For almost 40 years, Tim McGraw has become synonymous with country music. Starting off in 1990, McGraw became part of the traditional country movement at a time when artists like Garth Brooks and Billy Ray Cyrus were taking country in a more pop oriented direction. His songs started to get radio play, tours got bigger and bigger, and eventually he rose to the top of the country charts. Over the ensuing three decades, like many artists, McGraw leaned more towards the pop country territory and found commercial success with the radio-friendly mainstream material that some would argue ruined country music.
But McGraw has the unique classification of having a career that combined both his traditional and pop country catalogues that keep his name in the upper echelon of country artists. It’s a status that helps him go on tours that are nearly always sold out, including his current “Pawn Shop Guitar” tour which touched down at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, New York on July 9.
Prior to McGraw taking the stage, 49 Winchester, a six-piece country rock outfit from Crestwood, Virginia provided a loud, bluesy opening set covering all six of their albums. Songs like “Hillbilly Daydream,” “Bringin’ Home the Bacon,” and “Long Hard Life,” were all well-received by the near capacity crowd at Bethel Woods. The band is a younger outfit that has been around for more than a decade. Front man Isaac Gibson looks the part of a country rocker with a hat and his face hidden behind sunglasses and a long beard. His loud, commanding voice can go from sounding like Hank Williams Jr. to Brent Smith of Shinedown depending on the song. Towards the end of the band’s hour-plus opening set – a rather long set for an opener – they broke out a beautiful version of the Black Sabbath gem, “Changes,” before wrapping up a short time later.
Taking the stage just around 9pm, McGraw kicked off his set with the softer “Forgot About Us.” Some of his softer songs were the focus of the first part of his set, including “Just to See You Smile,” “Where the Green Grass Grows,” and “My Best Friend.” Early on there was a nod to his pop country songbook in the form of “Down on the Farm,” a song that could be construed as stereotyping people’s perception of country life, albeit a cheesy stereotype. After having dropped the song from previous tours, McGraw spoke of wanting to see a song return to their live shows because of the way the crowd would song it back to the band. The cut – the wildly popular “Don’t Take the Girl,” brought the softer part of the set to a close. The song also served as an example of McGraw’s voice showing signs of aging. At 59 years old, McGraw can still sing without many hiccups, but his voice has noticeably changed a bit over the last 30 plus years.
With his extremely tight band pounding away at the opening, “Real Good Man,” served as appropriate start to his more rowdy material before segueing into the fan favorite “Indian Outlaw.” Staying with the more recognizable material, “Something Like That” had most of the crowd out of their seats singing along to the chorus. “Southern Girl,” and a patriotic “Song for America,” lead into one of his biggest hits and a song that was a crossover hit for him 30 years ago, the raucous “I Like It, I Love It.”
The rest of the set was a barrage of fan favorites like “Mexicoma,” “Live Like You Were Dying,” “King Rodeo,” and “The Cowboy In Me.” McGraw ended the night with a song title straight out of the pop country world, the incredibly bubblegum pop number “Truck Yeah.” If there’s one song that can showcase McGraw’s embracing of cliché pop dynamics, “Truck Yeah” is the hands down winner. Any country song that references Lil’ Wayne in the opening verse loses credibility in the eyes of fans of traditional country, but again, McGraw is both traditional and pop. It’s just a tough pill to swallow for some fans.
At the end of the night, McGraw’s “Pawn Shop Guitar” tour is a celebration of both aspects of his career. He is one of the few artists left from the traditional country era that has embraced the pop era and has made it work. If the joy of the crowd in Bethel was any indication, it’s a combination that they like it, and love it, and clearly want some more of it.
SETLIST:
Forget About Us
Just to See You Smile
Where the Green Grass Grows
My Best Friend
Two Lanes of Freedom
Down on the Farm
Don’t Take the Girl
Real Good Man
Indian Outlaw
Something Like That
Pawn Shop Guitar
Southern Girl
Song for America
I Like It, I Love It
Felt Good on My Lips
Mexicoma
Live Like You Were Dying
King Rodeo
The Cowboy in Me
Humble and Kind
Truck Yeah
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