Two stars, one glow

Lovebirds Tim McGraw and Faith Hill kick off tour in raucous style

July 13, 2000
Web posted at: 1:35 p.m. EDT (1735 GMT)

In this story: Honky-tonking A family moment Hits alone, together RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Mary Jo DiLonardo
Special to CNN Interactive

ATLANTA (CNN) -- Nashville's hottest couple kicked off country music's most anticipated tour in Atlanta Wednesday night. It turned out to be one of the most lopsided, too.

Tim McGraw's and Faith Hill's "Soul 2 Soul Tour" was mostly just the Tim McGraw show, though fans crowded into Philips Arena for the sold-out show hardly seemed to mind.

While Hill by far has the better voice, McGraw has the superior stage presence. Once he succeeded his wife on stage, it was obvious who the audience had come to see.

Though the pair have equal billing on the 40-city tour, McGraw was the main attraction on opening night for a crowd initially revved up by his talented wife.

Hill started the show, rising dramatically from a sunken stage. Dressed in a blinding, sequin-encrusted dress -- cut up to here and down to there -- she belted her way through some of her biggest hits. From her first smash, "Wild One," to her recent No. 1, "Breathe," Hill was in fine voice, even after admitting to first-show jitters.

"This is opening night!" she exclaimed when the show was still young. "You know how long we've waited for this tour? A long time!"

She pranced and strutted across the stark stage, her voice accompanied by a trio of female back-up singers and a tight, seven-piece band. Her sensuous swaying and supermodel looks, combined with honest-to-goodness vocal talent, held the audience in thrall. Shania who?

Hill sang for an hour, ending her set with a techno-flavored version of her megahit, "This Kiss," and then leaving the stage in a nearly volcanic eruption of red confetti.

The show lost steam during a lengthy intermission, a period made even longer by ceaseless bleating from Alltell and Bud Light, the tour's sponsors.

It came to a sudden end when a taped, pulsing dance version of McGraw's "Indian Outlaw" filled the air. Fans roared in anticipation.

They weren't disappointed, either. Clad in black like a young Johnny Cash,, McGraw leapt on the stage, not even pausing as he rocketed into the rollicking "Something Like That."

He quickly shed his jacket, revealing a muscle shirt and his "Faith" tattoo -- a sight that pleased the screaming and whistling women as much as Hill's earlier presence had brought the men to their feet.

From there it was an hour-long, raucous fest as McGraw and his slick band, the Dancehall Doctors, caromed from hit to hit. They worked the crowd with an expertise gleaned from years in honky-tonks.

While there was nothing country about Hill's part of the show -- save the occasional sound of a de-twanged fiddle -- McGraw's set was pure, big-hat music. He stayed under his towering black Stetson, grinding and swiveling his way through his mostly up-tempo hits. He ended the set with a foot-stomping rendition of "I Like It, I Love It."

Fans then got an unexpected glimpse at the private lives of the two as giant screens featured a short video collage of McGraw/Hill family photos: mom, dad, and their two daughters, 3-year-old Gracie and Maggie, 1.

Then the parents returned -- he in a banana-yellow shirt, she in a matching dress -- for a set of duets.

From their sweet hit ballad, "It's Your Love," to a salsa-flavored number, the electricity sparked as the pair made goo-goo eyes at each other. Oddly -- and unfortunately -- the show ended with a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way."

The road show is a natural for the duo, who have been making music together for four years. They hooked up during McGraw's aptly named Spontaneous Combustion tour in 1996, back when Hill was his opening act. Sparks flew on and off stage and the duo was married by the end of that year.

The reigning male and female vocalists of the year, the power couple demands comparisons to some of the classic twosomes of the past -- George and Tammy, Conway and Loretta, Dolly and Porter.

In addition to parlaying their love story into a series of chart-topping hit duets, McGraw and Hill have enjoyed unparalleled solo success, too. Collectively, they're recorded two dozen No. 1 hits and have sold 40 million records.

McGraw splashed onto the country music scene in 1994 with "Indian Outlaw," a decidedly politically incorrect dance tune. That, plus the revelation that the singer was former Major League Baseball pitcher Tug McGraw's long-lost son, guaranteed the goateed performer immediate novelty appeal.

But McGraw proved he was more than a one-hit curiosity, racking up awards, No. 1 hits and a headlining tour, all virtually overnight.

Hill's tale is storybook. Hailing from Star, Mississippi, she was "discovered" while working as a receptionist and demo singer in Nashville. The statuesque blonde has had incredible crossover success on the pop charts, appearing on VH1's "Divas Live" and gracing the cover of myriad fashion magazines.

The couple has a rule: They're never apart from each other for more than three days. The combo tour is proof that they take it seriously.

"I'm here with my family. I'm here with my best friend. I'm here with my fans," Hill said during the show. "It just don't get any better than that, does it?"

Tim McGraw's former novelty buys him 'A Place in the Sun'
May 3, 1999
McGraw on touring, children and 'Place in the Sun'
May 6, 1999
Faith Hill, Dixie Chicks nab armloads of Country Music Awards
May 6, 1999
Faith Hill: Time to 'Breathe'
November 23, 1999

TimMcgraw.com
Faith Hill Official Web Site

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