This past week, Brandi Carlile opened for Sheryl Crow for several shows. I could have gone to the Indianapolis show, but the drive and the ticket would have cost well over $100 and I just couldn't justify that right now for an opening act. I have read four reviews of different shows they've done together and they all basically say the same thing... Brandi was fabulous, Sheryl was unimpressive.
This review of the Madison show from a local news station sums up what I've read from other reviews: Sheryl Crow Delivers Without Passion
With "If It Makes You Happy," she finally got the crowd on their feet. The appearance of opening act, neo-country siren Brandi Carlile, on vocals raised the energy level even higher. Ducking the song's mammoth guitar chords, the two traded verses and peered at each other as they harmonized together.
Contrast Crow's performance with that of Carlile's and it was painfully clear who felt they had something to prove on stage. Washington state-native Carlile showcased her natural vocal abilities and used it win over the polite crowd with her mostly unfamiliar material, letting her giant voice fill and transform the concrete arena into her own Grand Old Opry. Her falsetto was just as gargantuan and breathy as Sarah McLachlan's, but with an obvious country yodel.
She kept her four-piece band hooked up to a plow of a steady, mid-tempo rhythm for most of the set, but the combo relished the chance to rock out as it did during a electrifying take on Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues." She even broke a taboo by singing a solo, acoustic version of Jeff Buckley's frequently-imitated rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," but her vocal chops earned her a reprieve.
Like Crow, Carlile plays the part of a seasoned pro on stage and strikes all the cliché poses that rock stars feel they need to make in big venues. Maybe she felt she needed to really work the audience. At one point, she asked, "Do the people of Madison like country music?" The response she got was uncomfortably muted. But after her song was over, everyone did.
When it was Crow's turn in the spotlight, however, her usually formidable vocal talents sounded underpowered and mired in a pleasing mid-range as compared to Carlile's, whose voice was as imposing as a cathedral organ.
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