Tim McGraw & Faith Hill Do Right By Deserving Artists w/ Tour Openers
Married country music power couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill announced they would be embarking on a dual tour called Soul 2 Soul last October, and though McGraw has been responsible for a few pretty decently surprising singles recently, there wasn’t much reason to delve any deeper into the details of a tour that was definitely assured to devolve into a display of adult contemporary disguised as country.
But I’ll be damned if the country duo didn’t surprise a lot of folks this week when they announced the openers for Soul 2 Soul. As opposed to taking the usual stance with openers, which is to drag the same two or three lightweight mainstream up-and-comers around with them for six months, they’ve decided to divide opening duties among a total of 26 separate openers across the 65 total tour dates.
Even more surprising are the names selected to open. Of course you have a few bad apples such as LoCash and Chris Lane. Chris Lane is opening in Bozeman, Montana, so hopefully they fly him out there and leave him (sorry Bozone). But you also have some names that will greatly benefit from opening multiple dates for an arena show.
Included in the list of Soul 2 Soul openers are Margo Price, Brent Cobb, Caitlyn Smith, Midland, Lori McKenna, Brandy Clark, Rhiannon Giddens, Natalie Hemby, Charlie Worsham, Jon Pardi, Cam, and many others whose days will be made when they play for what in many cases will be the biggest audiences of their careers.
Is it worth paying $170 on the secondary market to sit 60 rows back to see Margo Price and Rhiannon Giddens for 30 minutes before Tim and Faith come out to sing mushy songs to each other and suck face at center stage? Probably not unless you’re a big Tim McGraw and Faith Hill fan. But it is still cool they put forth the effort to make sure these worthy artists have an opportunity to be heard by a few more folks. And if nothing else, their names on the marquees will do these artists some good.
Look alive, here come the dates …
April 7: New Orleans, LA; Smoothie King Center-Brothers Osborne
April 9: Tupelo, MS; BancorpSouth Arena-Brothers Osborne
April 20: N. Charleston, SC; N Charleston Coliseum-NEEDTOBREATHE
April 21: Birmingham, AL; Legacy Arena at the BJCC-NEEDTOBREATHE
April 22: Atlanta, GA; Philips Arena-NEEDTOBREATHE
April 27: St. Louis, MO; Scottrade Center-Seth Ennis
April 28: Louisville, KY; KFC Yum! Center-Seth Ennis
April 29: Indianapolis, IN*; Bankers Life Fieldhouse-Seth Ennis
May 4:Newark, NJ; Prudential Center-The Shadowboxers
May 5: Uncasville, CT; Mohegan Sun-The Shadowboxers
May 6: Uncasville, CT; Mohegan Sun-The Shadowboxers
May 11: Tulsa, OK; BOK Center-Jon Pardi
May 12: Lincoln, NE; Pinnacle Bank Arena-Jon Pardi
May 13: Oklahoma City, OK; Chesapeake Energy Arena-Jon Pardi
May 18: Spokane, WA; Spokane Arena-Chris Lane
May 19: Bozeman, MT; Brick Breeden Fieldhouse-Chris Lane
May 20: Bozeman, MT; Brick Breeden Fieldhouse-Chris Lane
May 25: Boise, ID; Taco Bell Arena-Joseph
May 26: Portland, OR; Moda Center-Joseph
May 27: Tacoma, WA; Tacoma Dome-Joseph
May 31: Vancouver, BC; Rogers Arena-Midland
June 2: Calgary, AB; Scotiabank Saddledome-Midland
June 3: Edmonton, AB; Rogers Place-Midland
June 4: Saskatoon, SK; SaskTel Centre-Midland
June 7: Winnipeg, MB; MTS Centre-Caitlyn Smith
June 9: Sioux Falls, SD; Denny Sanford Premier Center-Caitlyn Smith
June 10: Des Moines, IA; Wells Fargo Arena-Caitlyn Smith
June 15: Grand Rapids, MI; Van Andel Arena-High Valley
June 16: Milwaukee, WI; BMO Bradley Harris Arena-High Valley
June 17: Moline, IL; iwireless Center-High Valley
June 22: Ottawa, ON; Canadian Tire Centre-Charlie Worsham
June 23: Toronto, ON; Air Canada Centre-Charlie Worsham
June 24: Toronto, ON; Air Canada Centre-Charlie Worsham
July 7: Boston, MA; TD Garden-Lori McKenna
July 8: Boston, MA; TD Garden-Lori McKenna
July 13: Las Vegas, NV; T-Mobile Arena-Rachael Platten
July 14: Los Angeles, CA; STAPLES Center-Rachael Platten
July 15: Los Angeles, CA; STAPLES Center-Rachael Platten
July 21: Glendale, AZ; Gila River Arena-Rhiannon Giddens
July 22: Ontario, CA; Citizens Business Bank Arena-Rhiannon Giddens
July 23: San Diego, CA; Valley View Casino Center-Rhiannon Giddens
July 28: Sacramento, CA; Golden 1 Center-Devin Dawson
July 29: San Jose, CA; SAP Center-Devin Dawson
July 31: Denver, CO; Pepsi Center-Devin Dawson
Aug 1: Denver, CO; Pepsi Center-Devin Dawson
Aug 3: Little Rock, AR; Verizon Arena-Devin Dawson
Aug 4: Nashville TN; Bridgestone Arena-TBD
Aug 5: Nashville, TN; Bridgestone Arena-TBD
Aug 17: Cleveland, OH; Quicken Loans Arena-Maggie Rose
Aug 18: Philadelphia, PA; Wells Fargo Center-Maggie Rose
Aug 24: Fargo, ND; Fargodome-Natalie Hemby
Aug 25: St. Paul, MN; Xcel Energy Center-Natalie Hemby
Aug 26: St. Paul, MN; Xcel Energy Center-Natalie Hemby
Aug 31: Chicago, IL; Allstate Arena-Ben Rector
Sept 1: Chicago, IL; Allstate Arena-Ben Rector
Sept 2: Cincinnati, OH; US Bank Arena-Ben Rector
Sept 7: Columbus, OH; Nationwide Arena-Brent Cobb
Sept 8: Detroit, MI; The Palace-Brent Cobb
Sept 9: Ft. Wayne, IN; War Memorial-Brent Cobb
Sept 14: Knoxville, TN; Thompson Boling Arena-Eric Paslay
Sept 15: Greenville, SC; Bon Secours Wellness Arena-Eric Paslay
Sept 16: Jacksonville, FL; Veterans Memorial Arena-Eric Paslay
Sept 21: Wichita, KS; INTRUST Bank Arena-Brandy Clark
Sept 22: Omaha, NE; CenturyLink Center-Brandy Clark
Sept 23: Kansas City, MO; Sprint Center-Brandy Clark
Sept 27: Salt Lake City, UT; Vivint Smart Home Arena-Cam
Sept 29: Fresno, CA; Save Mart Center-Cam
Sept 30: Bakersfield, CA; Rabobank Arena-Cam
Oct 5: San Antonio, TX; AT & T Center-Chris Janson
Oct 6: Houston, TX; Toyota Center-Chris Janson
Oct 7: Dallas, TX; American Airlines Center-Chris Janson
Oct 12: Pittsburgh, PA; PPG Paints Arena-Steve Moakler
Oct 13: Washington, DC; Verizon Center-Steve Moakler
Oct 14: Greensboro, NC; Greensboro Coliseum-Steve Moakler
Oct 19: Sunrise, FL; BB&T Center-LOCASH
Oct 20: Tampa, FL; Amalie Arena-LOCASH
Oct 21: Orlando, FL; Amway Center-LOCASH
Oct 26: Buffalo, NY; KeyBank Center-Margo Price
Oct 27: Brooklyn, NY;Barclays Center-Margo Price
Wallace
February 1, 2017 @ 8:46 am
Yet in FL our options are Eric Paslay and LOCASH. I already said nope to this tour based on the near $100 regular market prices.
As far as mainstream tours go though, I’m actually looking forward to Eric Church’s tour which I’m going to see in May. No opening acts and he plays for 3 hours. Plus my ticket was $17. $45 after parking and everything.
seak05
February 1, 2017 @ 9:03 am
I like Eric’s music, so as a fan I get why this is appealing, but I was REALLY disappointed in him not taking Rhiannon on tour with him.
Wallace
February 1, 2017 @ 9:07 am
She probably couldn’t because she has an album coming out late Feb and has her own promotional stuff to do ramping up to it.
Stringbuzz
February 1, 2017 @ 12:10 pm
I just saw EC Saturday..
Show was awesome.
Extremely well paced. He played over 3 hours.. Never a lull in the momentum of the evening. Was great.
I wanted him to do the one man show and it did not disappoint at all.
I’ve seen him in the past and he has always shown taste in his opening acts.
Matty T
February 1, 2017 @ 8:47 am
I wouldn’t be caught dead at one of these shows but props to them for selecting some pretty great opening acts.
seak05
February 1, 2017 @ 9:02 am
I love that they’re doing this. People have different tastes in music, so I try not to make value judgement on people based on whether or not I like their music. But one way for artists to gain respect (from me) is helping the next generation out. When Luke takes out Brett Eldridge, who doesn’t need it, and 8 other people on his tour, it’s to crowded for anyone to develop, (it’s to many). Similarly I was very disjointed that Eric is taking no one out on his tour, it would have been a perfect spot for Rhiannon.
I think a number of artists in country though to it right, and see it as part of their job (Miranda, Carrie, Blake etc).
Shot Jackson
February 1, 2017 @ 10:00 am
Is LoCash the same as the LoCash Cowboys?
Trigger
February 1, 2017 @ 11:22 am
Yes, unfortunately. They’re like a bad rash. Won’t go away.
Clark Brenner
February 1, 2017 @ 11:35 pm
I thought Locash Cowboys were better than LoCash. In their days when they began back in 2010, they sounded great! Unfortunately time has changed and now they sound way too over-produced. They even sang a song with George Jones when they were with Average Joes. I wonder if someone will ever talk some sense into them.
Big Red
February 1, 2017 @ 10:28 am
Interesting to see NEEDTOBREATHE on that list.
liza
February 2, 2017 @ 2:03 am
Needtobreathe has a song on the soon-to-be released soundtrack for the movie The Shack. Tim is in the movie and he and Faith have a duet on the soundtrack.
Derek Sullivan
February 1, 2017 @ 11:15 am
I get why he’s going on tour with his wife, but I have enjoyed Tim’s last few albums and was excited to see him in concert. Unfortunately, adding Faith seemed to have added $50 bucks or more to the price of tickets. I will wait until Tim’s next show.
albert
February 1, 2017 @ 1:56 pm
Ten thumbs up to McGraw and Co. for acknowledging what countless indie fans are already aware of : THERE IS FAR MORE TO COUNTRY MUSIC THAN MEETS THE AIRWAVES .
McGraw has released some real stinkers along with some terrific COUNTRY songs . BUT he has consistently included the BEST songs by some incredible songwriters on his albums . And yes ..musically Faith has pandered to the AOR crowd overall , but she too has recorded some ‘go-out-on-a-limb’ gems ( Secret Of Life ) . I’m encouraged whenever the big league artists give credit where its due and support writers with integrity and intelligence who strive to touch fans on the basis of that rather than another nursery rhyme set to drum loops .
Corncaster
February 1, 2017 @ 2:17 pm
They should hold a contest and have the winners be the opening acts by locals, wherever they go.
That would be country.
Maniza Johnson
February 1, 2017 @ 3:37 pm
I am a huge fan of Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. I live in Portland, Oregon. Where can I buy the tickets for their show in Portland?
liza
February 2, 2017 @ 2:04 am
Ticketmaster.
hoptowntiger94
February 1, 2017 @ 5:04 pm
I saw Tim & Faith New Years Eve 1999 in Nashville. Jessica Andrews and The Clark Family Experience were openers for the NYE concert. I was young, it was fun.
For work, I saw them again in 2007. A young up-and-comer, Taylor Swift, was the opener.
Sherri Rosen
February 1, 2017 @ 5:33 pm
Faith hasn’t had a song on the radio in years and when she sings with Tim (even the song from past, present and future singers) she is very clingy to him as if she always needs to tell people “he’s mine”.
liza
February 2, 2017 @ 2:05 am
Rolling my eyes.
Jacob
February 1, 2017 @ 6:24 pm
I mean the way things are going it’s really Margo, brent and them doing Tim and Faith a favor. Lending them some credibility
This wasn’t some done without careful thought.
Clark Brenner
February 1, 2017 @ 11:43 pm
There’s also Caitlyn Smith, Midland, Rhiannon Giddens, and Charlie Worsham helping them out too. Can’t wait to hear some great music from these guys! Plus it’ll help people realize that Pop Country is not the only thing out there. That will definitely show radio that no one wants to hear that Pop crap anymore.
ClemsonBrad
February 3, 2017 @ 9:15 am
Speaking of Midland. Any chance of an EP review, Trigger? I am really digging those guys. Great sound.