TIM & FAITH DAZZLE SLC: A LITTLE BIT COUNTRY, A LITTLE BIT ‘SOUL 2 SOUL’

By JOHN YOUNGREN

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill at the Delta Center, Salt Lake City
Aug. 5, 2006

THE DOTTED LINE: Hill – •••
McGraw – •••-1/2
Together – ••••

SALT LAKE CITY – Still somewhat bedazzled by the incredible 2-1/2 hour concert (particularly the spellbindingly sexy final duet) that had just concluded, the Delta Center crowd wandered out into a sudden summer downpour, marked by the bold lightning bolts dramatically piercing the muggy evening air.

Corny as it sounds, the lightning drew “oohs” and “aahs” from the rapidly exiting audience, which still seemed mesmerized by the stunning sparks INSIDE the arena – which Faith Hill and Tim McGraw played Saturday night, the conclusion of a two-night Salt Lake City stint on the tail end of their “Soul 2 Soul Tour 2.”

Based on Saturday’s performance, “Soul 2 Soul 2” certainly lived up to its hype, proving to be a barnstorming-but-sexy celebration of love, songs (and love songs) mixed with country, pop and rock and roll. These are truly two country superstars at the top of their games – and the passion they clearly have for their fans, their music and each other is palpable. The lightning outside was only the fitting conclusion to a night of theatrical, musical fireworks.

With no opening act and an almost full Delta Center (the duo had sold out the arena for Friday night’s show, only adding Saturday’s encore at a later date), just the sheer anticipation of seeing Tim and Faith together on the same stage (a nice X-shaped arrangement set in the center of the floor, in-the-round style, providing plenty of room for both performers to rove and, in Tim’s case, swagger) seemed to inspire frenzy.

By the time the lights – finally, finally, finally – dropped to black and the recorded rock music dropped away, the audience went nuts as Hill and McGraw each rose from underneath the stage. Then, at separate ends of the floor, backs to each other, they ripped through their tale of epic love gone wrong, “Like We Never Loved At All,” the hit (co-written by Big & Rich star John Rich) from Faith’s current CD.

McGraw’s appearance was little more than an opening appetizer; he disappeared after working the women in the audience into a brief frenzy, leaving the stage to Faith – a beautiful-but-somewhat-self-conscious stage performer, albeit with the vocal pipes to blow everyone else away. A few local reviewers had taken knocks at Mrs. McGraw after Friday’s first show, poking fun at her by-the-numbers dance routines, ruby slipper wardrobe and Barbie doll presence.

But Saturday, it was clear that Hill – from her own opening “Mississippi Girl” to slightly altered, more rocking arrangements of her monster hits like “This Kiss,” “Cry” and “Breathe” – aimed to counter that impression. As a result, she attempted to engage her fans, especially those stage side, with smiles, waves and handshakes.

While I’m certainly partial to Faith hits like “The Way You Love Me” and one of her newer songs, “Sunshine and Summertime” (a surefire single, and probably soon), I have to admit it was a late run of selections during Saturday’s set, including “Let Me Let Go,” “The Lucky One” and her closing “Piece of My Heart” that were highlights, sparked as they were by a rumbling, bluesy band growl and Hill’s heartstopping vocal aerobics. (It's no exaggeration to say that most of Hill’s music sounds much ballsier and rocking when performed live, a pleasant alternative to the thinner, sunnier pop sheen that most of her better-known CD tracks have.)

Just before a brief video interlude (presumably to get Tim’s band, The Dancehall Doctors, in place), the McGraws appeared again together, sitting back-to-back under a peculiar gauzy screen to do a couple of steamy duets, including the smoky “Let’s Make Love,” again reminding the audience of exactly what they were there for.

And really, all McGraw needed to do at that point was appear – which he did, to great sound and fury, singing the opening notes of “Real Good Man” as the missus slid off for a backstage chardonnay. No matter what you think of Faith, when Tim appeared Saturday, you got the idea that the REAL show was to begin.

Dressed in his trademark black hat and tight jeans (with a non-characteristic light blue shirt over a white T-shirt), McGraw brought his honky tonk swagger to the proceedings in a hurry, bouncing his way through a few of his standards, like “The Cowboy In Me,” “Don’t Take The Girl” (most of the vocals provided by the adoring Delta Center crowd), “Where The Green Grass Grows” and “Something Like That.”

If Faith’s musical highlights came when she decided to rock and roll a bit, she clearly learned that lesson from her husband – who works the crowd with uncanny presence and confidence. With the exception of maybe Kenny Chesney, among current popular country male performers, McGraw is maybe most akin to Garth Brooks back in the day. And, while he’s no Mr. Hill in the vocals department, Tim can hit the high notes, too – as he demonstrated with passionate takes of his current hit, “When The Stars Go Blue” and the crowd’s favorite Bic (or cell phone light) moment, “Live Like You Were Dying.”

McGraw certainly had another 10-12 hits he could have trotted out – I particularly missed “Red Ragtop” and “She’s My Kind of Rain” – but both he and Faith kept things to a dozen or so individual tunes in order to fit in a few more duets. And so sure enough, just after Tim finished slapping fists and high fives with most of the fans on the floor while drifting in and out of “I Like It, I Love It” (the “Monday Night Football” halftime song and current Winger’s parody jingle) there he and Faith were together again (he sweaty and unbuttoned; she in a long dress), for a sizzling final set.

If their rendition of “It’s Your Love” (for the first time all night, they faced each other, sending sparks across the long stage) didn’t steam up the Delta Center windows (later, the ever-playful McGraw ultimately would bump his behind into his wife's shapely ass while both were playing guitars on a cover of “Shotgun Rider,” making them look more like a sexy, modern-day Johnny and June than ever), the duo’s final encore number absolutely cooked.

Center stage, and face to face, Tim and Faith shared a microphone, held each other’s knees and passionately worked each other (and most of the crowd) over with a gravel-voiced, smoking rendition of “I Need You,” a smoldering duet that apparently won’t be released until Tim’s next CD, reportedly this fall:

"I Need You" (lyrics)

(TIM)

“I wanna drink that shot of whiskey
I wanna smoke that cigarette
I wanna smell that sweet addiction on my breath
I wanna ride across West Virginia in the back seat of a Cadillac
You know some cowboys like me go out like that

“So I need you
Like a needle needs a vein
Like my uncle Joe in Oklahoma needs a rain
And I need you
Like a lighthouse on a coast
Like the father and the son need the Holy Ghost
I need you”

(FAITH)

“I wanna get lost in some corner booth, Cantina Mexico
I wanna dance to the static of an AM radio
I wanna wrap the moon around us, lay beside you skin on skin
Make love til the sun comes up, til the sun goes down again

“Cause I need you
Like a needle needs a vein
Like my uncle Joe in Oklahoma needs a rain
I need you
Like a lighthouse on a coast
Like the father and the son need the Holy Ghost
I need you, ooh I need you”

(TIM)

“I wanna drink that shot of whiskey
I wanna smoke that cigarette
You know some cowboys like me go out like that
So I need you, woh I need you
I need you, I need you, I need you, I need you.”

Spellbound yet? The DC crowd was.

And then, for the first time on stage all night, Tim and Faith kissed.

Cameras up close, and caught up in the moment, the couple’s chemistry, love and genuine sex appeal rippled throughout the arena.

Like most of those in attendance, I walked out needing a cold shower – and did get a rain shower, lightning and all.

But Tim and Faith? After that sizzling encore, I’m suspecting they were both lucky ones, indeed.

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Now back in business (with a modified rating system) the “John Youngren Dot Com” blog (once known as “Pop Stew”) should be updated regularly. No wagering, however; you'll just have to trust me. To contact me with your own pithy thoughts, comments, jokes and observations, e-mail johnyoungren@mac.com