Soul2Soul 2000
Tour by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
Start dateJuly 12, 2000
End dateDecember 12, 2000
Legs2
No. of shows65 in North America
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert chronology

The Soul2Soul 2000 Tour was the first joint concert tour by American country singers, and husband and wife, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. The concert tour began in Atlanta in July 2000, and ended later that year in December in Orlando. The tour's shows featured an opening set by Hill, then a set by McGraw, followed by some songs performed jointly.[1] The tour reflected both the successful marriage of the two artists as well as their very different styles[2] and the dual directions country music was going in at the time.[1][3][4][5]

The tour grossed nearly $50 million and was witnessed by close to 950,000 people.[6] 60 of the 65 reported shows were sold-out.[6] It was fifth highest grossing of any genre in North America,[7][8] and the leading country music tour, during 2000.[9] An estimated 1 million people attended the shows.[9] The pairing of the musically divergent couple led to Pollstar giving the tour its second-most important Concert Industry Award, that of Most Creative Tour Package for 2000.[10]

History

This was not the first time the two had toured together: Hill was McGraw's opening act on his 1996 Spontaneous Combustion Tour, which is where they first met.[11] The Soul2Soul Tour was in support of their most recent albums at the time, McGraw's A Place In The Sun and Hill's mega-success Breathe.[11] The tour was originally set to run July through October, however, following unexpected success (the opening leg grossed $18 million),[9] the tour was extended into the end of the year.[9]

The opening night at the Philips Arena in Atlanta was sold out, but so many fans showed up looking to get in that the local promoter opened up a section behind the stage and let the fans in.[9]

At the Madison Square Garden show in New York City – where a local radio host proclaimed the show the biggest country concert ever to hit the city – McGraw's father Tug McGraw was in attendance, as was New York Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens, who appeared onstage to bring Tim McGraw a Bud Lite.[2]

After the tour concluded, McGraw toured on a solo basis, but Hill did not, until the couple staged their next joint production, the more elaborate and even more commercially successful Soul2Soul II Tour 2006.

The stage and the show

The show featured a unique[1] 360 degree endstage that allowed for full arena capacity, with a catwalk[12] and raised podiums on either side of the stage and a riser from below for performer entrances.[1] It took almost 100 roadies to move the production from city to city.[13]

The show was presented as two self-contained sets.[14] Hill would perform first, followed by a short intermission and then McGraw would take the stage.[1] In a sense Hill was still an opening act for McGraw, as the applause generally indicated that the majority of the audience was clearly there to see McGraw.[2] The couple's music was very different at this stage of their careers, as Hill was exploring pop, techno and programmed drums, and 1960s retro sounds, while McGraw stuck to his more mainstream country approach.[1][2]

After McGraw's set, a video montage was presented of the couple's family, then the two returned to close the show with five duets; the show closer was a rendition of Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way".[1]

Critical reception

CMT News wrote that "Go Your Own Way" represented "a clear-cut declaration of where country music finds itself today, aimed at Gen-Xers and baby boomers and drifting more into the pop realm than ever before."[1] Rolling Stone said that in the show, "McGraw and Hill provided an interesting contrast in the differences between country and not country, pop country and pop pop."[2] The San Francisco Chronicle found the "Go Your Own Way" ending, with the couple singing from opposite ends of the stage, "a little unclear on the concept: Country music's most happily marrieds were singing a bitter breakup song from rock's most famous divorce album to end their show."[15]

Some critics reacted unfavorably to Hill's performance, criticizing her as a "vacuous and wooden entertainer",[15] "lack[ing] identity [and singing] cotton candy",[16] with a "voice [that] comes across as thin ... exposing...absolutely nothing in resembling personality."[2] Her rendition of Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" came in particular for poor notices.[15][16] One newspaper mentioned "her face full of Revlon",[15] and indeed it was later reported that her makeup kit for the tour was a 300-pound case on seven wheels, designed specifically for her at $4,000 cost.[9] Other writers praised Hill,[1] saying she "belted it out with the best of them", and praising her performance of her "There Will Come a Day".[12]

Set list

Hill

  1. "What's In It For Me?"
  2. "The Way You Love Me"
  3. "If My Heart Had Wings"
  4. "Wild One"
  5. "I've Got My Baby"
  6. "The Secret of Life"
  7. "That's How Love Moves" 1
  8. "Let Me Let Go"
  9. "Breathe"
  10. "It Matters To Me"
  11. "Love Child" 1
  12. "Piece of My Heart"
  13. "Let's Go to Vegas"
  14. "Where Are You, Christmas?" 1
  15. "There Will Come A Day"
  16. "This Kiss"

McGraw

  2. "Indian Outlaw" (Instrumental introduction)
  3. "Heartbroken Again" 1
  4. "Where the Green Grass Grows"
  5. "Something Like That"
  6. "Refried Dreams"
  7. "Everywhere"
  8. "Don't Take the Girl"
  9. "Just to See You Smile"
  10. "For a Little While"
  11. "Down On the Farm"
  12. "The Joker"
  13. "Seventeen" (contains elements of "It Was a Very Good Year")
  14. "Some Things Never Change"
  15. "All I Want"
  16. "I Like It, I Love It"

Hill/McGraw

  1. "It's Your Love"
  2. "Let Me Love You"
  3. "Angry All the Time"
  4. "Let's Make Love"
  5. "Go Your Own Way"

1 Performed at select shows

Opening acts

Keith Urban served as an unannounced opening act at some shows.[1] The Warren Brothers also opened some shows.[2]

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
July 12, 2000 Atlanta United States Philips Arena
July 13, 2000 Birmingham BJCC Arena
July 15, 2000 Raleigh Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena
July 16, 2000 Greenville Bi-Lo Center
July 18, 2000 Sunrise National Car Rental Center
July 19, 2000 Tampa Ice Palace
July 21, 2000 New Orleans New Orleans Arena
July 22, 2000 Memphis Pyramid Arena
July 23, 2000 Lafayette Cajundome
July 26, 2000 Denver Pepsi Center
July 28, 2000 Salt Lake City Delta Center
July 29, 2000 Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Events Center
July 31, 2000 San Jose San Jose Arena
August 4, 2000 Anaheim Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
August 5, 2000 San Diego Cox Arena
August 6, 2000 Phoenix America West Arena
August 8, 2000 Sacramento ARCO Arena
August 9, 2000 Oakland The Arena in Oakland
August 11, 2000 Portland Rose Garden Arena
August 12, 2000 Tacoma Tacoma Dome
August 13, 2000 Spokane Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena
August 15, 2000 Boise BSC Pavilion
August 18, 2000 Fargo Fargodome
August 19, 2000 Minneapolis Target Center
August 20, 2000 Chicago United Center
September 1, 2000 Cleveland Gund Arena
September 2, 2000 Pittsburgh Mellon Arena
September 3, 2000 Grand Rapids Van Andel Arena
September 6, 2000 Knoxville Thompson–Boling Arena
September 8, 2000 University Park Bryce Jordan Center
September 9, 2000 Columbus Nationwide Arena
September 10, 2000
September 12, 2000 Albany Pepsi Arena
September 13, 2000 Hartford XL Center
September 15, 2000 Washington, D.C. MCI Center
September 16, 2000 New York City Madison Square Garden
September 17, 2000 Worcester Worcester's Centrum Centre
September 20, 2000 Philadelphia First Union Center
September 22, 2000 Indianapolis Conseco Fieldhouse
September 23, 2000 St. Louis Savvis Center
September 24, 2000 Kansas City Kemper Arena
September 26, 2000 North Little Rock Alltel Arena
September 28, 2000 Milwaukee Bradley Center
September 29, 2000 Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills
September 30, 2000
October 7, 2000 Los Angeles Staples Center
October 8, 2000 Bakersfield Bakersfield Centennial Garden
October 11, 2000 Dallas Reunion Arena
October 13, 2000 Houston Compaq Center
October 14, 2000 Austin Frank Erwin Center
October 15, 2000 Oklahoma City Myriad Arena
October 17, 2000 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum
October 18, 2000 Louisville Freedom Hall
November 24, 2000 Cincinnati Firstar Center
November 25, 2000 Charleston Charleston Civic Center
November 27, 2000 Madison Kohl Center
November 28, 2000 Champaign Assembly Hall
November 30, 2000 East Rutherford Continental Airlines Arena
December 1, 2000 Baltimore Baltimore Arena
December 3, 2000 Richmond Richmond Coliseum
December 7, 2000 Ottawa Canada Corel Centre
December 8, 2000 Toronto Air Canada Centre
December 9, 2000 Rochester United States Blue Cross Arena
December 11, 2000 North Charleston North Charleston Coliseum
December 12, 2000 Orlando TD Waterhouse Center

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kelly, James (2000-07-13). "Feels Like the First Time: McGraw and Hill Kick Off the Summer's Most Anticipated Country Tour". CMT. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Dansby, Andrew (2000-09-19). "Soul 2 Soul Tour Finds McGraw, Hill Speaking Same Language, Different Genre". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-07-12.[dead link]
  3. ^ Evans, Rob (2000-07-12). "New Dates, Seats Added To Faith Hill, Tim McGraw Co-Bill". liveDaily. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  4. ^ Evans, Rob (2000-09-08). "Tim McGraw, Faith Hill Will Take Soul To Soul Tour Into October". liveDaily. Archived from the original on August 19, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  5. ^ Zahlaway, Jon (2000-10-27). "McGraw and Hill add six new tour dates". liveDaily. Archived from the original on September 6, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  6. ^ a b Waddell, Ray (2006-01-06). "McGraw, Hill Teaming For Another Tour". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  7. ^ "Country Beat". VH1. 2001-01-03. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  8. ^ Saraceno, Christina (2000-12-30). "Tina Turner the Top Touring Act of 2000". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-07-12.[dead link]
  9. ^ a b c d e f Dickerson, James L. (2001). Faith Hill: Piece of My Heart. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0-312-28195-1. pp. 139–140.
  10. ^ "Pollstar Concert Industry Awards: 2000 Winners". Pollstar. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  11. ^ a b "Faith Hill Biography (1967–)". The Biography Channel. Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. Retrieved 2007-04-23.
  12. ^ a b Stevenson, Jane (2000-12-08). "Concert Review: Faith Hill". Jam!. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved 2008-07-12.((cite news)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ^ Mansfield, Brian (2006-04-19). "Again, Hill, McGraw are Soul2Soul". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  14. ^ Toombs, Mikel (2007-08-02). "Kindred spirits". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  15. ^ a b c d Selvin, Joel (2000-08-02). "Faith Hill and Tim McGraw have the looks, but their San Jose Arena show lacks the music". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  16. ^ a b Rosenberg, Matt (2000-08-14). "Tim McGraw serves up spice Faith Hill lacks". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
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