William A Floyd Amphitheater

SUPER FANTASTIC. JUST A PERFECT NIGHT. I THROUGHLYENJOYED IT

Martina McBride: 9/3/23 “It may not have been Independence Day but the wall to wall audience at the William A Floyd Amphitheater grounds let freedom ring into the night as Martina McBride headlined Celebrate Anderson’s Labor Day festivities. It was my fourth time seeing the ACM/CMA winning and Grammy nominated Grand Ole Opry Member from Sharon, Kansas LIVE in concert. The standalone show was not part of an organized tour whereas the former time I saw her (just 199 days prior) was part of the Judd’s Final Tour with Wynonna. Although there was no standard set list to follow, with 14 studio albums and 42 charted singles including 5 number 1’s there was no doubt that whatever songs she chose would be a delight to her fans. It was a perfect evening weather-wise for the free event, which in addition to the music included hot air balloon launches, food vendors, and a fireworks display to follow. My wife and I arrived an hour prior to the gates opening at 5:30 in the heat of the day, but by the time we settled on the lawn the sun was making its way down for a pleasant 82° at showtime. Learning from the front gate bottleneck debacle at the Darius Rucker show last month, I used the back entrance and made a beeline to the front of the stage, parking in the second row of lawn chairs. Charleston based singer/songwriter Gritty Flywright and band came onstage at 6:30 for a one hour well received set, performing mostly originals. Later Martina would comment that she listened to their whole show from the bus, describing it as ‘awesome’. That’s something to be said coming from her knowing the story of how she was discovered by Garth Brooks while working merchandise during one of his tours. The venue’s elementary set up surprisingly featured a video screen to the right of the stage, and the artist brought in a three screen stage backdrop projecting mostly colors and patterns during the performance. With the rounding of the 8 o’clock hour and the stage having been turned I took a quick glance behind me and the grounds were already packed. At precisely 8:10 p.m. McBride’s 7 person band took the stage with Martina following shortly behind. Moving through a thick screen of smoke she entered stage left directly from her tour bus, the audience calling her on stage chanting ‘Martina, Martina, Martina’! Opening with 1993’s #2 ‘My Baby Loves Me’ a 1 hour and 20 minute / 19 song set commenced which included a three song encore! ‘Y’all sing along with me alright?’ she cried moving right into a pair of #1’s, 1995’s Wild Angels’ and 1999’s ‘I Love You’. Dressed all in black with knee high military boots and multi-color rhinestone shorts, 57 year old Martina Mariea Schiff carried herself well, poised confidently, and clearly in charge. ‘Look at you all out there, damn.... We had about six weeks off the road, been home back in Nashville, so we are rested and ready. I think what we should do is just settle back and have a damn good time.’ Her latest, 2020’s uncharted ‘Girls Like Me’ clearly identified with the audience and was sung pitch perfect. ‘This song is told from the point of view of a woman who’s a little bit older, she’s been around the block, she’s lived some life, she’s had some heartache, and she’s talking to someone who is brand new at that and she’s giving her advice and saying, “You know what, it’s all gonna be okay”’. What would a Martina show be without a couple of classic Country covers which she delivered next, ‘(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden’, and from one her personal heroes, Loretta Lynn’s ‘You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)’. Occasionally sipping tea placed on a table center stage nearby to her left, and frequently playing with her in-ear monitors, her vocals which have tended to be a bit rough in later years were more so in control tonight. Musical purists would tend to differ with me but seeing her live at to top of her vocal game back in 2015 and three times since there has been some improvement. Moving through the hits, ‘Safe In The Arms Of Love’ and ‘Love's The Only House’ (in which she played the harmonica parts) she sang the title track from her last album 2016’s uncharted ‘Reckless’. It’s unfortunate that due to the venue’s one solitary spotlight notable solos performed by her band members were kept majorly in the dark. Coming next was 2001’s #1 ‘Blessed’ with the touching and thoughtful ‘I'm Gonna Love You Through following. ‘I wanna send this song out to all the fighters, all the survivors, and everyone who’s loved them through.’ There was a woman toward the front holding up a sign which read, ‘It’s My Birthday’ and folks began calling out for her to put it down. Martina took notice and asked her name. She then sang “Happy birthday Rebecca’ concluding it with ‘Thank you for sharing it with us. What do you think of the birthday party we threw you?!’ That quieted down the boister. Band intros followed a performance of ‘Anyway’ the first song she ever wrote with large images on the screens of the words *DREAM * BELIEVE * LOVE * SING. ‘We have travelled all over the world together, done a lot of music together and I wanna introduce them to you. Please make them feel welcome, alright?’ First was Gary Smith (acoustic guitar); then Greg Harrington (drums); Carolyn Dawn Johnson, A HUGE BONUS AND SURPRISE - 2001’s top 10’s ‘Complicated’ and ‘I Don’t Want You To Go’ (background vocals), McBride commenting of her, ‘One of my favorite singers in the whole world.’; Glen Snow (bass); Kyle Everson (pedal steel/mandolin); Jim Medlin (keyboards); and Greg Foresman (lead guitar) since 1997. ‘When God-Fearin' Women Get The Blues’ featured an upfront spotlit a tri-guitar solo. With ‘This is for all my South Carolina girls’ she introduced 2003’s #1 ‘This One's For The Girls’ and 1997’s #1 ‘A Broken Wing’ followed. ‘We don’t take any of this for granted, thank you guys for coming out tonight, for showing up, for letting us help you celebrate Anderson South Carolina!’ With that came the opening notes of the song everyone came to hear, 1994’s ‘Independence Day’! The stage lights were all in red, white, and blue as an image of the American flag waved across the three screens. After struggling through the first chorus, her vocals being stretched all evening, she extended the microphone to the audience for assistance on the second. As Martina exited the stage some folks began packing their belongings thinking it was over, which would’ve left us with a great overall performance, however there was more to follow. Martina reentered the stage for a three song encore assuring everyone, ‘We’re not done yet!’ The first song ‘Happy Girl’ gave way to a cover of Pat Benatar’s ’Hit We With Your Best Shot’ with lead guitarist Greg Foresman hitting every note in the solo identical to that of 1980’s single! The show concluded with a cover of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop ‘Believin’, as good as any cover band I’ve heard! Beginning her singing at the age of nine and getting her break while selling merch at Garth Brooks shows ‘Marti, the Celine Dion of Country Music’, and 90’s Country are here to stay!” Review and photo by DAve (Concert #816)