April 14th (The Fillmore – Detroit, MI) – I wasn’t initially planning on attending or reviewing this concert but Jessie has really been getting some major attention lately, especially this last few months, so I decided to have Full Access Detroit put in the media approval request and head down to the show. I’m so glad I did, for several reasons, and those will be explained throughout the course of this concert review. This was the first night of Jessie’s ‘The Woman I’ve Become’ tour and I was honestly happy yet very surprised that she kicked it off in Detroit. We get a lot of tours that do start in Detroit or Michigan in general, but they usually aren’t country concerts. It was definitely a welcome surprise and I hope we get to see more of that happening around here in the future. We arrived to the venue just after doors opened and spent some time walking around and checking out the crowd. This was the first time in a long time that I’ve been to a concert dominated by women. In fact, safe to estimate that 75% of the crowd was female.
Opening the show for this tour is Adam Doleac. I didn’t know much about him prior to this evening but I have been hearing the song ‘Somewhere Cool with You’ on the radio over this last few week so at least I was familiar with something he’s put out. I was quite surprised how much I enjoyed his set. His band was talented, and they all had a good look and vibe and they played well off of each other which is something I’ve always thought was so important. Adam was entertaining to watch as well, and he had great stage presence and really did a good job interacting with the crowd. This was absolutely a good start to the evening.
A short break between bands and it was time to see what Jessie James Decker was all about. Before the lights even went down the crowd was riled up with chants of “Jessie, Jessie, Jessie” at the top of their lungs. It was a unique perspective for me as it felt like I was covering a “girls night out” event. We all know how crazy that can get. Now, I’m definitely a traditional sounding country type of guy or country with a rock or southern rock edge but I honestly enjoyed what her and the band were doing. She’s obviously gorgeous but damn can this girl sing. What a powerful voice from such a tiny woman. She’s a natural on stage and you can tell just how much she loves performing for people. The crowd was eating it up song after song as her and the band went through the set. I really enjoyed ‘Southern Girl City Lights’ and it was so touching when she brought her husband Eric out and sang ‘Tell You Enough’ to him in front of everyone. I also loved when their daughter and about 10 other kids got brought up on stage and had some fun with the song ‘Flip My Hair’. When Jessie did a Shania Twain cover later in the set, it was pretty intense to hear the crowd sing the whole song word for word, at times even drowning Jessie out. Closing out the evening was of course ‘Should Have Known Better’ and it was the perfect way for her to end the show and the night.
I had the chance to speak to her merchandise girl for a few minutes during the show. It was really nice to hear that Jessie is such a kind and down to earth person. She also noted how much Jessie loves and appreciates her band along with the crew and how much it meant to her to have her CMT Awards appearance earlier in the week.
To close it out, I want to say thank you so much to John Reasoner for coming down to do the photos for the event on such short notice. My thoughts after that night are that Jessie James Decker has the look, the talent and what appears to be the right attitude to take this thing as far is it will go, and I wish her the best. Thanks for a great night of live music, Jessie and Adam. Good luck on the tour and safe travels while you’re out on the road.
-Howie