Underwood creates tornado on stage at Budweiser Gardens

Carrie Underwood came in like a tornado at Budweiser Gardens on Thursday -- and still had enough lift to soar above the crowd when the stage beneath her cowboy boots needed to fly.

With 8,100 fans at the sold-out downtown London arena up and cheering, the U.S. country singer emerged from a set recalling The Wizard of Oz, walking out on centre stage from the door of a prop house next to a prop windmill which had survived that faux tornado.

To add to the big start, Underwood opened with a stomping version of her big hit Good Girl from the Blown Away album. Underwood strolled around the stage in a white, fringe-laden outfit that worked as a leggy mini-skirt at the front and a long, cool, floor-touching gown at the back.

That was only the start of a night of hot country hits and elaborate stage magic.

There were plenty of hits -- Two Black Cadillacs, Last Name and All-American Girl which had some "Canadian" content and Jesus, Take The Wheel among them.

Underwood also showed off an array of outfits from the feathery short dress which replaced the gown to the cut-offs and T-shirt look and then the tight pants and jacket late in the set.

The last outfit was perfect for a cover of Aerosmith's Sweet Emotion, with her band blasting away like arena rock gods and the encores still to come

Speaking of sweet -- in the middle of the show Underwood was over the crowd, over the top on a mini-stage which was carried safely above the fans on a huge track near the arena roof.

That track was dressed up with some party balloons adding to the magic feeling.

"I really wanted a moment in the show when I got to see everybody's face," Underwood said during the up-there mini-set starting with Get Out Of This Town and ending with a partying One Way Ticket.

"Naturally, the logical choice was 'flying stage,' " Underwood said as she set a record for a headliner's time aloft and most spectacular voyage from blue line to blue line. Previous contenders Justin Bieber and Sarah Brightman and any others who have sung from on-high better up their game before coming back downtown.

It was a big night for country in the city.

"Three Grammy nominations, c'mon," Underwood said in urging the crowd to cheer second-on-the-bill Hunter Hayes, who had just sung a late-set duet with her.

Underwood has Grammy nods for Blown Away, in case the big stage twister -- as in "blown away" -- that swirled around her at Thursday's finale, leaves her wanting more trophies.

She has already sold about 15 million albums and co-written many of her No. 1 hit singles.

Underwood could be considered "half-Canadian" as an Oklahoma-raise star married to a locked-out NHLer.

Underwood is married to Peterborough-born Mike Fisher, who like his Nashville Predator teammates and the rest of the NHL players, is locked out.

Hayes, 21, plays more than two dozen instruments. On Thursday, he showed off his guitar, blazing away on solos when it was electric and tossing off complex licks when he was playing acoustic.

The downtown arena has seen such hot country guitarists as Keith Urban and Brad Paisley. Louisiana-raised Hayes is a hot guitarist too and, being an up and comer, he jumps around more in a night than those two superstars might do in a month or more.

Kira Isabella, a rising start from Ottawa, opened Thursday's show.

james.reaney@sunmedia.ca

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Source: http://www.lfpress.com/2012/12/07/underwood-creates-tornado-on-stage-at-budweiser-gardens

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