Shine All Night Tour: Diverse Songs, Impressive Staging

Last night at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, IL, a suburb of Chicago, country rocked the arena, which was about 80% filled. I had paid $10 for a ticket, but there were a few rows open in the lower bowl, so I sneaked down and took a $60 seat. The view was incomparable. The Shine All Night Tour, a co-headlining tour of Martina McBride and Trace Adkins, opened with newcomer Sarah Buxton. Her set was short and unmemorable.

Then Trace Adkins, a country superstar, sung a set that varied between his mournful ballads and his redneck playful songs. Trace's set opened with a funny video that segued into I Got my Game On. Trace commanded the stage, swaggering about, singing in his signature baritone voice. He had moving set pieces and a lot of light and video screens. It surprised me because this was a big budget affair for a country concert. He gave the audience their money's worth by singing his hits, including Songs About Me, Chrome and Hot Mama. Many of his songs celebrate/objectify women and being redneck, and the video screens matched, displaying images of scantily clad redneck women. He showed his depth by thanking his fans for making You're Gonna Miss This the song of the year last year, and sung it with simple grace. One of his favorite songs of mine, Ladies Love Country Boys, switched the objectification from women to men, but switched back at the end of his set with his megahit Honky Tonk Badonkadonk, which made the audience go wild. He finished with an encore of Muddy Water and Higher Ground, displaying the gospel prowess of his voice. Trace was an accomplished preformer, singing superficial songs with bravado, and didn't let the thumping music overpower his voice and stage presence.

The arena filled up more before Martina's set. They completely changed the stage, which had two ramps added to it and larger screens. I was pleasantly surprised when a thundering dance beat started and she preformed a remix of the inspirational Ride. Much of her set consisted of her inspiration songs, which cross over into the adult contemporary, christian, country, pop, and dance genres. While Trace only had a few sections on their feet, the audience was enthusiastic for Martina, who stole the show. She had a cold, but bravely hit all the high and long notes of her songs, including the powerful Anyways. Each time she struggled but hit the notes, she got a standing ovation. Upbeat songs began her set, with hits Wild Angels and My Baby Loves Me, which celebrates the everyday wife and mother. The only awkward moment was a misplaced cover of Lean On Me that was preceded by such a joyous set of songs that it was as jarring as the shrill piano that accompanied it. She left the stage and came back out on a glowing crescent moon that sailed above the audience, preforming ballads like Concrete Angel, I Have Been Blessed and I'm Trying on the B-Stage. These songs were inspirational but sad at the same time, covering themes of abuse and heartache but also spiritual empowerment. She walked back to the main stage through the audience, belting out This One's for the Girls, a female empowerment anthem that celebrates girls of all ages and their inner beauty. The set ended with songs of escaping abuse, such as A Broken Wing, and then her best song, Independence Day, a soaring anthem of (again) escaping abuse as streamers jettisoned from the ceiling. She covered Summer of 69 for her encore.
This concert was a lot of fun, a blend of upbeat, rollicking songs, and moving ballads. Martina, despite her cold, belted her heart out. My only complaint was that the audience was a little less responsive than I would've liked. But I've heard country shows aren't known for standing and singing along. Poor Trace put on a great show, but only Martina could move people to stand up. I liked how the country hits were inspirational and traditional, but also the artists could step out of the box and be edgier (Trace's videos) or stage a pop concert with visuals, lights, and choreography (Martina) instead of pandering to the sometimes effected morals of the target audience. It was an interesting partnership that worked because of the diversity of their material. The icing on the cake was free Sunny D from the sponsor after the show!

Trace Adkins

1. "I Got My Game On"
2. "Swing"
3. "Songs About Me
4. "I Wanna Feel Something"
5. "All I Ask For Anymore"
6. "Marry for Money"
7. "Chrome"
8. "Rough & Ready"
9. "You're Gonna Miss This"
10. "Hot Mama"
11. "Ladies Love Country Boys"
12. "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk"

Encore

13. "Muddy Water"
14. "Higher Ground"

Martina McBride

1. "Ride"
2. "When God-Fearin' Women Get the Blues"
3. "Happy Girl"
4. "Walk Away"
5. "Wild Angels"
6. "My Baby Loves Me"
7. "Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong"
8. "I Just Call You Mine"
9. "Lean On Me"
10. "Help Me Make It Through the Night"
11. "Anyway"
12. "Concrete Angel"
13. "I'm Trying"
14. "Love's The Only House"/"Blessed"
15. "This One's For The Girls"
16. "Two More Bottles of Wine"
17. "You're Not Leaving Me"
18. "Where Would You Be"
19. "A Broken Wing"
20. "Independence Day"

Encore

21. "Summer of '69"

Favorite Concerts

Concerts are an amazing experience, connecting for two hours with fans of the same artist and sharing the music.
Britney Spears brought her Circus Tour to Chicago in 2009, thrice. Playing to a sold out audience at the Allstate Arena, the opening act of the Pussycat Dolls was more artistic than Ms. Spears, and that's saying a lot. They belted out live vocals while dancing around on stage, or moving on electronic risers. They connected with the audience, giving shout outs to Chicago, and to "the fellow pussycat dolls" in the crowd. I'm not embarrassed to admit it, but I was smiling during their short set of their hits, ranging from Don't Cha and Buttons, to recent songs When I Grow Up and Hate this Part. Britney was aptly preceded by a freak show, replete with a circus troupe and a midget, who I later found out was once a porn star. Nothing could better introduce the audience to the world of the craziest pop star alive.

After a baby murdering intro of Perez Hilton, Britney came down from the big top, playing a ring leader to her dancers while lip syncing Circus. For Piece of Me, she was trapped in a golden cage and wheeled about on stage. The only other highlight was the Touch of My Hand/Breathe on Me medley, which saw Britney flying around in a picture frame and simulating sensual poses while elevated from the ceiling. There were no live vocals, Britney's dancing wasn't captivating, and there were so many distractions (lights, moving set pieces, dancers, etc) that Britney's own robotic hold on her life was more than apparent. There were parts when she wasn't even visible on stage but a voice pumping from the speakers carried through the arena. Really, she couldn't have been there and the show would've been the same soulless spectacle.

Madonna's Sticky and Sweet Tour visited a sold out United Center in 2008. Madonna is a commanding presence, at times chilling, but she mustered a few smiles during this show. It wasn't dark as previous tours, but a warm explosion of color and 80s dance beats. Songs from Hard Candy that fell flat came alive on tour, and a clap and sing along rendition of Miles Away was moving, considering her recent divorce. The concert was impeccably timed and danced. Classics like Into the Groove and Like a Prayer became thunderous, transcendental house songs that got everyone out of the their seats. House songs in their own right such as Vogue, were reinvented as hip hip numbers, while upbeat songs like Borderline, Hung Up and Ray of Light became rock tracks.

Madonna's most real moment was singing You Must Love Me, a tearful paean to her fans. A highlight was the request song of Dress You Up, preformed just for Chicago for the first time in over a decade. Whether riding a Rolls Royce on stage during Beat Goes On, gyrating on a stripper pole behind Keith Harring graphics, strumming the guitar during La Isla Bonita, or leading the audience in a jump-up-and-down rendition of Give it 2 Me, replete with old school video game screens, Madonna's show was energetic, impeccable, and superior. And what could beat 15,500 people staying in the arena, singing along with Holiday playing after the show ended? Madonna was a star enough that she needed no opener, as was Kylie.
Kylie Minogue's US 2009 Tour stopped at the UIC Pavilion for one night and brought her brand of unabashedly cheesy pop Stateside. Preforming to a sold out crowd of nearly 5000 people, Minogue entered astride a massive silver skull, then strutted around in robotic attire reminiscent of retro scifi films, speeding through electro songs Come into my World and Speakerphone. She preformed a fast paced, energetic, and fun show that was chock full of her hits. Dressed as a sultry bell hop for her New Wave section of Like a Drug and Can't Get You out of My Head, she commanded the stage with her warmth and appeal. Kylie wore an awards night gown for the ballad section, showcasing her soaring vocals in an homage to old Hollywood.

When the sound system failed, Kylie sang an acapella rendition of your Disco Needs You that earned effusive love from the fans, as many of the moments during the concert (which sometimes left the starlet speechless). A parade of confetti fell for the encore, where she got the audience moving to her 80s hit Better the Devil and club favorite Love at First Sight, while colorful shapes flashed across the screens. If Madonna's show was the most impeccable, then Kylie's was assuredly the most fun. It was also a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a megastar in such an intimate venue.

Lady Gaga's Monster Ball stopped at the Rosemont Theatre in early 2010. The show was plagued with problems from the start, from a changing venue, to ticket problems, and really ought to have been moved from a three night residency to a single night at the Allstate Arena. The show opened with pulsating beats that were repeated through each transition between the acts. The ominous Dance in the Dark started the show, with Gaga enveloped by fog, dancing in a glow in the dark suit. The stage was designed like a retro video game grid, and Gaga preformed a string of dance numbers that blended seamlessly into one another.

If fans weren't familiar with the material, then the songs would have been indistinguishable. Her video interludes were so bizarre that they were pointless, and her commands for adoration between songs was as much of a turn off as the product placement for a cellphone company that stalled the show halfway through. Her singing was good, the music was great, but Lady Gaga's show needed some tweaking. There was a self conscious break before the last two songs and hedonistic behavior that was sometimes cringe worthy, other times understandable. Gaga was opened by Jason Derulo and Semi Precious Weapons, both of which I skipped because I was unfamiliar with them.

Coldplay played two shows at the United Center in mid 2008. The look matched the Viva La Vida album, and the stage was simple enough to showcase the band, but contained some laser and light effects that spruced up the show. The setlist was heavy on the new album, but old favorites like Yellow, Fix You, and Clocks popped up, though I attended an early show, before more beloved songs from X&Y were added to the setlist. Coldplay's instrumental skills weren't overwhelmed by the arena, and their songs were big enough that they were every bit arena anthems. Chris Martin's warm stage presence carried the band, and we got to hear Lost! preformed twice for the music video filming.

An impromptu encore of Green Eyes closed the show, after a wistful rendition of Strawberry Swing and the confetti heavy of Lovers in Japan. The setlist could've included more X&Y, but the eagerness of the band and the massiveness of the music made up for it. A solid, though short, show. Opening act Santagold was fun, and I actually downloaded one of their song (Les Artistes) afterwards. There was another opener that I missed, because it didn't matter and I don't remember who they were (Clearwater, or something like that?).