Dan + Shay are obsessed with the plus sign.
Not only is it part of the moniker of country music's hottest duo, it's their de facto logo, an icon on much of their merch (dig those socks covered in ++++), and the shape of their satellite stage on Saturday night at sold-out Target Center in Minneapolis.
The plus sign is useful in explaining Dan + Shay's success as Grammy-winning, chart-topping recording artists: heart-tugging lyrics + lush harmonies + remarkable hair + dark-haired handsomeness.
The plus sign also can be used to explain their successful debut as arena headliners: incurable romanticism + boundless energy + eager-to-please enthusiasm + imaginative production.
With his luxe tenor, Shay Mooney possesses the prettiest male voice in Nashville since Vince Gill, only with more range and depth. He sounded almost Freddie Mercury-like on "I Should Probably Go to Bed" and soared on the choruses of "Speechless," the duo's defining power ballad, filled with lyrics about love, romance and devotion.
Mooney was much more physical and demonstrative than at the duo's 2019 performance at the Armory in Minneapolis. It was pretty obvious at Target Center that the lead singer, 29, had tons of brotherly love for Dan Smyers, 34, the songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer who provided vocal harmonies and played guitar and piano onstage.
On Saturday, the overly exuberant Smyers tried hard to play the casual rock star, with tight jeans, a Prince & the Revolution T-shirt, and Robert Plant hairdo circa 1974, fluffed by a floor fan like Beyoncé uses in concert.
A hypeman with oodles of energy, Smyers might have barely edged Mooney when it came to ingratiating comments. How many times can you tell 14,000 fans that they are the loudest singers and craziest audience ever? The Prince T-shirt was a nice nod to Minneapolis but then switching to a Vikings tee at intermission and touting his next-door neighbor in Nashville, ex-Viking Jared Allen, seemed unctuous.
