Miranda Lambert dazzles with scorching sincerity at State Fair concert
09:49 AM CDT on Sunday, October 18, 2009
Miranda Lambert is an incendiary country-rocker, a female version ofSteve Earle sans the drugs and tattoos.
But then the Lindale singer-songwriter turns vulnerable, bravely exposing deeply emotional edges.
And between those extremes is a jubilant party performer with a penchant for classic rock, pop and R&B.
All those sides of Lambert took command of the Chevrolet Main Stage on Saturday night at the State Fair of Texas before a mass crowd still pumped up by the Texas-Oklahoma football game earlier in the day.
For about 100 minutes, flanked by five band members and a draped backdrop that read "Revolution," Lambert performed tunes from three CDs 2005's Kerosene, 2007's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and the newRevolution.
Choice covers dotted her set, namely an R&B-meets-country rendition of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour" and a cool, rock-chick take on Joan Jett & the Blackhearts' "I Love Rock 'N Roll."
The Revolution material slid seamlessly into the well-known repertoire. She blazed through "Sin for a Sin," rocked with down-home abandon during "White Liar" and sang "Time to Get a Gun" with twangy conviction.
Yet when she grabbed a stool and sat down for two ballads, Lambert revealed sincere poignancy. "The House That Built Me" poured out of her as if she were reciting her life story. "More Like Her" found her solemn and passionate. She lost herself in both songs.
That's the mark of a true artist, not just a mere singer. Which brings us to "Gunpowder & Lead," her scorching hit about domestic abuse and a shotgun. Sporting a bass-heavy arrangement, "Gunpowder" was the evening's centerpiece. Lambert chewed up the lyrics and then spit them out.
She made the song her manifesto. She didn't just sell it; she lived it.
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