Taylor Swift/Kellie Pickler CFD Night Show Review

July 24, 2009

Post by Wyoming Tribune Eagle entertainment reporter, Karen Cotton, kcotton@wyomingnews.com

Cheyenne Frontier Days has two more Night Shows to go. Tonight Kenny Chesney and Jake Owen will take the stage at Frontier Park. They also will both perform on Saturday night.

Chesney fans can read an article that I wrote about him in our Frontier Edition, that features quotes by Joe Lopez, CFD Contract Acts chairman, Brad Arnold of Three Doors Down and local fan, Carrie Axtell.

Click on the photo to the left to be taken to Chesney’sWeb site.

 

You can pick up a copy of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle today and read my interview with Jake Owen. 

WTE reporter, Michelle Dynes, also did an interview with Owen. You can read her article in our Frontier Edition that can be found at various locations around town. mdynes@wyomingnews.com

www.cfdrodeo.com for ticket info.

Courtesy photo Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler

With that all said here is my review of Taylor Swift/Kellie Pickler. All I have to say to Chesney and Owen is can you top them? We’ll see …

 

 

 

 A photo slide show from last night’s Swift/Pickler concert will be posted here soon ….

kcotton@wyomingnews.com

Kenny Chesney should be shaking in his cowboy boots.

I predict the title of Academy of Country Music Awards and Country Music Association Award Entertainer of the Year will be handed to yet another blonde female country artist this year.

She’s 19 years old and is Fearless.

Taylor Swift held a crowd of 20,043 glued to her every move as she graced the stage last night at Cheyenne Frontier Days Night Show.

Chesney’s own song “Big Star,” that he wrote long before Swift was on the country music scene, is the best description of her:

“She signed autographs like she was Garth Brooks in a skirt.”

Swift’s line at the meet and greet for special guests was long to begin with, but could have been much longer if opened to the public. The WTE received a number of calls from fans requesting a way to make it backstage the day of her show.

Her production was similar to the last Garth Brooks show that I saw at the Casper Events Center right before he retired.

Brooks has always been known for the theatrical elements in his show as well as the ability to hold a crowd’s attention all the way through a show because of his high-octane, energetic showmanship coupled with an ability to sing and perform.

Swift’s own live show can easily be compared to a mini-Broadway touring production.

Her show has professional dancers and theatrical mini-plays.

It’s almost like her music videos are playing out in front of her fans’ eyes.

When “Love Story” was performed, dancers in Victorian costumes waltzed on stage, while Swift entered wearing a rose-colored Victorian dress.

She even did a costume change mid-song into the white dress, right on cue.

Her publicist said Swift designed most of her show, herself.

That says a lot considering how young she is.

Aside from a few comments that it was difficult to understand her in a few of the songs, her show was flawless.

Swift kept the show moving along with her commentary throughout that she delivered confidently.

She even got a five minute-long applause of adoration from her fans in the middle of her show.

Right afterward, she said she wanted to take in that moment and with tears in her eyes told everyone thank you.

More applause and screams followed and she had that whole stadium awash with flashes from cameras.

From the moment she stepped on stage in her band uniform costume for the first song “You Belong To Me” to the finale of the show two hours later where she’s drenched with water during “Should Have Said No,” Swift kept the energy in high gear.

“She took me back to Reba McEntire’s early days,” said Joe Lopez, the CFD Contract Acts chairman after the show. “When Reba was first out and was pretty hot, she had that kind of production.”

Lopez added, “Taylor has a knack of getting the crowd and once she gets them, she sucks you in pretty good,” Lopez said. “You have to stay there and watch the entire the program.”

Swift performed at CFD last year as the opener for Rascal Flatts, two nights in a row.

This year she’s the headliner with her “Fearless” tour as she promotes her second album of the same name.

“There are three artists in our history here that have set an attendance record at the CFD stadium, George Strait and Garth Brooks,” Lopez said. “And now we can add Taylor Swift to that. Her attendance was well over 20,000.”

20,043 to be exact.

“I would say her crowd consisted of a lot of young people, teenagers, 20 and 30 year olds, and our older attendees were there bringing their kids in,” Lopez said. “Daughters begged their grandma and grandpa or parents to take to the to Taylor Swift, and their parents gave in.”

 

Kellie Pickler

Kellie Pickler opened for Swift, a choice that complimented both.

Pickler got the crowd energized with her first song, “Best Days of Your Life,” a top-charting hit currently on country radio that she co-wrote with Swift.

Pickler, known for her more glamorous-side, wore a black tank top, jeans and fashion boots.

The show was more about her singing and ability to command the crowd than being glamorous, though.

She stayed true to her song “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful,” which was a good thing.

She had a lot of young girls in that audience that obviously look up to both her and Swift. Their fans certainly dressed like them.

Hundred of girls in that audience wore sequined tops and jeans and sundresses and cowboy boots.

Pickler’s energy never faltered throughout her performance.

She really got the crowd’s attention with her rendition of her idol’s, Dolly Parton, hit “9 to 5.”

People of all ages were clapping along.

She even slowed the show down with her song “I Wonder” and still captivated the audience’s attention.

It’s no wonder that she was an “American Idol” finalist, she certainly has the ability to project her voice and did a much better job of it than Julianne Hough did when opening for George Strait on Saturday.

But, Pickler has a lot more experience from her “American Idol” stage and tours that she’s done since then in comparison to Hough, who just recently started touring after appearing on “Dancing with the Stars.”

“From the previous year that she was here, she’s a year older and is more mature,” Lopez said of Pickler. “She wasn’t as nervous this time as she was the first year. She was relaxed and had a good time.”

Lopez added, “I think everyone that went to that show will talk about it for days or even months to come.”

 He said the weather this year had something to do with the attendance numbers.

 ”Knock on wood, the weather has been great and has cooperated with us,” Lopez said. “Someone said to us our attendance is up around 10 percent in our night show attendance this year to date.”

Lopez said so far Chesney has sold between 13,000 and 15,000 tickets for his show tonight and 15,000 to 18,000 tickets for Saturday.

“We’re concentrating on walk ups and we’re close to hitting a two-day record and breaking it. It’s very hard to sell out a two-night act.”