Having five singers in "Bareback" balances the topless-show jiggling. Featured are Greg Tobias, from left, Darryl Ross, Nellie Norris, James Vaughan and Gary Alexander.

Las Vegas entertainment used to lag way behind on trends, but you have to give "Bareback" credit for being out in front on this topless-country thing.

To some, it was probably as inevitable as any show with the name "Bareback" ending up with a cowboy and his buckarette (James Vaughan and Terese Chafé) doing the wild thing on a mechanical bull.

To others, it might be a surprise that Harrah's opted to have "Skintight" -- a generic topless revue for anyone who wanted to see almost-naked people -- morph into more of a niche title for people who want to see almost-naked people in cowboy hats.

If you don't actually follow country music, you might still be mired in election-year yakkety yak about "red state values" and how country music still reflects some degree of wholesomeness. That was before a movement spearheaded by Big & Rich realized suburban cruisers-and-boozers don't hold, say, Eminem and Kenny Chesney as far apart as radio formats do.

They've now figured out how to market something as country music without it really sounding much like country music. And you can strip to it.

The true surprise might be that the genre is fully formed enough to support an entire Las Vegas revue. Big & Rich have gotta be kickin' themselves that they didn't think of this first. The taped song list is heavy on the new stuff from their musical stable, with a little strategic help from older "outlaw" anthems such as "Born to Boogie" by Hank Williams Jr. and "Trashy Women," first done by Jerry Jeff Walker.

Producer Greg Thompson and choreographer Mistinguett work this niche with more gusto and variety than in "Erocktica," the companion show at the Rio that also narrow-casts its music, into pool cue-smashing barroom rock.

The difference might be that "Bareback" is more evenly weighted between the singers, five in all, and the quintet of female dancers held over from "Skintight." It takes a full 10 minutes for anyone to drop their top on the barroom set, and the way the strip-a-roo is choreographed to Gretchen Wilson's "Here for the Party" and Big & Rich's "Jalapeño" darn near makes sense.

The vocal balance swings from Nellie Norris, who was brought in from Branson, Mo., for a certain type of authenticity, to the quartet of male singers that includes "Skintight" frontman Darryl Ross. And one of them, Vaughan, is as game to hop up on the bartop and show some skin as any of the female dancers.

Many of the songs seem custom-written for a show like this: Cowboy Troy's "Crick in My Neck" and Joe Nichols' "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off," featuring a wobbly dance routine by Jennifer Radler. While "Bareback" didn't win the race to be the first topless country show -- that honor goes to "Buck Wild" -- its narrow agenda and musical focus give it a cohesion lacking in the Sahara revue's traditional variety format.

This show does slip into generic-Vegas silliness with a Shania Twain medley that allows for the obligatory Thompson production de-shirting of a guy from the audience. But the bit is actually redeemed when comedian John Padon strolls up to heckle the guy, instead of waiting for the stage to clear in a traditional segue to his stand-up set.

Padon figures he's the closest thing Las Vegas has to a modern-day burlesque comic, and he's perfected the art of hammering the crowd with a quick, raunchy barrage that sneaks in some topical references, such as how "you conservatives in the audience" ought to rethink opposition to gay marriage. If the goal is to stop homosexuals from having sex, he reckons, what better way to stop having sex than to get married?

I was afraid this show would try to throw in some maudlin country standards by some square dude like Randy Travis, or wrap itself in the flag to atone for its lack of shame. Fortunately, Ross' rendition of "Georgia on My Mind" and that melodramatic Garth Brooks "Rodeo" song are as close as it comes to any such downer.

And since "Rodeo" leads to the mechanical bull co-ride, you can safely say "Bareback" is cheerfully free of any false dignity.