What do you get when you combine one of the most successful and energetic duos in recording history, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, and the fiery red-head who is country music’s lead female vocalist?

An unbelievable high-energy concert full of a wide range of musical talent and wild audience cries for more.

The concert, which was supposed to begin with all three artists, did not start out according to plans.

It seems Reba was detained unexpectedly and did not join the duo until halfway through the show.

Even without Reba, the concert began in a volcanic explosion — well, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn kinda appeared from this volcano — and began a high-powered show that had the audience, especially the women, on their feet with “Little Miss Honky Tonk” and moved immediately into “Lost and Found” from their “Brand New Man” album.

And if any concert goer was afraid of missing the action, they didn’t worry long because there were four big overhead screens so even those in the nose-bleed section could see the sweat dripping off their favorite artist.

Although Brooks & Dunn have rapidly found their way to country music fame, they seem to not have forgotten who helped them get there — the fans.

You never heard either one say the normal cheesy concert stuff like, “Hey, we’re sure glad to be here in Ames, Iowa.”

There’s nothing like the audience going wild over that half-baked, my-manager-just-told-me-where-I-am line.

What they did do was talk to the audience, paid special attention to the little kids in the front row, gave away what seemed to be several hundred drumsticks, accepted flowers and Brooks even brought a little girl on stage during “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” to dance with him.

Sure, some of it they may say at every show. There are 85 of them on the Mobil 1 tour. But, for the most part, it was their normal conversation and spur-of-the-moment style that won the audience over.

However, their stage presence went beyond talking to the audience. Brooks & Dunn not only worked well together musically, their personalities are just different enough to compliment the other’s. The on-stage banter between the two was as much fun to listen to as the music.

One more element you only get at a live show and not on an album is Brooks’ vast amounts of energy. This is one way to show how different the two are.

As Dunn just kinda hangs out on stage, Brooks is running down the catwalk and reaching all corners of the stage several times during a song.

It seems the sheer energy of the concert takes over his body and, if he is tired, I don’t think he notices until later.

Brooks & Dunn continued with their No. 1 hits like “My Maria,” “Neon Moon,” “Hard Workin’ Man,” “Brand New Man” and brought out four giant blow-up dolls for “Rock My World (Little Country Girl).”

Perhaps the most gripping part of their performance was during a song the two dedicated to Lane Frost. For those of you who aren’t into championship bull riding, Frost was at the top of his career when died tragically.

After riding an “unridable” bull, the bull decided to attack Frost, breaking a rib which, in turn, punctured a lung. If you want the whole story, go rent “8 Seconds.”

The song didn’t have the audience in awe because of the dedication to Frost though. On the big screens overhead, there was footage of Tuff Hedeman, a three-time champion bull rider, when he got caught up after riding in Las Vegas a couple of years ago.

It was completely gripping and it seemed as though everyone had stopped breathing while waiting to see what happened.

Eventually Brooks & Dunn disappeared off of the stage, which only meant one thing — Reba had arrived, which seemed to please the men in the audience.

Before I begin, let me say the woman who has a reputation of changing her clothes several times throughout a performance, only changed three times.

Because Reba has been recording since the late 70s, she had to pick the best of the best, incorporating her old with her new. She did this with songs like “Tell Me Why,” “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” “The Fear of Being Alone,” “Take It Back,” “Why Haven’t I Heard From You,” “You Lie” and her all-time classic, “Fancy.”

There were two songs that stuck out most — “I’d Rather Ride Around With You” and “Does He Love You.”

The first was fun because someone had taken the time to film footage of Ames and put it together for the big screen.

Shots of Campustown, the Campanile and all of the other wonderful things that make up Ames were shown.

For “Does He Love You,” Linda Davis appeared on stage. It was an amazing performance between the two that showed off not only Reba’s vocal abilities but Davis’ as well. Unlike the video, Reba didn’t blow anyone up in the end.

Although Reba’s performance was incredible, the audience changed. As most were on their feet and dancing where they could for Brooks & Dunn, they seemed to sit for Reba and the applause didn’t seem as loud.

Maybe everyone was tired, maybe it’s because Reba did play a lot more slower tunes than Brooks & Dunn or maybe everyone was content to sit back and enjoy — whatever the reason, this didn’t stop her from taking the stage with just as much energy as Brooks and Dunn combined.

The show ended with a duet by Dunn and Reba, followed by an explosion of fireworks from which Brooks appeared and ran down the catwalk wearing a number 50 Iowa State Men’s Basketball jersey.

The two-and-a-half-hour concert, with no intermissions, was nothing but an intense, high-energy concert.

If the performance is as popular in the other 84 tour cities as it was in Ames, then Mobil 1 may have sponsored one of the most successful tours in country music history.