Carrie Underwood

Country superstar Carrie Underwood played the Abbotsford Sports & Entertainment arena last night to a (I think) sold out crowd, the last show of her "Blown Away" tour that began just about one year ago. It was a real treat to see her in such an intimate venue, especially considering that she played Rogers Arena in Vancouver, just a 40 minute drive away, in October of 2012.

Full disclosure: I am a fan of American Idol, and have been a fan of Mrs. Mike Fisher since her season on Idol. Full, full disclosure: I would have voted for Bo Bice. I thought he was a sure bet rock star, and I thought Carrie would probably be a mid-level country artist. Shows you what I know. Since winning Idol, Underwood has rocketed to country music icon status, and has been inducted into the Grand Ol' Opry. Bice has all but disappeared completely.

The lady can flat-out sing. We arrived a few minutes late for the show, thanks to my lovely wife booking her business trip right over the concert (her flight arrived at the Abbotsford airport at 7:58; Underwood was scheduled to take the stage at 8. Thankfully it was only a 10 minute drive between the two venues). Underwood was in the middle of  "See You Again" when we got to our seats, and she continued to belt out hit after hit for the next two hours. One of my favorite things about this artist is her genuineness. I believe everything she says, and everything she sings. There isn't a modicum of pretentiousness to her and it shines through in her music. And despite the fact that she and her band were clearly happy that the long tour had ended (probably the most enthusiastic thing she said all night was "LET'S GO HOME!!!!!" after the final song of the encore), she played with great energy and passion.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I've had a great couple years in concerts; from up and coming pop icons (Katy Perry, Lady Gaga) to grizzled old rock legends (Winwood, Eagles, KISS, Aerosmith, Clapton), from one of the all time greats (Springsteen) to true music royalty (McCartney), it's been a pretty good run of shows. While it's tough to compare this show to any of those, it's a completely different genre and different feel, it was no less enjoyable. We had a great time.

Congratulations to Carrie on all her success. I think it's safe to say that the voters of American Idol, season 4, got it right.

Sorry, Bo.