‘X Country’ had to wait for country radio to shed its inhibitions

With six topless cabaret shows on the Strip, it's probably smart to start defining them by musical niche.

But it doesn't seem like one of them would have been called "X Country" a few years ago.

Las Vegas topless shows always liked their cowgirls, with at least one number devoted to red-checked halters and Daisy Dukes shorn to the bikini wax line.

But now Harrah's Las Vegas has a whole country-themed show, and it was one of the only ones to open in 2015, a year when five dancers, a barrel and a Ford truck-grill prop on a comedy club stage constituted a significant production-show investment.

It's country radio, the factory sound now coming out of Nashville, that's made all this seem less than weird.

OK, it's still kind of odd to see Carrie Jean perform the acrobatic aerial strap routine to Garth Brooks' dramatic cheatin'-revenge yarn "The Thunder Rolls."

No coincidence the 1991 hit is one of the oldest songs in the show, bested only by Emma Smith's bathtub routine to the Patsy Cline's never out-of-date "Crazy."

But when country moved into the suburbs, it ditched the whole pretense of being wholesome. The songs lost their guilt about the drinkin' and cheatin', that tension between Saturday night and Sunday morning.

They also got rhythm. The tempos picked up a lot of thump since the two-steppin' days, and now it's neither a lyrical nor musical stretch to see an altogether more lecherous kind of line dancing to Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" or Cowboy Troy's "Drink, Drank, Drunk."

In fact, the speed of the whole thing is probably what makes old-school country and strip-club fans alike want to shout "settle down, will ya?" But that's probably what they yell at country radio, too.

Either way, the dancers move on and off the little stage at warp speed, breaking away and regrouping to songs usually cut down to a verse and chorus before they bleed into the next one. Only a few times does it try to be actually provocative or erotic, such as Smith and Jill Reed on a vertical bed during Little Big Town's "Girl Crush."

All that the beer-drinkin' and hell-raisin' does give the rare quiet moments more impact, such as Reed changing in front of a makeup mirror to Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me." It's one of the few places the action onstage seems dialed into the song, and the specifics of the costuming suggest a story you want to learn.

This is the third show from producers Angela and Matt Stabile, following "X Burlesque" and "X Rocks." With her performing background and his video production skills, they have this down to a slick science. The side screens set up a scene that blends seamlessly into live action, such as Carrie Jean in a wedding dress for the Band Perry's "Better Dig Two."

Meanwhile, at the Westgate Las Vegas, "Sexxy" producer-performer Jennifer Romas had been lobbying for a second look at the show that's almost survived a year there — no mean feat — since it was pulled together as a rush job before last year's Super Bowl.

"Sexxy" now runs at an unlikely 7 p.m., which doesn't turn out to be a negative in the dark winter months. It hasn't changed much in terms of content; it still plays almost as a sampler of songs and routines other shows have used over the years.

But the lighting and video have caught up to be more in line with the Stabile shows, and the women seem more distinctive, as well as the song variety. You get the thumping pop numbers, but also athletic Romas on the pole for Michael Buble's version of "Feeling Good," and Veronica Collazo as a French maid for Bjork's version of "It's Oh So Quiet."

Seeing both shows in rapid succession points out an obvious contradiction: "Sexxy" has the live singer in Gabriella Versace, while "X Country" has a comedian, John Bizarre (who also works in the other two "X" shows). Seems like a country music-themed show could build a lot around a singer. But then again, Bizarre was able to do a bit about Rage Against the Machine and not see blank stares in return, so there ya go.

— Read more from Mike Weatherford at reviewjournal.com. Contact him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com and follow @Mikeweatherford on Twitter.