I went to my first country concert this past weekend. I had seen country acts before at free festivals but I had never been to a see a major show before. That changed when Witgirl bought me a ticket to Sarnia Bayfest to see Tim McGraw. I’ve been a fan of his since I first heard “Live Like You Are Dying” on the radio. 

That is an amazing song. In fact, the whole album is amazing.

And now I can add that he has an amazing live show as well.

There were over 17,000 fans in attendance for the show. We were in the licensed VIP section and had a great spot about 15 feet back from centre stage.

Just before Tim McGraw came on, the rain started to fall. Fortunately, it was a light rain and it let up after at short while. It didn’t dampen anyone’s mood.

Tim McGraw’s band came out and got all the instruments ready and then Tim just strolled onto the stage and started the show with “I Like It, I Love It.” He captivated the crowd with his nine-piece band consisting of two drummers, a steel guitar player, a keyboard player, a fiddle player, and guitar and bass players. Tim played guitar for a few songs but mostly just held down vocal duties. And he didn’t disappoint.

I could tell that the crowd was in to the performance as they sang along to almost all of his songs and took picture and videos. Although, I must say that they did baffle me a bit. Country fans are a lot different than rap or rock fans. They just stand there and seem to have very little energy. No one jumps up and down or throws their hands in the air. Some people dance in their spot but that’s about it. I guess it’s just that nature of the country concert. But it was weird to see.

Tim McGraw really impressed me with his no-nonsense, no-holds barred show. And he topped off his set perfectly with my favourite song, “Live Like You Were Dying.”

One of his opening acts, Jason Blaine, also really impressed me. He commanded the crowd with his entire performance. I also like how he had a fiddle player on every song. Sometimes she plucked the strings and sometimes she used the bow. She had a really nice solo or two thrown in there as well. They put on a great show. I think I will have to go check out his album.

Tim McGraw has a new album coming out this fall. He played new material from it and got quiet a good response from it. One of the songs was hilarious. It was called “It’s a Business Doing Pleasure With You.” I love how he flips that phrase and tells a story about a woman he likes spending money on. I’ll be looking forward to the album.

So I guess I will have two recent country albums to add to the Taylor Swift one I just got. Crazy, it seems I’m reverting back to a country boy, won’t my mom be happy.