Lambert proved to be the “Fastest Girl in Town” on Sunday, delivering hits and more with Justin Moore, Sunny Sweeney and Jukebox Mafia also revving up the Van Andel Arena crowd. (Photo gallery, review)
Certified Platinum: Miranda Lambert uncorked her award-winning songs at Van Andel Arena on Monday. (Photo/Eric Stoike)
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By Tabatha Grover
LocalSpins.com
Miranda Lambert took the stage Sunday night in Grand Rapids with a perfect mix of attitude, class and style.
After a quick video highlighting different women in history (including Amelia Earhart), she came out wearing a bedazzled bandana headband, slinging a pink guitar and singing “Fastest Girl in Town.” From the get go, it was obvious that attitude, sass and girl empowerment were going to be recurring themes of her set.
Pink Guitar Slinger: Lambert on stage. (Photo/Eric Stoike)
Earlier in the evening, Sunny Sweeney kicked off the show at Van Andel Arena with her own little sassy tunes, such as “Bad Girl Phase” and “Everybody Else Can Kiss My Ass” to get the crowd started.
Singer Justin Moore followed with an hour-long mix of upbeat and slow tunes the crowd really embraced, including favorites “Til My Last Day,” “Bait A Hook,” and especially, his cover of “Home Sweet Home” by Motley Crue.
Before Lambert took the stage, Jukebox Mafia delivered some tunes from a little makeshift stage by the soundbooth on the arena floor. Their live beatboxing-type sound was a mashup of many genres and included the hits “Radioactive,” “Can’t You See,” and one that always gets the crowd singing, “Friends in Low Places.”
Lambert brought plenty of attitude and a lot of great music to the stage during an 85-minute set — part of her national Certified Platinum Tour — that kept the crowd engaged throughout. She heated things up with a few hits early on, including “Kerosene” and “Over You.” And during “All Kinds of Kind,” lights bounced off of disco balls in the rafters in just the right way, lighting up the arena like a starry night. An unforgettable image.
This was followed by a cover of “Mississippi Queen” before she slowed things down a bit. Sitting down with her pink guitar to play “Dear Diamond,” she followed up with “Smokin’ and Drinkin’,” accompanied by backup singer Gwen Sebastian. And when Lambert sang “The House That Built Me,” the crowd sang along to every lyric, setting the stage to re-start the party with the upbeat single, “Gunpowder and Lead.”
Sitting on stools for the beginning of the encore, Sebastian and Sunny Sweeney joined Lambert to chat about the need for more women in country music before launching into “Cowboy Take Me Away” by the Dixie Chicks. Lambert and her band finished out the evening with a rousing cover of “Tush” by ZZ Top.
MIRANDA LAMBERT: THE PHOTO GALLERY BY ERIC STOIKE (ON THE RUN PHOTOGRAPHY)
