Miranda Lambert Kicks It Old School During Nashville ‘Wildcard’ Tour Stop
Miranda Lambert brought a few old favorites, a few old friends and a few old country classics to her Nashville stop on the Wildcard Tour.
For 100 minutes the "Bluebird" singer rifled through songs, to the count of 28 of them before finishing just before 11PM. This isn't a tour that dazzles with visual aids and outfit changes. No unexpected Nashville celebrities joined her for the hometown show, and she didn't dip into the crowd or do that thing where an artist walks off stage without really saying goodbye so the crowd can pretend their noise level will decide if he or she comes back. They call it an encore these days. Lambert just sees it as pointless.
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A singer of Lambert's caliber had the means to do every one of those things, but at every crossroad she chose simply to play another song, be it a hit from her catalog or favorite from Wildcard. "White Trash" and "Kerosene" opened, setting a set of book ends up for all songs that followed to fall between. She explored almost every era of her artistry except the dark songs on The Weight of These Wings. "Tin Man" was noticeably absent from the set list, but the Wildcard album turned such a corner for her that it's understandable.
Lambert and her eight-piece band chose six songs from her new album, including the two radio singles "It All Comes Out In the Wash" and "Bluebird," "Tequila Does" and "Dark Bars," a song she set up as this album's "Tin Man" (our words, not hers). Expected titles from Four the Record, Platinum and Revolution peppered the set ("The House That Built Me," "Gunpowder and Lead," "Mama's Broken Heart" etc ...), but the most satisfying surprises came when she introduced songs like "Famous In a Small Town." This hasn't been a staple of her live show until fairly recently, but with an audience of longtime fans, familiarity was no issue.
Elsewhere she threw it back with airtight covers of Alan Jackson's "Don't Rock the Jukebox" and Travis Tritt's "It's a Great Day To Be Alive," her all-call show closer that included opening acts Lanco and Cody Johnson.
The Pistol Annies took over about halfway through her set. It's hard to classify this as a true surprise, since it happens with some regularity and Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley live nearby. Plus, they're nominated for a Grammy during Sunday's show (Jan. 26 on CBS). The four-song set was a good change of pace. "Takin' Pills," "Got My Name Changed Back," "Best Years of My Life" and "Hell on Heels" set up a rowdy peak that included "Gunpowder" and "Mama's." Mostly the show just kept cooking along with no speed bumps and little time for banter, breaks or soapboxing.
You know, kind of like how they used to do it in country music, and kind of like how the frequent Entertainer of the Year nominees still do today.
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Miranda Lambert Wildcard Tour Set List, Nashville, Tenn.
1. “White Trash”
2. “Kerosene”
3. “Mess With My Head”
4. “Famous In a Small Town"
5. “It All Comes Out in the Wash”
6. “Vice”
7. “Bluebird”
8. “Heart Like Mine”
9. “Over You”
10. (With Pistol Annies) “Takin Pills”
11. (With Pistol Annies) “Got My Name Changed Back”
12. (With Pistol Annies) “Best Years of My Life”
13. (With Pistol Annies) “Hell on Heels.”
14. "We Should Be Friends"
15. “That’s the Way the World Goes Round’
16. “Baggage Claim” into cover of “Feelin’ Alright”
17. “Only Prettier”
18. “Gunpowder & Lead”
19. “Mama’s Broken Heart”
20. “All Kinds of Kinds”
21. “The House That Built Me”
22. “Dark Bars"
23. “Tequila Does”
24 “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” (Alan Jackson Cover)
25. “Automatic”
26. “White Liar”
27. “Little Red Wagon”
28. (With Cody Johnson and Lanco) “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive” (Travis Tritt Cover)