Overall Rating: *****
Martina McBride performed at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA on Friday, February 17th. Ok, so this may be a bad review. Mainly because its difficult for me to be objective. Try as I may, I find it difficult to criticize Martina. I’ve always loved her music and I was looking forward to this show from the minute I found out she was going to be playing a local venue. Fairfax was a stop on her Timeless Tour to promote her latest album, coincidentally named Timeless. Though I was dissappionted a little with the album, I wasn’t let down by the show.
The Patriot Center is the basketball arena for George Mason University. I was there almost a year prior for the Brad Paisley’s Mud and Suds Tour featuring Sara Evans. That was a great show too, but that’s another review. The Patriot Center holds a basketball court, so its big but not that big. I like this venue. Its size allows for a lot seats, but still allows a reasonable view of the stage from most locations. I didn’t have a bad seat, E10 Sec 117. I had a clear view of the stage and the acoustics were fine. I was a little dissappointed by the seats, only because I thought I was closer. Somehow, for Brad Paisley I had managed to get fairly close to the stage. All in all, not a bad venue.
Now, according to Ticketmaster, the local radio station 98.7 WMZQ, and the ticket, there was no opener. Come show time, we found out that wasn’t true. The Warren Brothers, stars of Barely Famous on CMT, did a 30 minute set. I didn’t know a single song they sang, so I wasn’t thrilled that I had to wait longer to see Martina. It turns out that the Warren Brothers aren’t half bad. They sounded pretty good. I’m not going to run out and buy their CD, but I’m definitely goin to look in to some of their music.
Now we come to the artist herself, Martina McBride. For those who haven’t seen or heard her before, she’s beautiful and talented. She may be 40, but she’s still gorgeous in my opinion. Simply beautiful, but enough about that. I guess I’m showing my weakness for a pretty girl. Not a good weakness for a critic, but what the heck, everyone’s got one. The thing that made me a fan of Martina is her voice. Its an amazing singing voice. Its got great range and suits the various styles of country music she’s explored with her albums.
One thing I despise about artists is the neccessity for “technilogical assitance.” Britney Spears doesn’t sound the same in person as she does on her CDs. Neither does Maroon 5, Hoobastank, and several other artists. If you can’t sing a song without all the gadgets in a recording studio, do you really have the talent to sing it? Ok, so that may be a bit harsh, but I’ve heard artists on award shows that sound nothing like their CDs. That’s just dissappointing. That’s why this concert was a test for Martina in my mind. Does she sound like she does on her CDs in a concert? I am very happy to report that she does! Not that I ever doubted (well ok, maybe just a little).
Her performance was broken down in to two parts. The first hour was dedicated to songs from Timeless. Most of the songs off of this album never really grabbed me, so I was a little dissappointed when she said this at the beginning. Turns out that the first half of the show gave me a new appreciation for the album. Its still not my favorite CD by her, but I definitely like them more now. Since the songs are country classics, they never had much energy. During the concert, I think that they got that spark they needed. Perhaps, they are best suited for a live performance.
The second half of the show was dedicated to her hits. This part of the show was amazing. I got to hear most of my favorites live. She covered all the greats, including My Baby Loves Me, Valentine, Happy Girl, and A Broken Wing. I was thrilled when Martina pulled out her harmonica during Loves the Only House. She’s multi-talented! I always liked Concrete Angel. Its a sad song, and it sounded perfect when she sang it. Martina also took requests. I was thoroughly impressed by Hit Me With Your Best Shot. She hit it dead on (no pun intended).
I was pleased and dissappointed by the encore. I was pleased because she sang Over the Rainbow. She does an amazing job with this song. She proved she’s got a powerful set of pipes with this one. I personally liked it more than the original. That may be blasphemy against the great Judy Garland, but I think I’m right. No offense Judy. I was dissappointed only because her encore was one song. It was a great song, but still only one song.
The tickets were $50 + ticketmaster fees. Though I felt it was a little steep, it was well worth the ticket price. I honestly thought I couldn’t like Martina McBride more than I did before the concert. I was wrong. In my mind, she proved there is true talent out there. She also showed she really has a voice, no post-processing required. If you ever have the opportunity, see her in concert. You won’t be sorry you did.