201ctake you to another place in time\u201d and \u201ccompletely change your state of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most definitely.<\/p>\n

Follow me at facebook.com\/matthew.j.palm<\/a> or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com<\/a>. Find more entertainment news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com\/entertainment<\/a> or sign up to receive our weekly emailed Entertainment newsletter<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Ahead this week<\/p>\n

\u2022 What: The next entry in the Country at Dr. Phillips series will be a performance by Little Big Town<\/p>\n

\u2022 When: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 25<\/p>\n

\u2022 Where: Walt Disney Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando<\/p>\n

\u2022 Cost: $70.21 and up<\/p>\n

\u2022 Info:drphillipscenter.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published September 19, 2026 at 5:06 AM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Clint Black didn\u2019t waste time with pleasantries to open his Friday-night concert in the Walt Disney Theater at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-405119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}