IDOL superstar Carrie Underwood treated her fans to a bevy of hits and dazzling stage production at the AESC last night.
The show started with a brief video of her running from a tornado and then emerging onstage from a wind-blown house, a “The Wizard of Oz” type moment, but landing in Abbotsford, the final stop of this Canadian Tour.
The AESC was sold out for the event as has most every venue for The Blown Away Tour; Industry tracker Pollstar has named it “Country Tour of the year”.
Underwood certainly didn’t disappoint. The set-list contained many of her No. 1 singles which include “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” “Before He Cheats,” “So Small,” “Last Name,” “Cowboy Casanova,” “Good Girl” and “Blown Away.”
She also performed, “Two Black Cadillacs,” the third single from Underwood’s fourth album “Blown Away,” which last month became her 17th No. 1 single and her eighth as a songwriter.
Since her 2005 debut “Some Hearts” (Billboard’s No. 1 Country Album of the decade), she has sold more than 15 million albums. She is only the second country artist whose first four albums debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s country chart. She also is the only country artist to have three albums in a row debut at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.
Another show highlight was when Country Music Star Brad Paisley “joins” Underwood via video on their duet “Remind Me.” It should also be noted by those who keep track of such things, there were four costume changes.
Late into the performance, a small stage appearing to be lifted by hot-air balloons takes her and a few band members aloft over the audience. It completed the “OZ”, “Blown Away” theme nicely.
It was, “The perfect storm of visuals, special effects and, of course, Carrie’s amazing vocals,” was how one concert goer described the concert.
This fall, Underwood will star as Maria von Trapp in a Broadway musical based on “The Sound of Music.”