|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
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
| | | |
| |
|
Reprint permission
Learn
About Our Events
