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Sara Evans and Craig
Morgan Perform at the Taste of Chicago
By: Brianna
Nightingale, CSO Staff Journalist
Hips were shaking, hands were
waving and great music was being played on Sunday afternoon
(July 1) on the Petrillo Music Shell stage at the Taste of
Chicago in Grant Park.
Thanks to many different
sponsors, nobody in the audience had to pay to watch Craig
Morgan and Sara Evans perform.
Fans were on their feet as
Morgan appeared on stage, beginning his 13-song set with his
buoyant “I Got You.” Continuing to show his side
that women love, he sang “Look At Us,” “My Kind of
Woman” and his well-known “That’s What I Love About
Sunday,” which spent five weeks at number one and was
country radio’s most played song of the year in 2005.
Two amusing songs that
continue to prove Morgan’s relatable lyrics, “I Am”
and “I’m Country,” were to follow. Throwing in a
slow, poignant piece, “Almost Home” came before he
belted out “International Harvester” and “My Redneck
of the Woods.”
Morgan’s touching new
single, “Tough,” is one which he did not write; however,
every ounce of emotion he had went into singing this song.
His well-known song
“Redneck Yacht Club” was followed by “Easy Like a
Sunday Morning,” one which you might know. Morgan
wrapped up his set with “Little Bit of Life” before one
of US99’s radio hosts, Mike LeBaron, asked the crowd to
stand up and show their excitement for Sara Evans.
Evans’ band started her
vivacious “Coalmine” just before she entered the stage
with a big smile. She followed that with her first huge
hit “Born To Fly,” which was actually the
make-it-or-break-it song from her 2000 album.
“No Place That Far,”
Evans’ first number 1 single, came before another popular,
catchy song, “Perfect,” from her Restless album. Already
the mother of two, Evans wrote “You’ll Always Be My
Baby” while she was pregnant with her third child. On
stage, she put just as much emotion into this song as she
does with everything she sings, making it hard not to get
drawn into the lyrics and vocals of her songs.
Her impressive harmonies from
“I Keep Lookin’” and “Cheatin’” were to follow. Introducing
“Suds In the Bucket,” a tune which was inspired by her
childhood in the country, Evans said that she never left
with any of the guys that tried to get her to run off with
them, but two of her sisters did. “That’s why they
have so many kids,” she joked. The two sisters she
was referring to, the ones who do all the backup vocals on
her albums, also performed as back-up singers at this
concert.
Evans’ exciting new single,
“As If,” is a new favorite of mine. She introduced
her band, giving recognition to her two sisters on stage as
well as one of her two older brothers, who plays bass guitar
in her band.
Dedicating “I Could Not Ask
for More” to the audience and all of her fans, Evans sang
“Real Fine Place,” Leon Russell’s moving “A Song for
You,” and finished her set with Fleetwood Mac’s “Go
Your Own Way.”
Morgan and Evans certainly
know how to give their shows everything they’ve got,
whether they are singing lyrics that pull at the strings of
your heart or ones that will have you laughing as you
realize they’re singing about you. Although they’re
both busy parents, these two continue to put on impressive
performances again and again; their shows in Chicago were no
exception.
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