BILLBOARD BILLBOARD RADIOCLASSIFIEDSCAREER CENTERDIRECTORIESBILLBOARD EVENTS ALBUMS SINGLES & TRACKS HOME VIDEOS HITS OF THE WEB CHART BEAT TOP CONCERTS NEWS REVIEWS FEATURED ARTIST TOUR FINDER BREAKING & ENTERING HOT PRODUCT NEW RELEASES RIAA CERTIFICATIONS DIGITAL DOWNLOADS THE TANGLED WEB ON THE TUBE FREE EMAIL NEWSLETTER ASK BILLBOARD THIS WEEK'S POLL MUSIC CROSSWORD CLASSIFIED ADS BILLBOARD DIRECTORIES BILLBOARD EVENTS INDUSTRY CALENDAR INDUSTRY AWARDS RESEARCH SERVICES MUSICIAN'S GUIDE TO TOURING AND PROMOTION BILLBOARD BULLETIN AIRPLAY MONITOR AMUSEMENT BUSINESS BILLBOARD RADIO BILLBOARD LIVE BILLBOARD SONG CONTEST LIVE REVIEWS Reprint permission April 08, 2004 Alan Jackson, Martina McBride / April 3, 2004 / St. Louis (Savvis Center) Alan Jackson may put on the most low-key concert of any country music superstar out there. He doesn't swing from ropes, there are no fireworks, no smashed guitars. It takes all the effort he can muster just to amble from one side of the stage to the other and toss a few guitar picks into the front rows. Otherwise, he stands rooted to the spot, strumming his guitar and singing, occasionally mouthing a few "aw-shucks" introductions to his songs or acknowledgements of his audience's devotion. Yet somehow, that's enough. Unlike too many country concerts of late, Jackson's show isn't so much about the sizzle as it is the steak. His songs are the focus, and that's as it should be when you have material as good as his. The fact that many of his songs have been No. 1 hits doesn't hurt, either. Jackson kicked off his 90-minute set at St. Louis' Savvis Center with his anthem "Gone Country," then moved right into the chooglin' "I Don't Even Know Your Name." Jackson was dressed in his traditional garb -- a white cowboy hat, western-cut shirt and strategically ripped jeans. Since Jackson doesn't care to make arena-sized gestures, he let the show's staging -- which featured five large video screens and more than a dozen mini-screens -- do the job for him. The staging was an effective tool, with video clips synched to portions of the live performance and showing kids in the audience during "Little Bitty," as well as doing a nice job of spotlighting local people and places during "Where I Come From." The set was well paced, with ballads such as "When Somebody Loves You," "The Blues Man" and recent single "Remember When" spread out between upbeat tunes like "Tall Tall Trees," "Who's Cheatin' Who" and "Don't Rock the Jukebox." Jackson' drinking songs, "Pop a Top" and "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" seemed especially popular with the capacity crowd, though that's understandable given that St. Louis is Budweiser's home town. Still, the songs that connected the most were Jackson's anti-superstore rant, "Little Man" and "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning," still the best song (as well as the least didactic) written in the wake of 9-11. The Strayhorns, Jackson's eight-piece backup band, were excellent throughout the performance. Perhaps because they double up on all the key instruments -- two guitars, two pedal steels, and two fiddles or mandolins -- their sound was never less than full. Their solos, meanwhile, were always tasteful and right on the money. No wonder Jackson has kept them in his employ for so long. Martina McBride's opening set was also jam-packed with hits. She opened the show by rising through the floor of her two-tiered stage, and quickly dug into her lively hit "Wild Angels." The Kansas native's upbeat hits are bright and breezy, like "My Baby Loves Me," "Happy Girl" and "This One's for the Girls" (which got at least a portion of the female fans out of their seats). But it's the ballads on which her powerful voice truly shines, and McBride nearly blew the roof off the venue with the choruses of "Where Would You Be" and "How Far." A three-song acoustic set offered a nice change of pace, with a fresh, low-key take on "I Love You," plus the gospel/bluegrass number "Reluctant Daughter" and the hushed ballad "Wrong Again." McBride is best known for her issue-oriented songs, though, and she couldn't leave without playing "Independence Day," "Concrete Angel," and "A Broken Wing." "Concrete Angel" was especially poignant, with McBride showing off the delicate nuances of her upper range. If you go by the recent Academy of Country Music Awards nominations, Jackson and McBride, with a dozen nods between them, are the current king and queen of country music. It's appropriate, then, that their tour feels something like a coronation. Here is Jackson set list: "Gone Country" "I Don't Even Know Your Name" "Tall Tall Trees" "Livin' on Love" "When Somebody Loves You" "Little Bitty" "Work in Progress" "Who's Cheatin' Who" "Little Man" "Remember When" "Don't Rock the Jukebox" "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" "Summertime Blues" "The Blues Man" "Pop a Top" "Drive (For Daddy Gene)" "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning" "Chattahoochee" "Where I Come From" (encore) "Mercury Blues" Here is McBride set list: "Wild Angels" "My Baby Loves Me" "How Far" "This One's for the Girls" "Where Would You Be" "Concrete Angel" "She's a Butterfly" "I Love You" "Reluctant Daughter" "Wrong Again" "Happy Girl" "In My Daughter's Eyes" "A Broken Wing" "Independence Day" (encore) "When God-Fearin' Women Get the Blues" -- Daniel Durchholz Want to use this article? Click here for options! Copyright 2004 Billboard Learn About Our Events Search Directories Buy Products © 2004 VNU eMedia Inc. All rights reserved. Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy.