On Friday, June 12th, Tim McGraw, bringing along Billy Currington and Chase Bryant, performed for the fans of all ages that filled the seats of the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, MA. The weather was warm, the energy was high and the night of good old country music started when Chase Bryant took the stage at 7:00pm
Bryant, a 22 year old newcomer from Texas, prepared the crowd for the two main acts that would follow. As is the case for most opening performers, the crowd was sparse when Bryant took the stage, but it did not stop his enthusiasm or his excitement. Bryant played as if there were 20,000 people in front of him. He gave all he had and then some in his five-song setlist. Bryant opened his set with ‘Wayfarer Weather,’and then quickly went into the song ‘Jet Black Pontiac.’ Bryant’s third song, a love song that Bryant dedicated to all the ladies in the audience, titled ‘Change Your Name,’ had all the young female country music lovers in the audience cheering. Bryant took a moment before his fourth song ‘Little Bit of You,’ to tell us how great it was to be back on the east coast. Bryant also shared that he was once asked if he was a pop country artist or an old country artist, Bryant’s response, “Take the first word out and I am just a country artist.” Bryant ended his set with his first radio single, which peaked at number sixteen on the Billboard Charts, ‘Take It On Back.’ As he was leaving the stage Bryant had this to say, “You are all in for a night of country music and I’m on the Tim McGraw tour! It doesn’t get any more bad-ass than that.”
About ten minutes after Bryant’s departure, Billy Currington had his turn to get the crowd ready for Tim McGraw. Currington appeared on stage and immediately started into the first of his fourteen song set list (including a two song encore) ‘I Got a Feeling.’ After singing, ‘Love Done Gone’ and ‘That’s How Country Boys Roll,’ Currington prepared the audience for his next song, by asking, “Are there are any beer drinkers in the house tonight?” Which he naturally followed up with, ‘Pretty Good at Drinking Beer.’ The next song, ‘Don’t It,’ the first single of his new album, just recently became Currington’s tenth number one hit. Other number ones Currington sang were, ‘Let Me Down Easy,’ ‘Hey Girl,’ ‘Must Be Doin’ Something Right,’ ‘We Are Tonight,’ and the song that proved to be a career-defining hit and earned Currington several award nominations, ‘People Are Crazy.’ Before singing another single from ‘Summer Forever,’ Currington explained how the song came about, “Some good friends of mine and I just picked up our guitars and in a couple of hours this song just fell out.” The song, ‘It Don’t Hurt Like it Used to,’ is the seventh track off the album. After a brief break, Currington returned to the stage for a two song encore. Currington’s first song, was a cover of the single by Mark Ronson (and featuring Bruno Mars) ‘Uptown Funk.’ But the song that all of Currington’s fans were waiting for was finally performed, ‘Good Directions.’ The song was basically sung by the crowd the whole time, with Currington singing a word or two only to keep the rest of us in tune.
After a fifteen minute intermission, the crowd went wild when the lights dimmed and Tim McGraw entered the stage to his opening number, ‘Truck Yeah.’ After finishing the opening song he immediately went into the next song on his twenty one song set list, ‘Something Like That,’ a hit song from early in Tim’s career that has always been a crowd favorite, and followed it up with ‘Down On the Farm.’ After singing ‘Southern Girl,’ McGraw took a breath to talk to his fans. “I’ll say it again! I love you guys! My name is Tim, What’s yours?” As if the crowd didn’t already know who he was. Their answer back was the calling out of thousands of different names that echoed throughout the venue. Following ‘Southern Girl,’ was the tune ‘Real Good Man.’ Tim then shared with his fans the apparent love and dedication that he has for his band, by introducing them to the crowd in this way, “These are my buds. You can travel all over the world and see all kinds of concerts and hear all kinds of music but you will never, ever in a million years, see guys like these.” McGraw and his band have been together from the beginning of his career and it was apparent to the audience that to him they are more than just band members but also family.
Throughout McGraw’s show, the forty-eight year old singer had more energy than some twenty-eight year olds, running back and forth across the stage, climbing up on speakers and jumping up and down during his performance and he did this on several occasions. Even though McGraw barely stopped moving the entire two hours he was on stage he did stop when he was interacting with the audience by sitting down on the side of the stage and singing directly to some lucky fans. One of those slower songs that had hearts melting all over the Xfinity Center was ‘Just To See You Smile.’
Photo Credit: Jilluann Martin Valliere, PhotoArtbyJill
As Tim was getting ready to perform the next song ‘For a Little While,’ a song that he says means a lot to him, he wanted to show his sincere appreciation for the brave men and woman who help to serve our country and keep us safe. “When you are making some noise I want you to make some noise for the guys and gals who put their asses on the line for use every single day. You heard me say it before, and I’ll say it again. It doesn’t matter if you are red, blue, black, white, northern, or southern. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, it doesn’t matter where you are in life. These people put their asses on the line FOR YOU! So when you see one of these guys or gals go over and shake their hand and say thank you.” Cheers erupted all over the venue along with some fans holding up American flags.
Other hits from McGraw’s successful career performed were, ‘Fly Away,’ ‘Green Grass Grows,’ ‘Felt Good on My Lips,’ and ‘Shotgun Rider,’ a song that stayed at the number one spot for four weeks. He introduced his latest number one with this statement, “I’m just a country boy from Louisiana and now I’m out playing country music in Boston, MA. Shit, I can play that pretty good.” McGraw thanked those people that he felt were the catalysts for his success in Boston. “Let me tell you we got friends up here. I’m talking about country radio. Give it up for country radio in the city, WKLB and Cat Country are in the house. They have been taking care of me for a long time and I love them even better ’cause we just had a number one record for four weeks!”
Photo Credit: Jilluann Martin Valliere, PhotoArtbyJill
McGraw finished his set with ‘Cowboy In Me’ before exiting the stage briefly and returning soon after to sing a four song encore. After performing the first song ‘Tiny Dancer,’ Tim sang ‘Mexicoma,’ and ‘‘Indian Outlaw,’ the first number one hit of his career. Ending an amazing night of awesome country music, McGraw sang for us a song that crossed genres when it was released in 2004. The song also inspired a book written by Michael Morris. ‘Live Like You Were Dying’ is a melody that encourages those that are always in a hurry to step back and actually take the time to live your life. The Tim McGraw fans in attendance that evening took the song to heart and did take a moment out of their busy lives to enjoy a variety of music from a remarkable entertainer.
Concert recap by Lorraine Frigoletto contributing writer for New England Country Music. You can follow me on Twitter.