Two fairly brief Dallas (Superpages Center) Reviews
Sheryl Crow mixes politics and pleasure at Superpages.com Center
12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, August 16, 2008
By THOR CHRISTENSEN / The Dallas Morning News
tchristensen@dallasnews.com
Sheryl Crow's breezy pop hits make it easy to forget how political her music can be. Friday night at Superpages.com Center, she was ready to take on the world – or at least sing about how screwed up it is.
She opened with three new tunes: "God Bless This Mess," with its reference to "a war all based on lies"; "Shine Over Babylon" ("If there's a God, where is he now?"); and "Love is Free," about the carnage of Hurricane Katrina.
And she was just getting started. She fused her oil dependency song "Gasoline" with the Stones' war-themed "Gimme Shelter" and sang about genocide in "Out of Our Heads," also from her latest CD, Detours.
In lesser hands, it would have been overkill. But Ms. Crow was savvy enough to blend her politics with infectious melodies and a hint of optimism – a lesson she gleaned from Stevie Wonder, whose "Higher Ground" proved to be the perfect show-closer (Ms. Crow sang it as a duet with opening act Toots Hibbert).
It also helped that she mixed the angry new tunes into a show packed with hits, from "All I Wanna Do" to "Soak Up the Sun" to a wicked fusion of "There Goes the Neighborhood" and Aerosmith's "Walk This Way."
British singer James Blunt preceded Ms. Crow with an hourlong set that wasn't as bad as it could have been.
As a balladeer, he can be awfully syrupy, as he reminded us with his 2005 hit "You're Beautiful." But he wisely built the set around uptempo songs and exuberant showmanship. Out of nowhere, he made a loony 60-second sprint up to the lawn section and back. Later, he danced atop his piano and leaped off the drum-riser.
And after bawling his way through "Goodbye My Lover," he grinned and pretended to brush the whole thing off: "She meant nothing to me," he joked.
Mr. Blunt's love songs may be seriously overwrought. But at least the guy doesn't take himself too seriously.
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And from Pegasusnews.com
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Concert Review: Sheryl Crow and James Blunt at Superpages.com Center (August 15)
By Brenna Rushing
Since Sheryl Crow has been in the music scene for several years, it's only appropriate that there was a series of different ages at her show at the Superpages.com Center last night. Other than the parents bringing their kids to experience Sheryl’s lighthearted and catchy tunes, I, a college student, might have been one of the youngest there. But onto more important events of the night.
James Blunt and his energetic band opened. Blunt started the night on a high note by running around the stage through songs and even through the crowd at one point. It’s important to note that he made it all the way to lawn, which is impressive.
They played almost an hour singing some popular songs such as “Beautiful”, “1973,” and “Same Mistake.” Through the slower ballads the lighting assisted Blunt by creating just the right ambiance for the lyrics. Most of the time this meant shining a small light only on James playing the piano or guitar, setting a serious tone for the crowd.
There were a multitude of James Blunt fans in the crowd. He had many women standing and swaying to his love songs, cooing over his every word. He closed with “1973” at the piano. He and his band took a bow together to thank the crowd at the end.
After a short interlude, through which all the hippies and fun-loving adults got more beer, Crow came on. She baffled everyone by wearing a white leather jacket with rhinestone effect all over the sleeves. Yes, it was Texas rodeo style. She opened with “God Bless This Mess,” which may be the newest single from her album Detours. There was a fantastically lit up peace sign made of guitars, flowers, and other free-lovin' symbols on a sheet behind her.
Following three songs, Crow announced that she had gotten the jacket from the Mesquite rodeo, but that it was too hot in Dallas to wear it all night. Following the wardrobe adjustment, she looked Classic Crow again, in a white tank top and tight-fitting jeans.
Crow gave a worthwhile show singing every hit she’s had over the years including “If It Makes You Happy,” “Leaving Las Vegas,” “Favorite Mistake,’ and “The First Cut Is the Deepest.” On the latter track, she brought out James Blunt and sang a duet. The crowd went crazy.
There were some new songs mixed in the set too, such as “Detours” and “Shine Over Babylon.” The mix between new and old allowed the crowd to hear all their favorites, while still emphasizing the fact that there's a new album to check out.
Towards the middle of the show she turned the ending of one song into Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.” She went on to introduce her band members and backup singers. As she went through their names, she mentioned their birthplace as well. All six of them were from Texas. As Crow explained, “If I’m going to do a Texas show right, I better have a Texas band!”
At one point, she brought up her victory over cancer and her new baby. She joked that she “still has the cleavage” she’s known for. She proudly told the crowd that her adopted baby is 15 months old now, and how much her life has changed since she was in Dallas last.
Crow played well over an hour and a half, coming back on stage for a two-song encore. "All I Wanna Do" was first.
She ended the show with a cover of "Higher Ground" by Stevie Wonder. Including her entire band, she gave the mic up to her backup vocalists to sing the leads.
The night came together perfectly for everyone at the center. The weather was breezy, no rain was in sight, and Sheryl Crow gave them what they asked for.