Kevin Costner became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars by devoting his career to playing the American everyman (e.g. a washed-up minor league baseball player, a washed-up major league baseball player, a schizophrenic farmer who thinks a dead baseball player is talking to him).

And when the movie star brought his band Modern West to the Avalon Ballroom in Fallsview Casino on Friday night, his approach to music was no different. Humble, tried-and-true roots rock was the order of the day, with the band showing its obvious affinity for the simple, poignant approaches of classic Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, The Pretenders and Neil Young.

In many ways, Costner and Modern West sounds like a bar band that’s led not by an obscenely rich celebrity, but by one of the blue-collar characters that the celebrity made popular. With a relaxed stage presence, a pile of three-chord riffs and lyrics about political frustration, Hurricane Katrina, the Fourth of July and the plight of the working man, the seven-piece group would be quite pleasant if they were just a bunch of middle-aged guys having fun. Unfortunately, a big-name movie star is the bandleader, not “Crash” Davis. Costner’s celebrity puts a spotlight on his band’s music that’s just too big for its britches.

Before the band took the stage, the ballroom went black, and a lowquality sound clip of the famous line, “If you build it, he will come,” played twice over the sound system. A very long Costner video montage ensued, covering pretty much every movie he’s ever starred in. When the logos for Dances With Wolves, Field of Dreams and The Untouchables appeared, they received more enthusiastic applause than any song the band performed. Modern West had dug itself a hole before it even played a note.

After ripping through a few original songs — including “Five Minutes to America,” a decent Tom Petty-esque tribute to Katrina survivors — the bandleader’s tentativeness started to show.

“It’s kinda nice to hear new music, right?” Costner asked, seemingly unsure if it was nice or not.

This wasn’t the first time that he basically apologized for not doing covers, and as the night wore on, it was tough to disagree.

The band followed up “Five Minutes” with the more subdued, faux Boss song, “Long Hot Night,” and with no loud guitars and chugging bass to mask it, Costner’s voice was exposed as a significantly weak instrument.

Not to say the band is subpar. Modern West is a reliable, tight ensemble, and fiddle player Bobby Yang is absolutely superb.

But when all was said and done, Costner was onstage singing lines like, “I never wanted a million bucks, just some paid overtime and some gas in my truck.”

It’s a sentiment that many popular Costner characters could relate to, but the actor himself? That’s about as convincing as a guy growing gills.

Appeared in the January 5, 2008, issue of The Buffalo News.