Concertgoers crazy about both country and pop music make their way inside Kean Stage's Wilkins Theatre in Union, NJ this Saturday, November 9, 2024 evening for a concert by country/pop superstar LeAnn Rimes.
Born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1982, Rimes was raised in Dallas and began singing and dancing in local variety shows at the age of five. She quickly built a dedicated following in Texas where she garnered the attention of Dallas record promoter and disc jockey Bill Mack. By the age of 11, she had recorded her first album.
At 14, Rimes signed with Curb Records and recorded Blue, which debuted at #3 on the pop charts. The album’s title song, “Blue” — originally written by Mack for country legend Patsy Cline — reached #1 on the Billboard country charts and helped earn Rimes her first two Grammy Awards.
At 15, her album, You Light Up My Life, which featured the Grammy-nominated song “How Do I Live,” became the first album in music history to simultaneously debut at #1 on the pop, country, and contemporary Christian charts.
In 2000, Rimes made her motion picture debut acting in the film, Coyote Ugly, and recorded several tunes for the film’s soundtrack including her pop hit, “Can’t Fight the Moonlight.” In 2020, she was declared the winner of the fourth season of the reality singing competition, The Masked Singer.
Rimes’ most recent release is her 2022 recording, god’s work, an album for which she co-wrote nearly all of the tracks.
The lights inside the comfortable and spacious Wilkins Theatre dim and Kean Stage manager Steve Cochran takes the stage to announce, “Ladies and gentlemen, let’s welcome LeAnn Rimes!”
The crowd cheers as Rimes enters the stage and responds, “Thank you, how’s everybody doing?”
Rimes takes a seat at the piano and launches into a ballad version of her composition, “Remnants,” where she accompanies herself with strong chords while singing in her full, bluesy voice, “I will build a kingdom from my remnants/I’m nobody’s leftovers/You will not use me up,” and creating a tapestry of emotion that embraces the audience.
The crowd avidly applauds and Rimes moves to a mic center stage to announce, “Everybody say ‘hi’ to Greg,” as her accompanist, Greg Hagan, enters the stage and greets the audience.
Rimes invites concertgoers to clap along with her while Hagan strums his acoustic guitar on “Life Goes On.” Here, Rimes shows the strength of her soulful voice as she sings with ease and energy on this R&B/country rocker’s catchy “Oh, life goes on and it’s only gonna make me strong” refrain, deftly accompanied by Hagan on guitar and background vocals.
After Rimes announces, “I’ve been doing this a long time — I’m gonna take you back to the beginning,” the crowd cheers when they hear the first yodel of her classic 1996 hit, “Blue.” The audience claps along as Hagan plays a guitar solo and Rimes effortlessly sings up, down, and around the melody, her beautiful, rich, clear honey-coated tone delighting the crowd at every turn.
Revealing, “I’m originally from Mississippi — I grew up across the highway from a shack with a sign that said, ‘Bait — Chips — Beer — Ammunition,’ and I wrote this song about that sign in my 20s.” Here, she and Hagan shift into an unplugged version of “Nothin’ Better to Do” where LeAnn’s voice hopscotches up and down as she dances around on stage and the crowd claps along to the driving rhythm of this toe-tapping rockabilly tune.
Taking a seat on a stool center stage Rimes recalls, “This was my first #1 when I was 14.” After explaining, “After we slowed down the tempo, it hit my heart in a completely different way,” she performs her 1996 hit, “One Way Ticket (Because I Can).” Rimes croons, “I’m gonna buy a one way ticket on a westbound train/See how far I can go/I’m gonna go out dancing in the pouring rain/And talk to someone I don’t know,” prior to exclaiming, “Don’t be shy now!” and inviting the crowd sing with her as she segues into and out of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” on this poignant performance.
Rimes performs a trio of songs from the soundtrack of the film, Coyote Ugly, including the country-rocker “But I Do Love You,” the ballad “Please Remember,” and the up-tempo R&B-infused pop tune, “The Right Kind of Wrong,” where Rimes shows her range and style and music lovers clap along as Rimes dances to Hagen’s rhythmic guitar playing.
Moving on to one of her biggest hits — a song that spent more than six months on the 2000 Billboard Hot 100 charts — Rimes’ voice fills the theater with soul on “I Need You.” Crying, “I need you like water/Like breath, like rain/I need you like mercy/From heaven’s gate,” Rimes’ soaring and heartfelt performance viscerally connects with the crowd.
After talking about her musical influences, Rimes pays tribute to Kris Kristofferson by performing his 1970 hit, “Help Me Make it Through the Night.” On this masterful presentation, Rimes sings with her eyes closed, her voice crying out on the song’s “Yesterday is dead and gone/And tomorrow’s out of sight/And it’s sad to be alone/Help me make it through the night” chorus, accompanied by Hagen’s delicate fingerpicked guitar.
Audience members stand and cheer and Rimes freely admits, “That’s my favorite song to sing right now,” before paying tribute to Patsy Cline with a rendition of Cline’s 1961 hit, “Crazy.” Singing from the heart on this country music classic, Rimes’ voice bends and meanders through the performance with heart and soul and touches the crowd in a profound way.
Declaring, “This is your karaoke moment so get ready to sing!” Rimes gets concertgoers clapping along to Hagen’s guitar on the introduction of her Y2K Top 20 hit from Coyote Ugly, “Can’t Fight the Moonlight.” On this rockin’ arrangement, music lovers sing along on the infectious, “You can try to resist/Try to hide from my kiss/But you know, but you know that you/Can’t fight the moonlight” lyric before a fan comes up to the stage to request an autograph and another presents Rimes with a bouquet of flowers.
Revealing, “This is my favorite song I’ve ever written — it kinda fell out in about an hour and a half,” Rimes sits on a stool center stage and sings “Spaceship.”
Accompanied by Hagan on piano, Rimes’ rich voice calls out, “Hey God, why don’t you take me home?/Beam me up, I got a ticket to board,” before the crowd reacts with avid cheers and applause to this track from her latest album, god’s work.
Suggesting, “I’ve been woven into the fabric of your lives for over three decades now — thank you for allowing me into your lives!” Rimes explains, “This song has been part of so many special memories for people. I’m prepared to sing it until the day I die.” Here, Rimes performs her biggest hit — #4 on Billboard’s all time Top 100 list — “How Do I Live.”
Sounding even more rich and resonant than she does on the original recording, Rimes croons, “How do I live without you?/I want to know,” allowing music lovers to truly feel her soulful performance, the natural gift of her three-octave range.
Concertgoers respond with a standing ovation and Rimes blows a kiss to the crowd while leaving the stage before returning to say, “Jersey, thank you for all the love tonight,” and promising, “A better day is coming. I believe it’s up to us to usher it in.” Here, Rimes performs Darrell Brown’s “There Will Be a Better Day,” where she accompanies herself on piano as she sings straight from the heart, “Take our sorrows, take our tears/Heaven’s not so far from here/Though we struggle hear us pray/There will be a better day.”
The crowd cheers and applauds and Rimes concludes by stating, “Take care of each other tonight — thank you, Jersey!” before signing autographs and posing for selfies with fans at the edge of the stage.
As music lovers filter out of the Wilkins Theatre auditorium, several share their opinions about tonight’s performance by LeAnn Rimes. Exclaims Loren from Scotch Plains, “LeAnn Rimes was fabulous! She is so talented she didn’t even need an instrument up there — her voice is an instrument — and her performance was just beautiful.” Michel from Quebec City agrees, explaining, “I’m visiting from Canada and saw that LeAnn Rimes was going to be here, so I reached out and bought a ticket. Her show was amazing — she has the perfect voice! This is the first time I’ve seen her live and I could really appreciate her talent, especially at such an intimate venue.”
Kira from Cranford contends, “It was a very engaging performance. LeAnn is so relatable — it’s like she was having a conversation with the audience. I really liked her personality — she’s so nice — and her voice is amazing! Plus, I really like this venue, too — it felt like I was listening to her sing in my living room — and it was really nice to hear her talk about her songs in addition to performing them.”
Sarah from Cranford agrees, adding, “I thought it was both beautiful and motivational. LeAnn has a very powerful voice and it was wonderful to be able to share in this incredible experience!”
Whereas Bruce from Parsippany suggests, “LeAnn was phenomenal tonight! Her voice was powerful and intimate — it was like a warm ocean wave surrounding you at the beach, making it an awesome evening,” Abby from Long Island, NY, insists, “It was a phenomenal show! I’ve loved LeAnn since I was a girl and Coyote Ugly is one of my favorite movies so I was honestly tearing up when she was singing — it was just incredibly beautiful; she’s an incredible vocalist.”
Lastly, Kathleen from Hazlet calls LeAnn Rimes, “Amazing; absolutely fabulous,” acknowledging, “I’d never seen her in person before but she just blew me away, and I just love this theater — it’s incredible! It was like sitting in your living room with your best friend, it was that intimate,” prior to concluding, “Being here was just a phenomenal experience!”
To learn more about LeAnn Rimes, please go to leannrimesworld.com. For further information on great upcoming performances at Kean Stage — including Harry Chapin’s Greatest Stories Live on January 24 at the Wilkins Theatre and Dallas Brass on December 6, Voctave on April 11, and Michael Feinstein on April 25 at Kean Stage’s Enlow Recital Hall — please go to keanstage.com.
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