I have been a fan of Carrie Underwood since the American Idol days (it’s been fifteen years since she was on that show) and saw her live for the first time three and a half years ago.
When she announced the Cry Pretty tour, I knew immediately I had to go. When I saw the Detroit show was on Halloween, I pressed pause on that idea. I tried to see her in Cincinnati over the summer but severe storms thwarted my plans. So it was Halloween or bust.
When Dad said he was up for the show, I decided why not? It was a cold, rainy, generally gross night, but I was kind of excited to be out of the house on Halloween for the first time since I can remember. I think I’m tired of spending my life waiting for certain days or events to pass. Before I know it life is going to pass me by if I don’t watch out. So I have gotten a lot better at just going for things.
Some people at Little Caesars Arena were dressed up for the day, which was kind of cool. We were all just there to have a good time. And a good time we all definitely had. Because Carrie … duh. But also because it was the last show of the Cry Pretty tour so that definitely added some feels and vibes other shows might not have.
I want to get one thing out of the way before I talk about the show in detail. The stage setup did not work. Carrie played in the round as she did during the Storyteller tour, which is fine, cool even. Not many artists do that and I am not sure why. However, as opposed to the openness of the Storyteller set, this one was imposing and not all at the same height. This meant when Carrie was in the center of the stage, only the people on the interior general admission pit could really see her and when she was on one side of the stage, only that side of the arena could see her.
I have never seen a stage quite like this where I lost sight of Carrie completely for entire songs. I can’t imagine how this went unnoticed during the design process and hope it is remedied for next time.
Now, let’s move on to all the good stuff aka everything else. Carrie’s voice is the real star of the show. And she can SING! Her voice is actually quite unbelievable. Slow songs, fast songs, one jazzy nightclub feeling song, she can sing them all. She hit one note I don’t even think she could believe. It was so long, steady, crisp, and clear. Even the most cynical music snob would have been wowed.
As if that crazy singing wasn’t enough, she plays the guitar, piano, bongo drums, and harmonica, though the latter didn’t make an appearance at this show. Add to that her sparkly, frilly sense of style that shines under the lights to the very last row, I bet. She beams and exudes beauty, joy, confidence, and a little glimmer of bewilderment over how this is her life.
As strong as her singing voice is, her speaking voice is delicate. My criticism of Storyteller was that she barely spoke during it. She went from song to song and left that personal connection untapped. That wasn’t the case with Cry Pretty. Carrie spent a lot of time talking about her experiences, her family, her music, her inspirations. It added to the show exactly what had been missing last time.
But there was plenty of singing too. Carrie was on the stage more than two hours for a set filled with fireworks, confetti, her fantastic band, moving stages, and of course tons of hits. She has amassed such a catalogue of songs that she can’t sing all the hits and fan favorites anymore. Though the setlist was a little heavy on songs from her newest release, it also featured Cowboy Casanova, Church Bells, Last Name, Good Girl, Two Black Cadillacs, Blown Away, Undo It, and of course Jesus Take the Wheel and Before He Cheats.
Add to that a women of country music medley (think Man I Feel Like a Woman and Independence Day) with Runaway June and Maddie and Tae, and you can imagine how much wonderful music was packed into this show. She also brought someone from the audience out to rap on The Champion, which was a super fun touch. The guy was pretty good and obviously brave too. OMG to be up there in front of all those people.
Carrie knows how to put on a show and make sure everyone is having the best time. I can’t wait to see her again … hopefully it won’t be three and a half more years.
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