By Gina Fernandez
SC Staff Writer
Graphics, special effects, almost 7,000 screaming fans and beautiful music flooded the Sovereign Center in Reading, PA on September 20. I was lucky enough to attend the fifth stop on Carrie Underwood’s 2012 Blown Away tour with two of my best friends and sat in the fourth row, near the forefront of the stage.
The show began with a special guest performance by Hunter Hayes, who performed for a little over an hour. Not knowing much of him before I went to the show, I left with a new love for his music—he is a great, multi-talented musician who knows how to capture a crowd.
After a somewhat lengthy stage resetting process, which included four gigantic screens with digital video (along with two screens hanging on either side of the stage), the real show began.
The screens showed scenes that were obviously created especially for the tour and were accompanied by music from the band throughout the concert. But, the first scene, that lasted a little over two minutes, caused the most anticipation from the crowd; we all knew Carrie was coming out soon. As she emerged from under the stage, we all went wild.
She was very personable with the crowd and was in constant communication with us. After a few songs, Carrie spoke to the crowd and seemed very genuine in her thanking us for the support. A man in the first row had brought her a large bouquet of yellow roses and many of us in the first few rows were a bit surprised that Carrie actually took them, and she didn’t put them down right away—she embraced them. Every time she went under the stage for a costume change (five times), she waived to those of us upfront and mouthed, “I’ll be right back!” which my friends and I found cute.
The one wow-factor the show provided consisted of a flying stage. Not just a little platform for Carrie to float a few feet on, but an actual stage rigged to the ceiling that carried Carrie and three of her band mates. The top of the cables holding the stage were covered by gigantic Chinese lanterns and the four performers were held in by rustic wooden fencing. The stage that had a glass-like see-through bottom traveled nearly the whole arena. And although it made me a little nervous watching it float, it was pretty amazing to see.
Each of Carrie’s five separate sets were packed full of entertainment. Playing songs both old and new, the whole crowd was on its feet and singing. From the second she came out until the second she officially left, the excitement was constant and intense. It was a night of amazing music, an enthusiastic crowd and memories I’ll always keep with me forever.
Email Gina at:
gfernande3@live.esu.edu
