MANHATTAN, NY (Martina McBride Official Website) - They came by subway, taxi, train and foot, and before it was over,
Martina McBride had a sold-out
Radio City
Music Hall standing on their feet. On an evening the New York Times hailed as 'Triumphant,' the Timeless Tour seamlessly linked the past and the present and became the first country music show to sell out the venue since the Dixie
Chicks in 2000.
'I love, love, love to come and sing every night and every audience and show is different. Tonight,' Martina said as her voice shook with emotion, 'is magic.' On a night so cold the coat check was as busy as the bartender, Martina kicked-off the first half of the show with the classic country songs that make up her Platinum-selling album, Timeless.
The venerable and historic Radio City was a fitting stage for the songs of such icons as Hank Williams, Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn. And as she wove personal stories of those singers into her show, Radio City took on the intimacy of a family room, more than it did a concert hall.
Of her vocal performance, The Times review noted, 'She has a rich, elegant voice and an extraordinary knack for controlling it. She hits the big notes without hammering them; when she slowly bends a note up or down you can feel - see, almost - the gentle curve.'
After a brief intermission, the time machine opened its doors on the 21st century and Martina hit the stage with her rockin' hit, 'When God Fearin' Women Get The Blues,' and after her second song she exclaimed, 'Those of you who may be new fans from the Timeless album are probably wondering what in the world just happened,' a comment that was met with laughter and applause.
Fans leapt to their feet numerous times as the CMA and ACM multi-awarded Vocalist of the Year sang hit after hit. 'I grew up in Kansas dreaming of being a country music singer but I never knew you could dream this big,' she told the crowd.
The night ended with 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow,' another classic song which Judy Garland probably performed on that very stage. And of the evening's performance, The Times concluded, 'her music conjures a fondness for the past, along with a sneaking, scandalous suspicion that the present might be just as good. Or maybe better.'
