Concert review
In front of a rowdy yet reverent crowd at T-Mobile Park Saturday, Chris Stapleton provided a stunning night of music and a reminder that creativity is at its best whenever it can escape labels.
Was it country? Southern rock? Did it matter what you wanted to call it? Not even in the slightest. Stapleton, 46, has become one of music’s true master craftsmen and he held the sold-out stadium in rapture for more than two hours as he worked through a treasure trove of hits amassed over the past nine years since his debut album “Traveller” dropped in 2015.
Stapleton’s Seattle stop on his “All American Road Show” had a certain “big game” feel to it – perhaps because it was held inside the House that Griffey Built or that the stadium, packed to the final row of the upper deck, thrummed with energy. Having ‘90s superstar Sheryl Crow and the legendary Willie Nelson on the ticket only added to that feeling and the difficulty in pinning a specific label on the show.
Crow got things started off promptly at 6:20 p.m. and effortlessly delivered the tightest set of the night. The 50-minute romp through her biggest hits included “If It Makes You Happy,” “All I Wanna Do” and “Everyday Is a Winding Road” and was elevated by her excellent backing band.
Nelson, 91, proved to be a huge surprise. He could have easily kept it to a short and sweet set, but instead provided an expansive look at his decades-spanning career. Starting off with a driving “Whiskey River,” Nelson drew big cheers for “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow up to Be Cowboys” and “On the Road Again.” Playing his trusty favorite guitar “Trigger,” Nelson managed to convey deep emotion from a few simple notes and chords in a lovely, slightly halting style.
By 9 p.m., the sun had set, and the crowd was hungry to see the 10-time Grammy winner ply his trade. Erupting and rising to its feet upon hearing Stapleton’s first notes of the rocking “White Horse,” the crowd remained standing the rest of the night. The country swagger of “Nobody to Blame” and another Southern rocker, “Second One to Know,” kept amping up the intensity before a cover of “Millionaire” helped cool things off a bit.
As much as he can rock, Stapleton really shines when he allows himself a tender moment, like on “Mountains of My Mind” and “Whiskey And You,” both performed without his band. His voice was perfectly dialed in and crystal clear, which is a credit to the singer but also to his audio engineer and the tour’s high-quality PA system. So often, amazing art is ruined by muddled audio, but thankfully that was far from the case Saturday.
“Starting Over” proved to be a healing song of strength, while the romantic “Joy of My Life” (a John Fogerty cover) allowed Stapleton a chance to show off his guitar chops. Later, in perhaps the only concession to some kind of gimmick, mini parachutes were tossed from T-Mobile’s upper deck during the song “Parachute.”
After the cathartic “Fire Away,” the crowd was tittering in anticipation of Stapleton’s No. 1 hit “Tennessee Whiskey,” a classic wedding song first recorded by David Allan Coe, that typically closes out his shows. However, he hit them with “Outlaw State of Mind” first, until finally relenting with a soaring version of his signature song.
Though Stapleton came back out for an encore including “Broken Halos” and “Sometimes I Cry,” a good portion of the crowd made a mad dash for the exits after “Tennessee Whiskey.” It was hard to blame them after so many hours of transcendent music. Their cups had simply run over.
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