Post by gstopfan on Mar 3, 2008 1:08:01 GMT -5
Cleveland Review.
George Strait delivers a perfect country night at The Q
by Chuck Yarborough/Plain Dealer Reporter
Sunday March 02, 2008, 8:40 AM
George Strait at The Q Saturday night was awful. Frightening. Terrible. Horribly off-key. Disgustingly ba . . .Oh, for cryin' out loud. I can't do it, not with a straight (pardon the expression) face.
George Strait giving a bad performance would be the final sign of the Apocalypse. Which would be OK. Who would want to live in a world where George Strait wasn't perfect, anyway?
But 20,000 people who were at The Q this weekend can testify that King George was indeed perfect, from the blocking of his Resistol hat to the knife-edge crease of his Wranglers, and especially in that wonderful, expressive baritone.
Strait will be 56 this year. For most of us, that's the age when we begin to shake, wattle and roll. Strait, who's likely to finish this year with a No. 1 hit for every birthday, is the exception. You get the feeling that even as an infant, he cried in key ... and so well that the nurses from outlying hospitals cried with him.
Among the 26 songs - 26! - were a couple off his next album, "Troubadour, '' due out in April. Fearless prediction No. 1, the first single of the disc, "I Saw God Today'' will not make No.1. Fearless prediction No. 2: The title cut will. Both went over like free beer at a barbecue. But "Troubadour' ' has a lilting danceability to it that will lift the song to the lofty perch.
With 55 (and counting, as noted) No. 1s on his resume, it would be easy for Strait to coast through a concert as a flesh-and-blood jukebox. Ain't his style. Strait reached back into his vault and reminded us of some treasures we forgot, including his homage to his home state, "If It Wasn't for Texas'' and the especially mournful paean to lost love, "I Ain't Her Cowboy Anymore.''
If there is a downside - tough to find, honestly - it's that with so many No. 1s, something had to be left out between Strait urging us to "Honk If You Honky Tonk'' to the time when "The Cowboy Rides Away.''
Vocal group Fleetwood Mac - 'scuse me, the country equivalent of Fleetwood Mac, Little Big Town - was one of two opening acts. The harmonies of the quartet responsible for "I'm With the Band'' are incredibly tight, as evidenced by the band's own tunes and - natch - a cover of "Go Your Own Way.''
Singer-songwriter Sarah Johns opened the night. She's a good songwriter, but as a singer,she couldn't have found the right key with a GPS. Plus, whoever let her go onstage in that lipstick red baby-doll outfit should be shot. She looked like a contestant on "America's Top Frederick's of Hollywood Model.''
Thank heavens King George was there to take over on the runway.
www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2008/03/george_strait_delivers_a_perfe.html
George Strait delivers a perfect country night at The Q
by Chuck Yarborough/Plain Dealer Reporter
Sunday March 02, 2008, 8:40 AM
George Strait at The Q Saturday night was awful. Frightening. Terrible. Horribly off-key. Disgustingly ba . . .Oh, for cryin' out loud. I can't do it, not with a straight (pardon the expression) face.
George Strait giving a bad performance would be the final sign of the Apocalypse. Which would be OK. Who would want to live in a world where George Strait wasn't perfect, anyway?
But 20,000 people who were at The Q this weekend can testify that King George was indeed perfect, from the blocking of his Resistol hat to the knife-edge crease of his Wranglers, and especially in that wonderful, expressive baritone.
Strait will be 56 this year. For most of us, that's the age when we begin to shake, wattle and roll. Strait, who's likely to finish this year with a No. 1 hit for every birthday, is the exception. You get the feeling that even as an infant, he cried in key ... and so well that the nurses from outlying hospitals cried with him.
Among the 26 songs - 26! - were a couple off his next album, "Troubadour, '' due out in April. Fearless prediction No. 1, the first single of the disc, "I Saw God Today'' will not make No.1. Fearless prediction No. 2: The title cut will. Both went over like free beer at a barbecue. But "Troubadour' ' has a lilting danceability to it that will lift the song to the lofty perch.
With 55 (and counting, as noted) No. 1s on his resume, it would be easy for Strait to coast through a concert as a flesh-and-blood jukebox. Ain't his style. Strait reached back into his vault and reminded us of some treasures we forgot, including his homage to his home state, "If It Wasn't for Texas'' and the especially mournful paean to lost love, "I Ain't Her Cowboy Anymore.''
If there is a downside - tough to find, honestly - it's that with so many No. 1s, something had to be left out between Strait urging us to "Honk If You Honky Tonk'' to the time when "The Cowboy Rides Away.''
Vocal group Fleetwood Mac - 'scuse me, the country equivalent of Fleetwood Mac, Little Big Town - was one of two opening acts. The harmonies of the quartet responsible for "I'm With the Band'' are incredibly tight, as evidenced by the band's own tunes and - natch - a cover of "Go Your Own Way.''
Singer-songwriter Sarah Johns opened the night. She's a good songwriter, but as a singer,she couldn't have found the right key with a GPS. Plus, whoever let her go onstage in that lipstick red baby-doll outfit should be shot. She looked like a contestant on "America's Top Frederick's of Hollywood Model.''
Thank heavens King George was there to take over on the runway.
www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2008/03/george_strait_delivers_a_perfe.html
Once again...Sorry!
