McGraw rolls out old and new hits

TIM MCGRAW, USANA Amphitheatre, Thursday.

Kenny Chesney was the first artist to sell out the USANA Amphitheater earlier this year. Thursday night, Tim McGraw came within a few seats of matching that accomplishment.

Fans packed the amphitheater for McGraw's "Out Loud Summer Tour 2004." The rock 'n' roll partylike atmosphere was set with Kiss' "Shout It Out Loud" and Foreigner's "Jukebox Hero" blaring on the speakers before the lights went out and McGraw took the stage. Wearing a black hat, black tank-top and tight jeans, McGraw opened with "How Bad Do You Want It" from his upcoming album "Live Like You Were Dying," due out next month. That was followed by "Illegal" off his last album.

McGraw and his group, the eight-piece Dancehall Doctors, then settled in with more familiar hits, such as "Unbroken" and "Where the Green Grass Grows," which were some of the show's early highlights. And when McGraw wasn't singing, USANA turned into a mass karaoke affair, especially for "Green Grass."

"That's exactly why we play music," he told the loud audience. "This is one of my favorite places to play."

From there, McGraw continued to roll out old hits and a few new songs, including "Down on the Farm," "Red Rag Top" and the ballad "She's My Kind of Rain," which drew more vociferous applause.

A lucky group of a dozen-plus fans sitting in the first few rows had their seats upgraded temporarily when McGraw invited them to sit onstage for a few songs, including "My Old Friend." The song was inspired by McGraw's friend Danny, who became the U.S. Army's most decorated chaplain. Pictures Danny took while in Iraq were displayed on the jigsaw puzzle of 16 video screens in the rear of McGraw's large stage.

Before diving into "Don't Take the Girl," the chiseled McGraw joked, "I'm gonna turn into Elvis one day. I'm gonna eat doughnuts and go fishin'." His latest single, "Live Like You Were Dying," was one of the show's other highlights.

Although McGraw's songs were good, the only slight negative was the placement of those songs in the set list. Very few in the audience, which was ready to explode into a frenzy, seemed to be familiar with the opening number. Likewise, McGraw had the crowd fired up with "I Like it, I Love it" and "Indian Outlaw" but followed those songs and closed the first set with the slower "Drugs or Jesus," another song off the upcoming album that few in the audience seemed to know.

However, he redeemed himself in the encore with strong versions of "Something Like That" and "The Cowboy in Me."

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