“If you’re feeling good make some noise” – Carrie Underwood

It was Labor Day weekend at Ravinia in Highland Park. Everywhere through the crowd were candlelit picnics on this cool breezy Sunday evening. Daylight was just beginning to fade and the stage was set for Carrie Underwood to entertain a sold out show.

An orchestra was set up on stage with a country band intermingled amongst them. Before the concert the orchestral instruments warmed up on stage for the show. In the center of the stage were the conductor’s podium and a black full concert grand piano.

The band walked out and took their places. You hear the occasional scream from someone who can’t stand the wait any longer to see the 2005 American Idol winner. Carrie Underwood makes it out to the stage and the place just lights up with excitement. The person they came to see was finally there to sing.

Opening out the night was the hit song “Cowboy Casanova.” The upbeat pop country piece was done to perfection by the huge band that was on stage. Underwood was right on the money within the entire presentation. The violin hit the solos just like the record with smooth flowing precision.

The song “Change” was just a tremendous delight to hear it played out live. The blending of the orchestra on this song was impeccable. The strings played their parts making it feel bigger than life as the song was building.

A sweet violin melody leads into “Wasted.” The harmonies of angels were singing out during this dramatic piece. It seems their graceful voices were put here for one reason, to sing. Carrie Underwood has proven that she was more than just a flash in the pan for a moment artist. Six years later she is still going strong and won’t be going anywhere soon, but up. Her vocal abilities were polished beyond perfection as she harmonized with the background singers over the beautiful music.

Before they played “American Girl” Carrie told a story about the song. Every time they played it they would bring some young lady up from the audience to sing with. The last time she was at Ravinia, a pretty young lady came up on stage and then chickened out at the opportunity at the last second. The entire idea backfired on Underwood, but “She is here tonight” said Carrie. “I saw her earlier and I wanted to dedicate this song to her.” It would’ve been nice if the girl would’ve grown the courage to sing it on stage this time. Maybe on Carrie’s next time through Chicago.

The sweet sounds of “Temporary home” started out so mellow and it was just a beautiful piece to hear. The guitars blended with all the strings. The soft piano backing up the words “I can see Gods face” sent chills through your spine.

The country ballad “Jesus take the wheel” was absolutely the highlight of the show. When this song starts out, it comes in slow with strum of the guitar and accented with violin accompaniment. The story being told within the lines of the song is very well written. How could Underwood ever top this song? Don’t worry she will, but seeing it in the amazement of Ravinia on a cool evening couldn’t be any more like Heaven.

Underwood explained that this is her third time playing at Ravinia and that she “always enjoyed playing here. It has such a relaxed feeling. Wish we had a place like this where I’m from. Hope you know how good you got it.”

Underwood told stories about what she has been doing. Lately, playing with puppies and hanging out with her husband has been taking up a big part of her free time. Talked about the fact she did over a hundred shows last year. She continued and talked about having a journalist background to fall back on just in case music doesn’t work out for her. The only thing she needs to write is more songs. She will never need the journalist background, but might work well with composing music.

Within every note it is quite obvious that Underwood has an amazing voice in every way. She has grace and can bring it down to Earth with soul. American Idol seems like it was just so long ago.

During the performance Underwood had a very sensitive microphone. Occasionally she wouldn’t pull back far enough from the microphone causing a breath pop through the speakers. It sounded very unprofessional although most people seemed to be oblivious to it. The unwelcome sound was not overpowering enough to make the show not enjoyable, but to a trained ear it was nuisance. Adjustments must have been made by Underwood or the soundboard because it did go away after about a half dozen songs.

 For over one hundred years Ravinia has been having concerts like this during the warm summer months. As this summer is winding down, where else would you rather be than amongst these manicured gardens seeing an incredible act like Carrie Underwood? The sold out show was proof without a doubt that this young lady has touched a lot of people with her music. As this night of music ends, people are bused back to their cars parked at the Botanical Gardens and slowly the parking lot thins out. It wasn’t just another fine evening at Ravinia. It was a night with Carrie Underwood. She is an amazingly talented young lady and truly is an American worth being idolized. She was just fabulous!