Cowboy boots and rhinestones flooded Las Cruces’ Pan American Center on April 16th, 2016. The highly anticipated Carrie Underwood Storyteller Tour: Stories in the Round made their way to the arena. The Storyteller tour was based off her top selling album also titled Storyteller. This has been the first tour country superstar Carrie Underwood has been on since her Blown Away Tour in 2013. From amazing stage setups, great music and opening acts to sparkly outfits. Every detail of this tour was flawless.
For The Storyteller Tour, Carrie Underwood brought along NBC’s The Voice’s rising country stars “The Swon Brothers” and rising country artist Easton Corbin. The Swon Brothers demonstrated love for their fans. They stopped to sign every poster that made their way to them. They offered even more personal time with the fans after the show. Although they had a set list of only 5 songs, they managed to get the crowd going. Easton Corbin stunned with his voice similar to country great George Straight. He sang 9 songs, dedicating his hit “Are You with Me” to all the men and women in the military. He covered Toby Keith’s “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” and George Straight’s “Check Yes or No”. Both opening acts stunned with great sounding music. They definitely have a new fan now!
Along with Carrie for her tour, was a DJ. Playing between each act, he knew how to get the crowd going. Spinning everything from George Straight to Michael Jackson. The entertainment he provided made it feel as if he was one of the acts. He stunned the crowd by playing catchy tunes and shooting T-shirts out into the audience until the anticipated Carrie Underwood came out. Lucky for me I got to view this tour in the pit getting every dose of action that was going on.
The stage setup for the Storyteller tour was in the center of the arena. I have to say that I think this was brilliant! It made it easier for everyone to view the action, whether they were in the front row, or the last. The stage setup seemed a bit complicated and messy at first, but when the lights went out and the lady of the hour finally arrived it all made sense. Carrie stood atop of 3 tiers almost as if she was arriving on top of a cake. Carrie opened to her song “Renegade Runaway” from her latest album, she followed it with a mashup of her smash hits “Something Bad” and “Last Name.” She followed it with “Undo it,” “Good Girl” and her latest single from her album “Church Bells”. She belted out memorable tunes for two hours all together. This was exciting because she did not come out with only a few of her songs, but she came to give a show on all of her memorable hits!
Cons:
Upon arriving to the concert I did not do much research as to what was on the setlist for this tour. I was disappointed that Carrie didn't sing some of her most memorable hits such as “So Small” and “See You Again." Being such big tracks, I expected she would've included them into her setlist. Despite the disappointment, Carrie knows how to keep a crowd entertained and it showed in The Storyteller Tour.
Carrie’s vocals did not disappoint. She really stunned with her latest single “Church Bells” almost everyone in the audience belted out word for word along with the singer. They knew all the words, showing how dedicated her fans are. With the release of her newest album only being months prior to the show, everyone seemed to know every word to each song from the new album. Shortly after “Church Bells” she disappeared for one of her outfit changes. In between each outfit change, songs that didn’t make the set list such as “Mexico”, “Chaser” and “Relapse” played. She accompanied each song with a video. Although she was gone for outfit changes, these intermission videos kept the crowd entertained.
Carrie really knows how to keep the pace going with her songs. She sang upbeat tracks and followed it with some of her slower hits. After coming back to the stage after her outfit change, she belted out her upbeat hit “Cowboy Casanova." She stood on top of a giant Jukebox and had every person in the audience singing and dancing. She soon followed with her latest track “Heartbeat” from the Storyteller album. The arena lit up with everyone’s phones’ flashlight, setting the tone of the song.
Carrie never lost the attention of the audience. During both “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and “Before He Cheats,” one soulful and the other just fun, was overpowered by the audiences singing. She even stopped for a while allowing the audience to finish her recognizable verses. She stunned the crowd with her amazing harmonica skills during “Choctaw County Affair.” (Because when you’re Carrie Underwood, what can’t you do?) Carrie got a bit more serious when she sang “What I Never Knew I Always Wanted” dedicated to her son and husband. Carrie sat on top of a piano, with the song being accompanied by a montage of pictures of her son and husband. There was not a dry eye in the arena during the song, Carrie herself started getting teary eyed after the song ended. Carrie didn’t just sing during the show, she stopped to share a speech about her time on American Idol. The singer thanked her fans for supporting her throughout the process. She credited the show for the success it gave her.
Carrie took some time to cover songs from previous country greats. She thanked Dolly Parton for being her inspiration to do country music. In dedication to Dolly, she covered “I Will Always Love You”. She also covered “Fishin’ in the Dark” by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. She was joined on stage by opening acts Easton Corbin and The Swon Brothers. To wrap up the night Carrie ended with two of her recent hits “Smoke Break” and “Something in the Water”. Her voice gracefully flowed throughout the arena as she ended.
Carries talent shinned in this tour. From great music, to stage setups that were so beautiful to watch, this has to be one of the best tours to go to. If you are looking for a upbeat, soulful country concert to attend, this is one you don't want to miss! Carrie thought about her fans and the audience and delivered a concert that was genuinley for them. The Storyteller Tour is one to buy your ticket and attend.