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Post by kora on Feb 17, 2013 17:04:29 GMT -5
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Post by kora on Feb 18, 2013 14:28:11 GMT -5
Concert Review #2 - Grand Forks, ND, Alerus Center, 2/16/13
Fans pack the Alerus Center for George Strait's last tourBy: Kayla Strayer Grand Forks, ND (WDAY TV) -- Fans bought up more than 20 thousand tickets in Grand Forks for George's Strait's last tour. The sold-out show with Martina McBride was the largest concert ever at the Alerus Center. Louis Messina/George Straits promoter: "30 years into his career, still selling out." George Straits promoter says this is an emotional tour, especially the country legend himself. Louis: "It gets a little emotional on stage for him I can see. Because he knows this is probably the last time he's ever going to come here." Veteran Keith Sitts got to see Strait's last rodeo in North Dakota, for free. Keith Sitts: "I got the tickets was from Vet Tix. I just went online, registered, applied and here I am." This couple waited to see the man they call the King of Country for 15 years. That wait has finally paid off. Sherrie Harrah: "George is kind of like a part of us." Bob Harrah: "George is part of our family." It wasn't just veterans and couples at the show. North Dakota's own world champion boxer Virgil Hill also made an appearance. "I always say this, you gotta be able to two step, rock it out and get your bump and grind on all in the same night." Keith: "There is so many people here tonight. It is very loud, there's a lot of excitement." And perhaps one of the most exciting thrills of the night... Louis: "When he walks down that aisle and goes on stage I mean their hearts, their eyes, they just light up." Virgil Hill/boxer and fan: "It was respectful. It was beautiful. It was a good sending off from North Dakota to George Strait." ---------------------------------------------------------------- George and Martina singing George Jones and Tammy Wynette's "Golden Ring." www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uMVeB9nRlc
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Post by kora on Feb 18, 2013 14:46:26 GMT -5
Let's interrupt the tour for a moment to watch this old video that hasn't been seen for 30 years, back in 1982, one of his earliest interviews. George looks and acts so young. Read the explanation below the video. www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2phzrBqdPw |
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Post by kora on Feb 18, 2013 14:49:15 GMT -5
Jane - do you remember this old video?
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Post by topgsfan on Feb 19, 2013 0:36:21 GMT -5
Jane - do you remember this old video? Kora, I don't think I have seen it before. Thanks for sharing it. It's priceless! My laptop won't let me save it. It has Windows 7 on it. My desktop has XP and I can save them on it, but it's in the shop right now. |
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Post by kora on Feb 19, 2013 18:28:11 GMT -5
Concert Review #3 - St. Paul, MN, Xcel Center, 2/15/2013
A straight-up legend
By Kara Nesvig, TC Daily Planet
February 16, 2013
After 30 years of touring, releasing award-winning albums and racking up the most number one singles of any artist ever (not just in the country genre), George Strait is hanging up his cowboy hat. No worries; the 60-year-old Texan, affectionately referred to as "King George," still plans to release new music. But his boots are getting worn out and the cowboy is riding away; Strait made his final Minnesota stop last night at the Xcel Center.
Strait is a straight-up legend, no " buts" about it. He remains one of the most influential, respected and referenced working musicians in country music today. Even though the country industry has changed a great deal since he started recording in the late '70s, Strait's material never veers towards pop, instead staying true to the more traditional sound that made his name. We don't have to worry about Strait teaming up with a hip-hop artist or writing a song called "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk." Up-and-coming artists like Greg Bates and Easton Corbin owe a great deal to Strait's twangy sound, and more established artists like Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, Martina McBride (his opening act, a vocal force to be reckoned with) and Blake Shelton sing his praises. He's the real deal; no treacly Taylor Swift or Rascal Flatts for Strait and his fans.
He's also a touring pro. Strait presented a concise mix of new and old material to the Xcel crowd, opening with "Here for a Good Time" and running through his giant scope of hits from "Check Yes or No" to "Amarillo by Morning" and "The Chair." His voice sounds exactly as it did in his earliest years, though his face shows he's been around awhile. But his pitch is perfect, his enthusiasm sincere.
Strait's crowds love him. They sing along with every syllable and hang on his every word. When they hear the opening fiddle strain of "Amarillo by Morning," they're instantly on their feet. In an age where his contemporaries appear on reality TV shows and Gwyneth Paltrow movies, releasing their own fragrances and crossing over to KDWB, Strait is an authentic piece of classic country. It's a stroke of luck that he's not done recording; his voice on the radio harkens back to an earlier, golden age while still remaining modern.
Most of the show paid tribute to the past; Strait played some of his earliest material from 1978, and he and opener McBride duetted on classic Johnny and June song "Jackson," as well as Tammy Wynette/George Jones' "Golden Ring." A newer song, "I'll Remember You," was Strait's sentimental (though never schlocky) look back.
With "The Cowboy Rides Away" tour, of course Strait is saying goodbye to the road he's traveled for so many years. But we never feel that he's reconciling his decision onstage, working out demons or begging us to encore him into sticking around. He loves his fans and in playing his biggest hits so perfectly, he's expressing that love the best way he knows how.
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Post by kora on Feb 19, 2013 18:39:31 GMT -5
Concert Review #4 - St. Paul, MN, Xcel Center, 2/15/2013
By Mark Brenden
Mon., Feb. 18 2013
George Strait and Martina McBride were two of the major brick layers on the bridge between what we've come to call "real" country -- the heartbreak and honky tonk from the '50s through the '70s -- and whatever it is you want to call what Nashville has today. Their songs are true to the genre, heart-rending, like Strait's signature "Amarillo by Morning," or cinematic, like McBride's "Independence Day." Though Strait encroached into the sing-songy on "Check Yes or No" and McBride went on to append "pop" to her country, history will likely count these two among the last vestiges of the genre before a big, disgusting honky-tonk badonkadonk suffocated it to death.
Though the curse of any successful artist is to draw comparisons to their predecessors, it's important to note that Blake Sheldon and Dierks Bentley aren't the children of Hank Williams and George Jones; it's Strait who is their daddy. So when the father of modern country music chooses to, as his tour name suggests, ride away, his offspring must have their pretty little eyes on his throne. Pray for our children.
But the King ain't dead yet. Strait apparently plans to stay in the business and record; just don't expect to catch him on any future tours. All this in the air, Friday night's sold-out, double-billed McBride and Strait concert at the Xcel in Saint Paul was festive and somber as a revered lame duck's parting address.
McBride opened with a satisfying set. The crowd stayed in their seats, but boots were in motion and several songs caused more than a few old cowboys to stretch their weary arms across their cowgirl's shoulders. We'll forgive her for melding "The First Cut is the Deepest" and "Free Falling" into one song in the middle of her set, because she still has the voice of a Middle American angel. And those pipes weren't backed by no recording; that's all Kansas corn. Her otherworldly high notes likely changed some lives Friday night.
Strait's set was presented like a personal history, a song-by-song recapping of his storied career. Here's a man who knows his audience as well as any performer ever has, and he didn't shortchange it by skipping any hits. "Amarillo by Morning," "Check Yes or No" and "The Chair" rightly invigorated the arena, a collective agreement of getting their money's worth. The show hit its peak when McBride joined Strait to sing a duet of, get this, "Jackson."
With the rectangular stage centering the arena, the crowd enjoyed equal time gazing upon the performer's front and back. McBride was cordless and without guitar, so she paraded around the stage, winking and waving like Amy Poeller on Parks and Rec and spreading the face time munificently. Strait schlepped his geetar around the four corner-positioned mic stands, singing two or three at each before rotating. Something tells me the middle-aged women weren't complaining at any vantage point.
Look, these two are veterans. Getting an arena full of cowboys and suburban office workers wearing cowboy hats to swoon is all in a night's work. McBride sang "King of the Road" for God's sake -- and damned if the Capitol couldn't hear us when she let us shout that "we AIN'T GOT NO CIGARETTES."
Before Strait came on, we were treated a jumbotron montage of King George winning CMAs since the early 1980s. Cheesy? Perhaps. Self congratulatory? Darn tootin'. But that's what the Cowboy Rides Away tour is for. It's a two-way hat tip between the King of Modern Country music and his legions of heartlanders who he helped through a divorce or whose father-daughter wedding dance he soundtracked.
You remove your cap when this cowboy rides away.
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Post by kora on Feb 20, 2013 16:30:36 GMT -5
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Post by kora on Feb 20, 2013 17:48:56 GMT -5
Taking a break from the concert tour, here's an interesting article that gives a sampling from George's career:
21 George Strait songs prove that this isn't country star's first rodeo
By Joey Guerra | February 20, 2013
There's no way to comprehensively sum up George Strait's career, which has included almost 100 singles and more than 30 albums. Something will be left out. So that's not what we're trying to do here. Instead, think of this list as a sampler of the Strait sound - from young country upstart in the '80s to gravelly voiced troubadour in recent years.
That there are 21 tunes is no coincidence. That's also the number of times Strait has taken the stage at RodeoHouston, including this year's March 17 performance.
"Amarillo by Morning" (1983): One of Strait's earliest hits was actually a cover of a tune by singer-songwriter Terry Stafford. But it then, now and forever belongs to Strait.
"You Look So Good in Love" (1983): This heartbreak ballad was also Strait's first music video.
"Right or Wrong" (1984): Strait mined his now-signature Western swing sound on this Bob Wills classic.
"Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind" (1984): Another chart-topper and two-stepper that still sounds great today.
"The Cowboy Rides Away" (1985): One of Strait's signature tunes and the name of his current, and final, tour.
"The Chair" (1985): The best pickup line in country music was also a hit for Tejano singer Ram Herrera.
"Ocean Front Property" (1986): Strait insists he won't miss an ex, to no avail. "If you'll buy that, I got some ocean front property in Arizona.")
"All My Ex's Live in Texas" (1987): Even rapper Drake pays homage on his own "HYFR" to this classic sing-along.
"What's Going On in Your World" (1989): More heartbreak for King George and another call to the dance floor.
"I Cross My Heart"(1992): The lead single from Strait's film debut, "Pure Country," complete with ponytail.
"Adalida" (1995): Strait goes uptempo and adds some Cajun spice to his catalog.
"Check Yes or No" (1995): A grade-school sentiment gives this song its charm.
"I Just Want to Dance With You" (1998): Strait puts his own spin on John Prine's romantic ditty.
"Murder on Music Row" (2000): Strait, Alan Jackson and Lee Ann Womack lament the state of modern country.
"She Let Herself Go" (2005): Strait put a new spin on a breakup, and it became his 40th No. 1 hit.
"Give it Away" (2006): Strait has settled into a grizzlier vocal delivery in recent years, and it suits this song well.
"It Just Comes Natural" (2006): Songs like this prove Strait can still play the radio game while retaining his signature sound.
"Wrapped" (2007): Bruce Robison wrote and recorded it. Wife Kelly Willis redid it. Strait made it a huge hit.
"Troubadour" (2008): Another rare video appearance for a personal anthem of sorts.
"El Rey" (2009): This cover of a Mexican standard was a standout on his 26th album, "Twang."
"Love's Gonna Make it Alright" (2011): Strait's last top-10 hit had the spark of his earlier recordings.
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Post by grg_straitfan on Feb 20, 2013 18:47:16 GMT -5
Hey fellow Strait fans! Wow! It's been quiet the weekend! The concert was awesome (more about that later) we were in Grandforks on Saturday and then headed to Fargo on Sunday morning, coming back to Hillsboro on Sunday night. By Monday morning we were stormed in. So we spent an extra day away. Things have kinda been a bit hectic since we came back. But here is one picture for now. I need to crop some if the other ones. And as soon as I post my videos on YouTube, I will post the link. Attachments:
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Post by grg_straitfan on Feb 21, 2013 13:46:32 GMT -5
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Post by grg_straitfan on Feb 21, 2013 13:51:11 GMT -5
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Post by grg_straitfan on Feb 21, 2013 13:51:46 GMT -5
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Post by grg_straitfan on Feb 21, 2013 13:52:19 GMT -5
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Post by grg_straitfan on Feb 21, 2013 13:52:50 GMT -5
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