Country Superstar Martina McBride rode into Penticton last night on her “Shine All Night” tour and did just that. From the opening “Ride” off of her latest CD, she wound her way masterfully through a mix of songs both old and new until she closed over an hour and a half later.
Everyone knows the girl can sing. She delivered vocally on all her tunes, belting out ballads in her trademark way on such tunes as “Independence Day” and “Broken Wing”. She also showed a more tender side on songs like Kristofferson’s classic “Help Me Make It Through The Night” as well as her fun and nostalgic side on tunes such as Bill Wither’s “Lean On Me.”
McBride included her latest hit single “Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong” as well as “You’re Not Leaving Me” from last year’s “Shine” CD. Also making the set list were some of her biggest hits from previous years such as “Concrete Angel”, “This One’s for the Girls” and “Do it Anyway”. Each of these songs was performed at the highest level, and many if not most included solos from her very tight and talented band.
Great solos, tight arrangements, excellent sound, and band members that truly performed and engaged the audience at every turn aside, this night was about one of the purest and most talented female singers in any genre doing what she was put on this planet to do. On this night, McBride more than matched her uncanny ability to find songs that resonate with everyday people and took them, and the Penticton audience, to a higher plane vibrating at another level altogetherThere were standing ovations long before the last song and the expected encore. At one point the building was electric with applause, whistling, and an entire room on its feet that left McBride “speechless” for more than a few moments. This audience was not going to leave any doubt about how much they appreciated this singer and this performance.
Good concerts can be delivered by good bands simply through rehearsal and strong performances. Great concerts, ones that blossom into the merging of artist and audience, with time and place and other concerns simply evaporating, leaving everyone involved with goosebumps on top of goosebumps and a sense of genuine oneness, only happen when an artist performs with equal parts passion and vulnerability and his or her audience responds with acceptance and joy.
Such was the Martina McBride concert at Penticton’s SOEC on Friday night.