Monday, September 12, 2022

Concert Review - George Strait

Hello, dear readers.  It's been a looong time since I've posted and much has changed since my last blog post.  For now, however, I'm going to ease back into things by reviewing some of the concerts I've been to recently.  I've been to three in the past month and a half and have two more coming up in the near future, so I'm going to tackle them one at a time.  The highlights, the lowlights and my overall thoughts on the shows.

Here we go...

Headliner: George Strait
Opening Acts: Chris Stapleton, Little Big Town and Parker McCollum  
Date: July 30, 2022
Venue: Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City, MO)

Set List:
  • Here For A Good Time
  • Ocean Front Property
  • Check Yes or No
  • I Can Still Make Cheyenne
  • Wrapped
  • Marina del Rey
  • I Got a Car
  • I Saw God Today
  • Every Little Honky Bar
  • How 'Bout Them Cowgirls
  • I Just Wanna Dance With You
  • That's What Breaking Hearts Do
  • Give It Away
  • Codigo
  • Waymore Blues (Waylon Jennings cover)
  • The Weight of the Badge
  • The Fireman
  • The Chair
  • Barmaid
  • Amarillo By Morning
  • Run
  • Come On Joe
  • It Just Comes Natural
  • I'll Always Remember You
  • Troubadour
  • Unwound
  • Encore
    • All My Exes Live in Texas (with Chris Stapleton)
    • You Wreck Me (Tom Petty cover with Chris Stapleton)
    • Take Me to Texas
    • The Cowboy Rides Away
Review: George sounded great, as great as the first time I saw him in concert almost 25 years ago. Even at 70 years old, his voice is as great as ever.  My only beef was that there were several big hit songs that I wanted to hear that he didn't play.  Now, anytime you're talking about an artist whose career has spanned more than 40 years and who has 50 #1 hits and dozen other Top Tens, it's impossible for them to play all of their hits.  I get that and fully expected it going in.  But no "I Cross My Heart?" No "Blue Clear Sky?" No "Carrying Your Love With Me?"  It seemed like those could have been played in lieu of some of the more obscure songs that were included and especially in lieu of the two unnecessary covers that were included.  When you're an artist as accomplished as George Strait, you shouldn't need to include covers in your show unless it was a cover you recorded and had a hit with. Beyond that, the sound, George's voice, the musicianship of the Ace in the Hole Band, and the lighting were all top notch.  A big production fit for a sold-out stadium show.

Chris Stapleton was very good.  He doesn't do much on stage, but his voice and the vocal interplay between him and his back-up singing wife were great.  And, unlike George, he played pretty much all of his big songs and filled up the huge venue with just his voice and an acoustic guitar.

Little Big Town was good and energetic, even if it did rain for a bit during their set.  I'm not much of a fan of theirs, but the vocal harmonies were stellar and they were certainly entertaining.

Parker McCollum?  Ehh...whatever.  Dude wore a flat-billed baseball cap and a gold chain.  He looked more hip hop than anything else and his songs sounded like a million other songs on country radio these days.  He was fine but nothing that really grabbed me and made me want to delve into his music more.

Highlights: The early one-two-three punch of "Ocean Front Property," "Check Yes or No" and "I Can Still Make Cheyenne" and the later back-to-back of "Amarillo By Morning and "Run." Bringing Stapleton out for "Exes" was a treat, too.

Lowlights:  Not really any, besides the few covers George played instead of his own songs.

Overall TGR Grade:  B+

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