Concert Date: July 22, 2018
Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
Tour: Soul2Soul: The World Tour
Golden1 Center, Sacramento
Opening Act: Devin Dawson
I knew this wouldn’t be a traditional country music concert when the first song was “I Knew You Were Waiting,” a cover of Aretha Franklin and George Michael’s duet. Faith Hill and Tim McGraw are NOT Aretha and George, but their version was fun and started the concert off with a bang.
I thought the evening would be a set by Faith, then a set by Tim and ending with a series of duets. Instead, the concert was a true joint effort. It started with a few duets, followed by Tim singing back-up for Faith, then Faith doing the same for Tim. This was followed a set of each singer solo and ending with the two back together for more duets.
This highly choreographed show was successful with the fans in that there was a little something for everyone. Lots of lasers, video projections, and a dizzying array of light effects made me feel like I was back at the Depeche Mode concert, which was a bit disconcerting since I’d hoped for a straightforward evening of country music. Tim’s simple songs were missing or completely over-the-top with fist pumping, guitar crunching testosterone. Faith’s beautiful soaring vocals were hidden in the sound mix and only in “This Kiss” were the lyrics actually audible.
I was entertained by the show but ultimately none of it was memorable. And I can’t imagine anyone in the audience, drunk from too many giant cans of Bud Light, would remember it either. I don’t know if this is the current direction of country music since I haven’t been to a show since the 1990s seeing Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Pam Tillis and the like. Faith and Tim are clearly talented performers, but I enjoyed listening to their records much more than this live show.
