The Grammy-winning folk/country singer-songwriters captivated the Meijer Gardens crowd on Thursday with sincere ballads, rollicking rockers and affable stage personas. Review, photos.
Words of Wisdom and Empowerment: Mary Chapin Carpenter on stage Thursday. (Photo/Jake Orr)
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A rebound of oppressively humid climes couldn’t stifle audience spirits for a double billing of powerful singer-songwriters, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Brandy Clark, on Thursday evening at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.
The well-respected artists — each a success in her own right — enjoyed a warm reception for the venue’s popular summer concert series, which is heading into the final third of a busy season.
Carpenter, who has shared the Meijer Gardens stage in previous outings with the likes of Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez and the Indigo Girls, gifted an adoring crowd with a solid mix of more than a dozen songs spanning her nearly four-decade-long career in a set that lasted about 80 minutes.
Popular, long-time favorites, such as “Passionate Kisses” and “Shut Up and Kiss Me,” fit comfortably alongside newer tracks (“Bitter Ender,” “The Night We Never Met”) from Carpenter’s latest, “Personal History,” released in June to critical acclaim.
An amiable storyteller as well as a gifted musician, Carpenter treated her audience to personal anecdotes, words of wisdom, empowerment and encouragement, in addition to a repertoire of tried-and-true tracks, as backed by her killer band (plus one solo acoustic number).
Clark — who’s penned songs for the likes of Sheryl Crow, Kacey Musgraves, Reba McEntire and many others — kicked off the sultry evening with a set that clocked in just under an hour, but that had the crowd vibing to songs such as “Stripes,” “Dear Insecurity” (a duet she recorded with Brandi Carlile) and crowd pleaser “Get High.”
While each artist and her backing band shone on their own, the energy was electric when the stars and their backing bands joined forces for a two-song encore of Carpenter’s well-loved “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her” and “Down at the Twist and Shout.”
UP NEXT AT MEIJER GARDENS: Cheap Trick performs 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 11. The show is sold out.
PHOTO GALLERY: Brandy Clark, Mary Chapin Carpenter at Meijer Gardens
Photos by Jake Orr
