George Strait

[kora]

Tina - Dig into your wallet if you want to park close by.[/color]


Pre-Concert Article - Grand Forks, ND, Alerus Center, 2/16/13

Strait, McBride concert expected to be biggest in Alerus history

Grand Forks, ND (WDAY TV) - Country music superstars George Strait and Martina McBride are set to make history at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks this weekend.

By: WDAZ Staff Reports

Grand Forks, ND (WDAY TV) - Country music superstars George Strait and Martina McBride are set to make history at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks this weekend.

With nearly 20,000 tickets already sold for Saturday's show, it is expected to be the largest concert ever at the event center.

The Alerus hasn't seen anything close to this amount of people since 2002, when Cher sold about 19,600 tickets.

With less than 900 tickets left for George and Martina, officials expect a sell-out.

Cheryl Swanson, Alerus Center Executive Director: "Clearly we're very proud, very happy. But we have a responsibility to all the people that bought tickets to provide a safe environment and to make sure that they have the best experience possible. So we're encouraging everyone to carpool if they can, arrive early. Get parked, get settled."

Parking at the Alerus will set you back $10.

[kora]

Tina - 2 more days til George!!!

[grg_straitfan]

Only 2 days left!!! And on top of the concert it's a weekend of shopping! For our house! And other good deals! I'm really hoping to get one of those cups! Not sure about a t-shirt yet.

[topgsfan]

It's the last rodeo for George Strait

Article by: JON BREAM , Star Tribune

Country king George Strait says adios to touring as he lands in St. Paul Friday night on his final concert swing.

Like Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, George Strait does it his way.

From being the first modern country act to wear a cowboy hat to pulling the plug on concert tours in his prime, Strait calls his own shots.

At 60, the King of Country Music —who performs Friday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul — will stop touring after his Cowboy Rides Away tour ends next year, but he will not cease making music. He plans to record more albums, hoping to add to his unprecedented run of 44 No. 1 hits on Billboard’s country chart.

“He does everything on his terms,” said Twin Cities country radio programmer Gregg Swedberg of K102. “He’s worried about his life, not his career. The length of time that he’s been successful is completely unprecedented. How many artists are popular for 30 years in one [radio] format? There’s nothing like George Strait.”

Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder have been making music since the 1960s but when was the last time any of them had a No. 1 single? Elton John and Bruce Springsteen emerged in the ’70s and still fill arenas but can you name either’s last big hit?

Dolly Parton, George Jones, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson have been stars much longer than Strait but they’ve been missing from the upper reaches of the country charts for a long time. Alabama and Ricky Skaggs both launched their careers in Nashville at about the same time Strait did, but when was the last time they made a noise on radio?

Strait keeps going strong — in 2011, he landed “Here for a Good Time” at No. 2 and “Love’s Gonna Make It Alright” at No. 3, and all of this year’s tour dates are sold out.

And he doesn’t just appeal to old-timers.

“It’s as cool at 18 to say you’re a George Strait fan as it’s ever been,” Swedberg said, “and he’s grandpa age.”

Natalie Beavers, 21, of Cannon Falls, grew up listening to Strait with her parents and grandparents.

“It’s really classic country music,” said Beavers, who also likes new stars Eric Church and Brantley Gilbert and will see Strait for the first time in concert Friday in St. Paul. “Everybody can enjoy it. You can relate to him. His lyrics are just really simple, about everyday-life issues.”



Strait writes a lot of relationship songs in a straightforward way. “He doesn’t do a lot of fluff,” said Swedberg, pointing to Strait’s “Lovebug” as one of his few lightweight hits. To be sure, the singer is fond of using the occasional cute turn of a phrase (“All My Exes Live in Texas,” “Where Have I Been All My Life”) but he usually travels the tried and true (“I Cross My Heart,” “I Just Want to Dance With You”).

While Reba McEntire (who started before Strait) tries to modernize her sound and Garth Brooks (who modeled himself after Strait) tries to experiment, Strait is about as consistent as his outfit: Resistol cowboy hat, starched button-down shirt and creased Wrangler jeans.

“He’s Gary Cooper cowboy,” said longtime country music journalist Michael McCall, now an editor at the Country Music Hall of Fame. “You can rely on him.”

Unlike other country superstars who take a couple of years between albums, Old Reliable “puts out songs every single year,” Swedberg said. “They’re high-quality, well-written songs. He doesn’t vary much. He’s old-school.”

And old-fashioned.

Home on the ranch

Ranching is the first love for the Texan who toiled as a kid on his dad’s 2,000-acre cattle spread and eloped with his high school sweetheart.

“He has an active ranch and a golf course in San Antonio,” said veteran Twin Cities country radio executive Mick Anselmo, who oversees BUZ’N Country (102.9 FM) and knows Strait personally. “His son is in rodeo.”

Plus, Strait’s first grandchild was born in 2012.

“He works his ranch,” McCall said. “It’s a big part of his life — in some ways more than country music.”

When it comes to music, the country king does it the Strait way. He doesn’t make videos anymore, doesn’t do the talk shows, and doesn’t schmooze with radio programmers or grant many interviews to print journalists. And he’s never been a king of the road, preferring to do a limited number of concerts outside of Texas.

Strait’s farewell trek comes at a time when he’s still one of the biggest attractions in country music.

If Minnesota concert promoter Randy Levy had his druthers, “I’d love to have Strait at We Fest,” the country festival in Detroit Lakes, Minn., which Strait last played in 2004. He figures the country king could return to the Twin Cities next year and fill an arena again.

Strait explained himself in September in a rare press conference to announce his Cowboy Rides Away Tour, which includes only 20 shows this year.

“I have a new grandson and so we’ll certainly be spending a lot of time with him. I’ll help try and steal him away from his parents for a while, maybe take him fishing,” he joked.

McCall was at the press conference.

“He doesn’t like talking about himself,” said the journalist, who has interviewed Strait a few times. “He’d rather talk about songwriters or his band. He’s very articulate and listens and answers your questions. He’s very humble.”

And loyal.

He’s had the same manager, record label and sidemen, the Ace in the Hole Band, since the 1980s. He relies on the same circle of songwriters (Dean Dillon, Gary Nicholson, Jim Lauderdale) and producer (Tony Brown).

Brown produced Strait’s current single, “Give It All We Got Tonight,” which will be included on his yet-untitled album due this year.

This retirement from the road is real. Though he may do the occasional one-off performance, no one expects Strait to pull a Garth Brooks, who took a music-biz hiatus to raise his daughters, then took up a residency in Las Vegas on weekends — or an Alabama, who are still playing a decade after their farewell tour.

Why won’t Strait change his mind?

Because, McCall says, “he has always been the least-working star in country music.”

www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/191276911.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue

[topgsfan]

Strait, McBride concert expected to be biggest in Alerus history

Grand Forks, ND (WDAY TV) - Country music superstars George Strait and Martina McBride are set to make history at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks this weekend.

Grand Forks, ND (WDAY TV) - Country music superstars George Strait and Martina McBride are set to make history at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks this weekend.


With nearly 20,000 tickets already sold for Saturday's show, it is expected to be the largest concert ever at the event center.


The Alerus hasn't seen anything close to this amount of people since 2002, when Cher sold about 19,600 tickets.


With less than 900 tickets left for George and Martina, officials expect a sell-out.


Cheryl Swanson, Alerus Center Executive Director: "Clearly we're very proud, very happy. But we have a responsibility to all the people that bought tickets to provide a safe environment and to make sure that they have the best experience possible. So we're encouraging everyone to carpool if they can, arrive early. Get parked, get settled."

Parking at the Alerus will set you back $10.

www.wday.com/event/article/id/75292/

[kora]

Jane, I really enjoyed "It's The Last Rodeo" article you posted above. It's a different take on George.

[kora]

George Strait Stands Atop Hot Tours For Second Week

By Bob Allen, Nashville | February 15, 2013

George Strait makes his third 2013 entry on the weekly Hot Tours tally taking the No. 1 slot for the second consecutive week. With $2.6 million in ticket revenue from two venues added to the Cowboy Rides Away Tour's overall numbers since launch, the legendary country artist's farewell stint on the road has topped $8 million as of the beginning of February.

Included in Strait’s totals are two arenas in California that hosted the tour for single sold out shows - Sacramento's Sleep Train Arena with 16,769 sold tickets on Jan. 31 and the Save Mart Center in Fresno with an attendance count of 14,718 on Feb. 1.

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli lands at second place among the week's ten top grossing tours with a concert performance in south Florida on Feb. 8. Touring in 2013 in support of his recently-released album of love songs titled Passione, the famed opera singer kicked off his year of worldwide touring at the BB&T Center in the city of Sunrise, Florda, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. An appearance at the du World Music Festival on March 22 in Abu Dhabi is next on the calendar for Bocelli who will also perform at arenas in U.S. cities during June.

Weekly .com Boxscores - Feb. 13, 2013

ACT
Total Gross
Show Dates
Show Venue/City (Shows/Sellouts)
Total Attendance (Capacity)

GEORGE STRAIT
$2,651,868
Jan. 31-Feb. 1
Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento (1/1)
Save Mart Center, Fresno, Calif. (1/1)
31,487 (31,487)

[kora]

Another Pre-Concert Article - Grands Forks, ND, Alerus Center, 2/16/13

George Strait one of country's most famous hat acts

When it comes to being country, George Strait is the total package, with his rich voice, good looks and bright smile. Looking at him, you just know that hat is more than an accessory. Listening to him sing, you know he won’t resort to props or gimmicks to hold the crowd.

By: Paulette Tobin, Grand Forks Herald

George Strait breaks record at Grand Forks' Alerus Center

Cowboys and cowgirls who are mostly Western pretenders often are described as “all hat and no cattle.” Today, as country music goes through another “is it country or is it pop music?” phase, that term could apply to plenty of country singers, as well.

Not so with George Strait, one of country’s most famous hat acts, whose farewell tour, “The Cowboy Rides Away,” rides into the Grand Forks Alerus Center on Saturday night with fellow country star, Martina McBride, as his opening act.

When it comes to being country, Strait is the total package, with his rich voice, good looks and bright smile. Looking at him, you just know that hat is more than an accessory. Listening to him sing, you know he won’t resort to props or gimmicks to hold the crowd.

“With his voice, he doesn’t need it,” said Becky Roesch of Crookston, who plans to be at the concert Saturday.

“I would say that he probably knows how to tell his story for each of his songs,” Roesch said, explaining his appeal. “I think it’s a heartfelt thing that comes from his music.”

Alerus officials have said they expect more than 19,000 people at the concert, and it’s no wonder. As a performer, Strait often is called The King of Country. He has 59 No. 1 hit songs and has earned more than 60 major industry awards, including Entertainer of the Year and Artist of the Decade.

He is the only artist in history to have at least one Top 10 hit each year for 30 years. He and the late Eddy Arnold are the only artists to have been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame while still actively recording.

Broken-heart songs

His hits include broken-heart drinkin’ songs like “I Hate Everything”, rollicking numbers like “All My Exes Live in Texas,” songs about good-time girls (“She’ll Leave You with a Smile”) and sweet ballads like “Troubadour.” His Top 5 hit “Amarillo by Morning” is regarded as one of the greatest country songs.

Strait — who will be 61 on May 18 — grew up at Pearsall, Texas, working on the family ranch. Even after he became a country star, Strait and his late brother, Buddy, hosted the annual George Strait Team Roping Classic, in which they competed against some of the best team ropers in the world.

He and his wife of 41 years, Norma, have a home in a wealthy, gated community in San Antonio, and on a ranch near Cotulla, Texas. So, like his music, Strait’s cowboy cred is solid.

The first part of “The Cowboy Rides Away Tour” began Jan. 18 in Lubbock, Texas, and will close April 13 in New Orleans.

Strait will play his show at the Alerus Center in the round, so there will be front-row seats surrounding the stage. His opening act, country star Martina McBride, is known for her spectacular voice and songs that celebrate empowering the underdog. Her hits include “Independence Day,” “This One’s for the Girls,” “A Broken Wing,” “Concrete Angel” and “My Daughter’s Eyes.”

Officials at the Alerus Center know they have a winner in hand. No artist who has played the Alerus has gotten this kind of advanced ticket sales for many years. Strait and McBride seemed poised to challenge the record for the Cher concert, which has the highest recorded ticket sales in the venue’s history.

Alerus officials are asking concert guests to plan ahead and arrive early to get to their seats. Shuttle buses will run from at least two locations, one near Altru hospital and clinic and one at Ralph Engelstad Arena. For complete details, go to the Alerus Center website, www.aleruscenter.com, and click on the blinking George Strait icon.

Limited tickets still are available for the Saturday concert at the Alerus Center box office and Ticketmaster outlets, including charge by phone at [phone].

If you go

• What: “The Cowboy Rides Away Tour,” with George Strait and Martina McBride.

• When and where: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Alerus Center, Grand Forks. Doors open: 6:30 p.m.

• Tickets: $69.50, $89.50; numbers limited. Available at Alerus box office, through Ticketmaster outlets, charge by phone at [phone].

[kora]

Tina - 1 more day til[/size][/color]


George

YAHOO!!

[grg_straitfan]

Yay! Tomorrows the big day! And I have big news! I got the 5th row ticket after all. The fan I was buying it from messages me today and said She hadn't been able to sell it, so I took it after all! 5th row! Woohoo!

[kora]

Concert Review - St. Paul, MN, Xcel Energy Center, 2/15/13

Country-music star's farewell is Strait from his heart


Article by: JON BREAM , Star Tribune

Updated: February 15,



Among the hits he sang at the farewell-tour concert was "I'll Always Remember You." His Minnesota fans will, too.

Every country-music farewell tour seems to deliver a different dominant emotion. Alabama exited with a big joyous bang in 2004-05 (of course, now they're back, coming to theaters, festivals and Grand Casino in Hinckley), and Glen Campbell departed with a heart-tugging tear in 2012 (suffering from Alzheimer's, he forgot lyrics and the name of his daughter, who was performing with him).

On Friday at the sold-out Xcel Energy Center, George Strait rode off the same way he rode in -- with gentlemanly grace. It was an evening of warm fuzzies and comforting nostalgia.

Except for one moment.

Early in the night, Strait, 60 -- who will come to the end of the road after doing 21 shows this year and a similar number next year -- announced, "This might be the last roundup."

Many in the crowd of 18,132 booed.

"That's a good time to get booed," Strait responded without missing a beat. Then he cleverly launched into one of his biggest hits, "Check Yes or No."

All the fans -- the most cowboy/girl boot-wearingest crowd seen in a Twin Cities arena -- would have voted "No" for the notion of last roundup, but every one of them would have declared "Yes" to whether that was a darn good way to say "Bye, George."

His voice was a little deeper, creases complemented his dimples and he chatted more than ever in concert. The King of Country Music didn't want to exit by merely doing a run through some of his greatest hits (he has scored 44 No. 1 singles on Billboard's country chart, and he'll still record, hoping to add to his remarkable total).

He dusted off some numbers from early in his career, tunes he presented on his first trip to Nashville in 1978. It was almost as if he wanted to salute his songwriters, chiefly Dean Dillon and his son, Bubba Strait, as much as his own career.

"Arkansas Dave," by Bubba (Strait's more recent writing collaborator) sounded like a tribute to early Johnny Cash. And Strait tipped his hat to Cash by having opening act Martina McBride, Nashville's most gorgeous female voice, join him for "Jackson," the duet made famous by Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash. Heck, if it didn't look like Strait -- the button-down cowboy in more ways than one -- was having fun.

The good times continued with another duet, "Golden Ring," the George Jones/Tammy Wynette classic. Strait seemed to be having such a good time that after he shifted from the hit waltz "The Chair," he began dancing a bit on the lilting "River of Love," which, with its almost-reggae groove was about as out of the box as Strait got.

The country king is old-fashioned in sound and values. There were no trendy references to online, Ray Bans or Springsteen in songs. Just reassuring words about love, home and heartache, set to either a midtempo Texas dance-hall beat or a slow-dance ballad format.

Color him sentimental without being sappy.

But he did get a little worked up near the end of his two-hour set, as he talk-sang his way through "I'll Always Remember You," an ode to his fans that became overwhelmingly emotional.

Strait managed to perk things up in the encore, first with his honky-tonkin' two-steppin' favorite "All My Ex's Live in Texas" and then a rollicking version of Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues," during which Strait had several members of his excellent Ace in the Hole Band take solos.

After singing the inevitable "The Cowboy Rides Away," the country king took a lap around his square in-the-round stage, waltzing and waving his way into his own sunset.

[kora]

Concert Review #2 - St. Paul, MN, Xcel Energy Center, 2/15/13

Concert review: A George Strait farewell (but let's hope not)

Posted: 02/15/2013

Now 60, Texas native George Strait has built his career the old-fashioned way. He's been consistent, dependable and straightforward, three attributes that have kept him on the country charts for more than three decades.

On Friday evening, Feb. 15, Strait headlined St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center, a stop on what he's calling "The Cowboy Rides Away Tour." A reverent, sold-out crowd of 18,132 filled the place to see what apparently will be Strait's final concert in the Twin Cities.

Strait isn't retiring from the business entirely, as he does plan to continue recording new music and will play the occasional one-off gig. But if anything, Friday's solidly entertaining show suggested Strait might be giving up the road too soon. It's not like he tours that hard, anyway, with large gaps between his outings, which most recently hit town in 2010 and 2006.

With his simple, square stage placed in the round -- maximizing the number of seats available -- Strait looked and sounded much like he has for decades now. Dressed in snug jeans, an Oxford shirt and cowboy hat, Strait offered few frills, just a fan-friendly performance complete with four massive screens above the stage to give the far corners the same view as the front row.

Beyond the hushed, attentive audience -- a rarity for a Friday-night country concert -- the show didn't feel like a farewell at all. His generous set list of more than 30 songs hit on various points of his career, including an extensive dip into his first three albums. That popular stretch included both singles and album cuts that had the crowd grinning, from "Blame it on Mexico" and "Her Goodbye Hit Me in the Heart" to "80 Proof Bottle of Tear Stopper" and "Honky Tonk Crazy."

But Strait performed plenty of his more recent work, too, including his latest single, "Give it All We Got Tonight," and a handful of tracks co-written by his son, George "Bubba" Strait, Jr. Nearly everything he played earned a glowing response, probably because nearly everything Strait has released has been a hit. The guy has recorded a new studio album nearly every year for more than three decades, and has hit the top of Billboard's country charts 44 times, more than any other artist.

Martina McBride, 46, served as the opening act. She played her own big hits ("Independence Day," "This One's for the Girls") and a healthy selection of covers, including "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden," "The First Cut Is the Deepest" and "Free Fallin'." She returned to the stage midway through Strait's performance and joined him for a few more covers, including "Jackson," a duet popularized by Johnny and June Cash in 1967.

[kora]

Tina - 5th row!!!! That's the best news I've heard today. So glad you got the floor seat close to the stage.

Tonight's the night to see George!










Tell us all about it from the 5th row.

[grg_straitfan]

Waiting at the Alerus Center!!!! Doors open in 15 minutes

Attachments:

[kora]

Tina - Looks like the parking lot that you posted, but it wouldn't come up for me. Can't wait to hear "ALL" about the concert and your excitement from the 5th row. Here's a:


Concert Review: Grand Forks, ND, Alerus Center, 2/16/13

Published February 17, 2013
By: Robb Jeffries, Grand Forks Herald

20,000 fans come to Grand Forks to see George Strait

Around 20,000 fans packed the Alerus Center to see Strait on what he says is his final tour. Martina McBride opened for Strait, and while she had several loud ovations for her, many in attendance were there to see the main act.

For Kelsey Shaw, it was going to be tough to beat her last time at a George Strait concert.

Shaw, of Jamestown, N.D., saw the country legend perform in Fargo in 2010 when her then-boyfriend, Joshua Shaw, proposed to her.

Now married, she accompanied her husband to the “George Strait: The Cowboy Rides Away Tour” stop at the Alerus Center on Saturday in Grand Forks. Unlike many that travelled from Minnesota, Manitoba and elsewhere, the Shaws were not planning on staying in Grand Forks for the night. Kelsey Shaw was planning on driving the pair home.

“I’m pregnant, so it’s no problem for me to drive,” she said.

“I grew up listening to George Strait,” said Brandon Raincloud of Ponemah, Minn. “I listened to him with my mom and dad, and my grandparents.”

With 50 No. 1 singles and numerous other songs to choose from, Raincloud pointed to Strait’s most recent single, “Give It All We Got Tonight,” as his favorite.

While McBride delighted the crowd with a mix of her own work and classic covers, Austin Maxwell, of Cartwright, Man., was in line at one of the merchandise tables in the arena. A “big-time” Strait fan, he bought a shirt, glass and a pink football jersey with the words “Strait Girl” on the back.

“This one isn’t for me,” he said of the jersey, “it’s for my buddy’s girlfriend.”

The concert was expected to be the biggest selling concert in the history of the Alerus Center, with unofficial reports of more than 20,000 tickets sold. The 2002 Cher concert held the top spot, with 19,531 tickets sold.

On-site parking reached the overflow spots in a field just south of the Alerus Center parking lot, and many took advantage of shuttle service to and from Ralph Engelstad Arena and Altru Health Systems.



Hey, Tina, are you in this photo?