Brothers bring bluesy blend of conjunto rock to Valley
By CHRIS HOLLY
Get Out
August 13, 2004

The most anticipated country music concert tour of the year made a stop Friday night at the packed America West Arena, giving fans a chance to see both the reigning Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year and the perennial CMA Female Vocalist of the Year in one evening.

Superstars Alan Jackson and Martina McBride did not disappoint, living up to their much ballyhooed reputations and energizing fans as both ran through extensive sets of their many chart-topping hits while fans two-stepped in the aisles.

In concert, reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year Alan Jackson does not wiggle his hips like Kenny Chesney nor run back and forth at a sprint across the stage, slapping hands with his fans a la Garth Brooks. What Alan Jackson does is simply stand front and center and deliver his classic, pure country songs and that’s enough for his huge following.

“Just to see Alan Jackson in person is perfect,” said April Parrillo, 33, of Avondale.

The stage curtains opened to reveal Jackson and his tight eight-piece backup band The Strayhorns as they launched into his 1995 No. 1 hit “Gone Country.” The 6’4” blond singer acknowledged the crowd with an “aw shucks” smile and tip of his trademark white cowboy hat before settling in front of the microphone to unleash his incomparable baritone.

Dressed in torn jeans, boots and a Nudie-style western shirt, Jackson blistered his way through a vast catalog of hits, playing rowdy honky tonkers such as “Don't Rock The Jukebox“ and “I Don't Even Know Your Name,” mid-tempo tunes “Livin’ On Love” and “Drive (For Daddy Gene)” and a bevy of his best ballads including “When Somebody Loves You” and his latest No. 1 hit, “Remember When.” He brought the house down with his ode to 9/11, the Grammy winning “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning).”

Due to release a new album Sept. 7, Jackson played its lead single, “Too Much Of A Good Thing,” which is currently climbing the country charts. The well received new song is true to the Jackson formula — simple, catchy, straight-ahead country — hinting that the man shows no signs of slowing down.

With his honest, no frills, crowd-pleasing performance Alan Jackson proved that he has to be considered the frontrunner for a second consecutive Entertainer of the Year award.

Tamarita Ned, 23, who drove from Flagstaff for the show, said: “This was my first time seeing Alan Jackson, and it was worth the trip!“

In the first set of the evening, co-headliner Martina McBride showed why she is considered one of the greatest female voices in country music history. The perennial CMA Female Vocalist of the Year shook the America West rafters with her patented vocal pyrotechnics, displaying a power and range that make other country singers sound like they belong in a junior glee club.

“She can sing like crazy!” exclaimed Sentia Pierson, 32, from Mesa. “She has the voice of an angel.”

The petite McBride opened the show with the powerful “When God Fearin’ Women Get the Blues,” then ripped into “Love's the Only House,” getting the crowd on their feet for the first of many times.

A skilled performer, McBride, dressed in black leather pants and a denim jacket emblazoned with “Love” on the back, worked the stage with a contagious energy during the upbeat numbers, belting out such female empowerment tunes as “This One's For The Girls,” and her signature hit, “Independence Day.”

Perhaps McBride's greatest strengths as a vocalist are her phrasing and technique on her slower songs and she delivered ballads such as the aching “Concrete Angel” and “In My Daughter's Eyes” with a resonating emotion that hushed the crowd.

With 132 songs that have landed on the country charts between them, Alan Jackson and Martina McBride could have played all night and still not scratched the surface of their many hits. With so much terrific material at the ready, the superstars played the greatest of their greatest hits, leaving fans in attendance more than satisfied.

“Alan Jackson is a legend in the making,” stated Brian McNally, 49, of the North Valley. “Of the second generation country singers, behind Haggard and Cash, he is the best!“

Martina McBride set list:

When God Fearin’ Women Get The Blues
Love's The Only House
Happy Girl
Over The Rainbow
Concrete Angel
Wild Angels
My Baby Loves Me
In My Daughter's Eyes
Wearing White
How Far
A Broken Wing
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
This One's For The Girls
Independence Day
Life #9

Alan Jackson set list:

Gone Country
I Don't Even Know Your Name
Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow
Livin’ On Love
When Somebody Loves You
Little Bitty
Work In Progress
Too Much Of A Good Thing
Hey Good Lookin’
Remember When
Don't Rock The Jukebox
It's Five O'clock Somewhere
Who's Cheatin’ Who
The Blues Man
Pop A Top
Drive (For Daddy Gene)
Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)?
Chattahoochee
Where I Come From
Mercury Blues