02.17.2011 - Reba and George Strait @ Conseco Fieldhouse
February 18, 2011
Conseco Fieldhouse
Indianapolis, IN
Once again, we are taking a bit of a detour from our usual genre of music for this review, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see a history-making concert from two of country music’s biggest names: George Strait and Reba.
The evening opened up right on time at 7:00 p.m. with a 30 minute set from Lee Ann Womack, one of country music’s most traditional female vocalists. She entertained the crowd with her radio hits such as “Ashes By Now,” “A Little Past Little Rock,” “I May Hate Myself In the Mornin’,” and arguably her biggest hit, “I Hope You Dance.”
Womack was a perfect fit for taking on the opening duties of this tour, blending her diva stage presence with the vocal smoothness reminiscent of Dolly Parton. She navigated the crowd in a true professional manner, working each corner of the centrally placed stage. She certainly got the crowd ready for the rest of the evening.
After a quick break and some stage set up, we were introduced to Reba by means of a video montage showing the highlights of her life and career: being one of the trailblazing female artists in the industry, second only to perhaps Barbara Mandrell, successful, groundbreaking, and sometimes controversial music videos, taking on the stage and screen, and consistently being one of the top selling artists in country music history. Reba then took the stage and sang many of her radio hits and introduced a couple of singles from her new album, All The Women I Am. One of those singles was the cover of Beyonce’s “If I Were A Boy.” After years and years in the business, Reba certainly showed her poise throughout the show. She is classy and professional…no doubt about it. She looked fantastic and her voice was spot-on in every single song.
One of the interesting things I thought about during Reba’s set is how different this tour must be for her. On her past tours, Reba’s stage show and presentation was huge. In the 90’s, her shows included pyrotechnics, massive staging, and even lifts that carried her off the stage and over the crowd. This transition to a simplistic stage set up may have made other artists uncomfortable, but Reba handled it perfectly. She interacted with the crowd and band, made use of the stationary cameras placed at each corner of the stage, and highlighted her storytelling ability to take us on a journey through her career. At one point, while singing a song about her father, “The Greatest Man I Never Knew,” she visibly became emotional. No doubt, she has done this song thousands of times live, but to see that it still affects her…it was a very powerful moment. I enjoyed seeing Reba live. She brought all the showmanship that I expected from a seasoned artist like her, bringing down the house with a duet performance of “Does He Love You,” with Lee Ann Womack and the show ending “Fancy,” where Reba was transported to the stage in a small yellow taxi cab as the opening of the classic video played on the screens. One thing is for sure…Reba still has it.
And finally, the King of Cool, Mr. George Strait and his famous Ace In The Hole Band took the stage. Strait sang many of his classic songs and quite a few of his more recent hits. He even sang a song written by his son that is featured on his most recent album Twang.
I’ve seen Strait’s live show a number of times throughout my life. I grew up to his music; so many of his songs have been the soundtrack to my summers riding horses with friends or driving in the car with one of my cousins. Like Reba, his songs are often short stories; narratives on the life of a rodeo cowboy and all the pain and heartache that comes with that life. I think this is why people still gravitate towards his music. He tells stories, captivating ones that regardless of whether or not you have ever ridden a horse, you can somehow relate to.
Something to note is Strait’s stage manner. It’s so clear he has loosened up over the past 10 years or so. I remember seeing him play at the Indiana State Fair years ago and the man barely moved an inch. On this night though, he was dancing and seemed so much more upbeat and energized than I have ever seen. And though he may not bounce around the stage as we remember Garth Brooks doing so many years ago, Strait’s updated digitalized light show was a nice feature and certainly rivals today’s edgy rock bands.
If there is a key to Strait’s success, not only as a recording artist, but also as a touring entertainer, it is that he is consistent and plays to the audience. He moved to the “in the round” staging a number of years ago in an attempt to bring the music experience one step closer to his fan base. Strait knows how to weave classic hits with new material to keep people interested. He seems to have the formula for success down to a science and people love him for that. It was so evident on this evening of traditional country music that people still love to come out to see these classic artists that keep breaking records and gaining new fans.
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