Carrie Underwood Plays On

Carrie Underwood hosts the 2010 Country Music Awards tonight, along with Brad Paisely (at 8:00 PM on ABC).  She’s up for Female Vocalist of the Year and Album of the year for Play On. Back in September, her Play On tour, promoting the album which she is nominated for tonight, made its way through San Jose, bringing along Sons of Sylvia and Billy Currington. I was lucky enough to catch the show.

 

Carrie Underwood ascended to the stage on a revolving velvet couch for the first number of her Play On Tour.

Sons of Sylvia were the first openers for Carrie Underwood.

 

Opening up the show was the group Sons of Sylvia, made up of brothers Adam, Austin, and Ashley Clark.  Opening with a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Rock & Roll, the group gave a rousing start to the night.  They continued their set with a pleasing variety of country-tinged OneRepublic style pop-rock.  (Which isn’t surprising since lead singer, Ashley Clark, was part of OneRepublic for a while, and is cousins with OneRepublic’s lead singer, Ryan Tedder.)  Although I did not know their material too well, they sang several of their album cuts settling into a nice groove with songs such as Revelation and I’ll Know You (their current single).  Things picked up away in a bit of strange way with the more uptempo song, 50 Ways, a bit of a departure from the rest of the set.  This song was a strange performance because it led to a spastic and strange performance.  While the performance proved to be a little erratic, it was one of the set’s highlights.  Finally, the set ended with their probably most well known song (since they performed it on a little show called American Idol), Love Left to Lose, which was a nice, sing-alongy way to end their set.

After Sons of Sylvia, Billy Currington was up next.

Up next was country singer, Billy Currington.  Since I only dabble in country music, I had heard of him, but never really heard him.  Out of the songs I recognized were Why, Why, Why, People Are Crazy, and Swimmin’ in Sunshine. Granted, I recognized them, but did not really know the words.  Apparently, I was the only one in the arena that did not know the words, since at several points in his set, the whole arena sang along with Currington. That being said, Currington was a pleasing performer, but for someone who did not know much of his stuff, there were times where I lost interest.

This tuxedo costume was one of the numerous costume changes of the night.

Dressed in a fitted sparkly tuxedo, Carrie Underwood ascended the stage, laying on a couch via a hydraulic-powered rising stage, kicking off the show with Cowboy Casanova, which started off her five-act set.  The uptempo vibe kept up with Quitter and version of Wasted that was sped up a bit and incorporated a rockier sound.  When she finally slowed things down, she sat at edge of the stage, for the balled, I Know You Won’t.  This proved to be a highlight of the show, as Carrie showed off some surprising powerhouse vocals.  This was one of the few times in the show that she did this, and I was a bit disappointed that she did not display this ability more.  Her first act ended with Carrie accompanying the band on guitar on the uptempo, Some Hearts.

As the second act, a sort of ode to country life, began, Underwood began on a swing, dressed in a poofy, country skirt.  The scene looked a bit cheesy, but as she sang Just A Dream, the visuals of the moment did not matter much since their was serious emotionality injected into the live interpretation.  The country living segment continued with the schmaltzy Temporary Home and the mid-tempo Someday I’ll Stop Loving You, which was followed by a costume change.

Once again, Carrie then busted out the guitar once again to pick things up with All-American Girl, followed by an uplifting rendition of So Small.  She disappeared off stage once more, only to reappear on the back of a blue pickup truck, suspended over the audience, singing the John Denver song, Take Me Home, Country Roads.  As the truck reached the middle of the arena, it stopped, allowing Carrie to banter with the audience and perform another song, This Time.  Slowly, the truck reached the ground, as there was another costume change.

In addition to numerous costume changes, there was also flying trucks!

When she returned, there was a bigger sense of attitude, as she strutted around the stage for Undo It, in a confident manner, working the stage.  Things then took a mellower turn as she stopped to talk to the crowd, saying how lucky she was to get the demo of her next song, Jesus Take the Wheel, which highlighted the strength of her voice, as she incorporated the hymn, How Great Thou Art into the song.

Openers, Sons of Sylvia, returned to the stage next, to join Carrie on their duet, What Can I Say?.  Personally, I found it to be one of the highlights of the night.  Carrie and Ashley Clark’s blended nicely, complimenting each other.  They were also able to extract a great emotional connection with each other, which really added that much more to their duet.

Carrie left the stage before Sons of Sylvia, as they played the song out.  When she returned, she was wearing something that I can only describe as a video dress.  No, not a dress from one of her videos, but a dress that played videos.  It started off black, but as she sang, Change, the projections on her dress began to…well, change, being illuminated by the time the song ended.  With that, she once again descended under the stage for another costume change.

Once Carrie re-emerged, San Jose’s HP Pavilion was transformed into Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry for a virtual duet with fellow Opry member, Randy Travis for their collaboration of I Told You So.  The Opry motif continued as she sat at a piano and played the ode to her mother, aptly titled Mama’s Song.

In addition to the piano, Carrie also played the guitar throughout her 100 minute long set.

After a few slower numbers, Carrie came really picked things up to close the show in full force for her final pre-encore song, Last Name.  Once again, she worked the stage like a pro, exuding confidence and attitude.  The attitude continued for her encore, a double whammy of her biggest hit to date, Before He Cheats and closed the show with Songs Like This, which left the audience dancing out of the arena as the show ended.

This Could Have Been Better:

• My seats!:  While not horrible, my seats were on the side of the stage, so most of the time I was seeing the show from the side.
• Billy Currington: Perhaps it was because I was only familiar with a couple of his songs, but I found his opening set to be a a bit lacking.
• Country Living: The whole section of the set with the swing set and big poofy country skirt was kind of a cheesy visual.
• Vocal Acrobatics: Usually, I want artists to stay away from those, but when Carrie Underwood pulled those out, she sounded amazing.  It would have been nice to see her work them out at more points throughout the show.

Highlights:

• Sons of Sylvia: Although I didn’t know much of there stuff prior to the show, I felt that they sold their stuff well.  Some of their songs were a bit generic, but they were great musicians.  Their cover of Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll was a great way to start off the night.
• Theatrics: The amount of theatrics in the show really impressed me.  This was the first country concert I attended, so I did not know what to expect.  However, the staging and effects that Carrie Underwood’s show displayed was a fun and pleasant surprise.
• Flying Truck: Incorporating the truck that took Carrie over the audience not only brought her closer into the crowd, but was a fun departure from just being on stage.
• Cowboy Casanova: After ascending to the stage on a velvet couch, the
• What Can I Say?: The duet with Sons of Sylvia was once of the best songs of the night.  Both artists sounded great and really got into it.
• There Was a Deer in the Headlights?: There are people that say that Carrie is kind of awkward on stage and needs to work on her stage presence.  None of that was evident for this show.  She worked the stage, providing attitude and exuded confidence.

Overall:
Carrie Underwood’s Play On tour was a sleek, theatrical show that showcased the country singer’s impressive vocals.  Any remnants of onstage awkwards that she showcased on American Idol all those years ago are long gone, as she showed to be consumate performer that knows how to put on a damn great show.  This was one of the best concerts I have been to this year.

Setlist:

1. Cowboy Casanova
2. Quitter
3. Wasted
4. I Know You Won’t
5. Some Hearts
6. Just a Dream
7. Temporary Home
8. Someday When I Stop Loving You
9. All-American Girl
10. So Small
11. Take Me Home, Country Roads
12. This Time
13. Undo It
14. Jesus, Take the Wheel/How Great Thou Art
15. What Can I Say? (with Sons of Sylvia)
16. Change
17. I Told You So (with Randy Travis; virtual duet)
18. Mama’s Song
19. Last Name
20. Before He Cheats (Encore)
21. Songs Like This (Encore)