Carried Underwood delivered a country music gem at the DCU Center in Worcester on Wednesday night
Carrie Underwood performed on Wednesday at the DCU Center in Worcester.WORCESTER - Country star Carrie Underwood made sure to cover all the bases with her two hour performance at the DCU Center on Wednesday night. As part of the fall leg of her “Blown Away” tour, Underwood included a duet with opener Hunter Hayes, a video appearance from Brad Paisley, and a cover of Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion.”
Not to mention a floating stage, confetti cannons, and giant beach balls.
Bases covered.
Despite all the little surprises, the biggest might have been that the 2005 winner of “American Idol” didn’t sell out the venue (there were empty seats all along the top of the arena). Perhaps some fans were holding out for the Nov. 10 date at the XL Center in Hartford.
And even with all the bells and whistles it should be noted that this was not just another bells and whistles arena concert. Underwood may be the most talented “idol” of them all and has proven her staying power with multi-platinum sales. She can sing as well as anyone in the country genre and didn’t cut any corners with her Worcester performance.
The show opened with an Oz-like video, twisters all about, and Underwood emerging from a video board diorama to sing “Good Girl.” She mixed tempos well, from the semi-rocker “Wasted” to the Randy Travis ballad “I Told You So.”
The hits were on display, from “Jesus Take The Wheel,” to “Last Name,” and she brought her eight-piece band over the top with the bombastic “Cowboy Casanova.”
While the band stretched out that song, the crew quickly assembled a floating stage that Underwood and her mates mounted to ride across the hall. While in motion, they offered semi-acoustic versions of “Thank God For Hometowns,” and “Crazy Dreams.”
On the return route, the confetti and beach balls came out as Underwood sang “One Way Ticket.” She made it back to the stage to be greeted by Hayes for a run through “Leave Love Alone.”
Her version of Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” was sterilized but passable and her duet with Paisley, appearing via recorded video, was a highlight.
Underwood closed the main portion of the set with “Before He Cheats” and closed out the two song encore with the title track to her latest release “Blown Away.”
Hunter Hayes delivered a 30 minute opening set that featured his chart topping hit “Wanted.”