LeAnn Rimes: Live

Fox Theatre, Tucson, AZ, USA, October 20, 2019

LeAnn Rimes at Fox Theatre

Review and photos by Mary Andrews

LeAnn Rimes made a special concert appearance at Tucson’s Fox Theatre for their yearly Chasing Rainbows Gala event. The gala is a fundraiser for the near century-old nonprofit theatre. Rimes made it clear during her show that she is committed to supporting the arts. She is not presently on tour, but she made a special trip to Tucson to help the theatre raise awareness of the importance of live performance in the arts. The event raised greater than $100,000 for the Fox Theatre.

Rimes became a star at the age of 13 with the release of her version of “Blue” originally made famous by Patsy Cline. Rimes’s success did not come easy, She started performing at local talent shows by the time she was five years old. From there, Rimes spent her childhood performing in musical theatre and local television shows. She won a talent competition one week on the network television show Star Search hosted by Ed McMahon.

She was the youngest country music star since Tanya Tucker. Her first album of the same name was certified multi-platinum status in sales. She has been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, three ACM’s, a CMA, 12 Billboard Awards, and one American Music award. Her teenage years became a whirlwind of recording country and popular songs and touring.

Her hit song “How Do I Live” was ranked as the most successful song of the 1990s by Billboard magazine. 

Rimes was particularly personable during this show. she always has a very friendly demeanor in person. She admitted, “I have a setlist but I usually don’t follow it.” “Blue” had been omitted from her setlist. Needless to say, she performed a ‘reimagined’ blues/jazz version of the song. 

She remarked during the show, “What would we do without music? Sometimes music says the things that we cannot find the words for, As songwriters, it is the only way we can express ourselves.” The show was filled with songs covering her entire career, but her song choices were those showcasing love. 

Rimes’ vocals were rich and powerful and yet maintained that emotive edge that reaches into the hearts of the listeners. A high energy level was maintained throughout the set as she moved across the stage, sang and danced.

The song that seemed to have the most significance for her was one she had written called, “Borrowed.” She reflected, “The song describes one of the most vulnerable moments in my life. I spent almost six hours crying after writing it. . . . It was honest and very heartbreaking at the time, heart-expanding. Stevie Nicks had heard the song on the Spitfire album. We had also performed the song on the Leno show. Nicks told me she had the same experience with the song. She fell to the floor and started sobbing because she recognized herself in that song and saw herself in me. When we did the Reimagined EP, I wanted to call her to see if she would reimagine a song on that EP with me. It was her choice to do this song. It was amazing just to be in a room with this woman and all the history and everything. I grew up with her, listening to her music and her songwriting. She influenced me with her honesty, It didn’t matter what she was saying. It was polarizing to hear that she was here, to tell the truth. That was the most important thing. I learned that as a songwriter, the most important thing is, to tell the truth. It was wonderful to reimagine this song with her.”

One of the highlights of the evening came with the encore. Rimes introduced the song by saying, ‘What song do we not know that we can sing? Halloween is coming up. She kicked her shoes off and sat on stage with her guitarist. “ I’m going to have to sit down and read the words since I don’t know them. I think we did it one-time last year, but I don’t remember how we did it. It’s going to be fun.” The song was flawlessly performed.  

The show was magical yet revealing and vulnerable. She has been entertaining us for her entire life. She is a survivor and one of the most talented singers performing today.

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• Love Line
• Nothin’ Better to Do
• One Way Ticket
• Love Is Love Is Love
• Blue
• Life Goes On
• Written in the Stars
• Snow in Vegas (David Gray cover)
• When You Love Someone Like That
• Borrowed
• I Need You
• Spitfire
• Swingin’ (John Anderson cover)
• Wonderwall (Oasis cover)
• How Do I Live
• Can’t Fight The Moonlight/I’m Every Woman/1999/Get Lucky/Respect/Can’t Fight The Moonlight Reprise

Encore:
The House of the Rising Sun