TORONTO -- Country music superstars Faith Hill and Tim McGraw are calling their joint show, which rolled into the Air Canada Centre last night, the Soul 2 Soul Tour.
But McGraw, who's been at this slightly longer than Hill, will have to forgive his real-life wife for stealing a lot of the spotlight.
She is, after all, country music's current darling having just scooped up an armload of Billboard Music Awards on Tuesday night in Las Vegas on the strength of her multi-platinum 1999 crossover album, Breathe. (In fact, Hill's victory in some categories meant McGraw went home empty-handed.)
Last night, it was ladies first -- well, after opening duo The Warren Brothers warmed up the sold-out crowd of 18,000.
Hill, looking modern and sexy in a black Harley-Davidson tank top with sparkly blue lettering, matching black pants and black stiletto-heeled boots, first appeared on a catwalk above her three backup singers and seven-piece band, the latter who emerged from beneath an enormous white stage.
She kept her hour-long, 14-song set list to tunes primarily from Breathe and its predecessor Faith, although some early material also found its way in there -- most memorably It Matters To Me, which saw the audience join in for a heartfelt singalong.
Despite being a cheerful, downright sweet presence on stage, Hill didn't really hit her stride vocally until about midway through her set.
Hill then belted it out with the best of them, beginning with a ballad, Where Are You Christmas? -- from the How The Grinch Stole Christmas soundtrack. That was followed by such barnburners as What's In It For Me?, Piece Of My Heart -- yes, Janis Joplin's signature tune -- and There Will Come A Day. She also sang her huge crossover hits This Kiss and Breathe, but they lacked the intensity of the aforementioned highlights.
Hill definitely proved she's a lot more than a pretty face -- let's face it, she's the Claudia Schiffer of country music -- and frankly didn't seem to want to leave the stage when the time came for McGraw to take over.
"You know what the best thing is about being a woman?" Hill yelled at one point. "You guys can't live without us! Right?"
In her case, I expect that's true.
As for the muscled McGraw, who went "the man in black-and-grey route," from his cowboy hat right down to his dress shoes (no boots for this Nashville-based artist), he was a rougher, tougher presence than his wife.
Taking the stage after a half-hour intermission, McGraw and his eight-piece band spent an hour ripping through songs from his latest multi-platinum release, A Place In The Sun, plus greatest hits like Where The Green Grass Grows, Just To See You Smile, Down On The Farm and I Like It, I Love It.
Still, he threw in some curve balls -- like playing a snippet of Frank Sinatra singing It Was A Very Good Year, right before his own song, Seventeen, and covering the Steve Miller classic, The Joker.
Other unexpected pleasures came during the evening's encore, featuring Hill -- changed into a black turtleneck and a black-and-red skirt -- and McGraw in a series of five duets.
Most poignant was Angry All The Time, which saw the couple seated at opposite ends of the stage, while McGraw strummed an acoustic guitar -- after a false start -- without accompaniment.
It certainly seemed as if some tiny spat broke out between them during the next and final song, a cover of Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way. McGraw playfully refused to sing some of his verses and Hill couldn't cover because she didn't know the words.
She spent the remainder of the tune running away from him, although he eventually caught up to her when she was seated on the steps of the stage, and gave her a big bear hug and a kiss.
JAM! Rating: 4 out of 5
