Review and Photos by Dan Locke
Sheryl Crow and company brought their fun lovin' show to the Oneida Casino last Saturday night. Michelle Branch decided to come along for the ride as her opening act. They made the choice to hold the show in a rather large tent. Yes a tent. It didn't matter where they were going to play because I was ready to see some of the best ladies of rock show their stuff.
The tent was overflowing with some 3,000 music hungry fans. This was no ordinary tent. P.T. Barnum would have been envious of it's expansiveness. With two large video screens and a sound system that surpassed many established brick and mortar venues, the stage was set. In fact the sound kicked ass. No matter were you were you had a good seat.
Michelle Branch started the show off with the fiery and velvety "Set Me Free," then blew into the pop freshness of "Everywhere" and "Here with Me." Her jumpy and fun set consisted of 10 songs. Branch put on a powerful, but somewhat mellower performance than usual. She closed with "All You Wanted." The cool thing she did after her set, was to pick young girls in the crowd for a Meet and Greet after the show. She certainly got the fans warmed up and ready for Sheryl.
Sheryl Crow strutted onto the stage dressed in her trademark girl next door look, albeit a lot sexier than in recent years. She smiled at you and looked like she could be your best friend. She winked at the audience a couple of times as she prepared herself and the band to rip out some straight-forward kick-ass rock n' roll (with a feminist twist, of course).
She opened up with the energetic "Steve McQueen" and from then on she played all of her hits including:
"Favorite Mistake"
"Leaving Las Vegas"
"Strong Enough"
"Elvis (Loves Me)"
"Change"
"All I Wanna Do"
It was a versatile and inspired set. The band was tightly crisp and Sheryl's vocal range was greater than normal. The woman has rock star appeal that carried into her lively stage presence. It was cool to see the satisfied audience sing back to her. Note by note. She closed with "Safe and Sound" while she energetically hit the ivories on her piano.Then the show stopper happened. She jumped on top of her piano, kicked her long leg in the air and ripped the barn's roof off on "Rock and Roll." She danced with a genuine abandon whose enthusiasm bled deep into the audience. Satisfied and tired, Crow bowed to her many fans and took her time walking off the stage so she could have the audience's warm embrace hug her just a little bit longer.
