McBride opened her set with “Love’s the Only House,” where she raised some social awareness through those lyrics, and it was followed by the upbeat and cheery “My Baby Loves You” and the equally sappy “I Love You.”
After “Diamond,” she accompanied herself on piano on the sultry “It Ain’t Pretty.” She showed us that she was feeling “Blessed” on the mid-tempo tune, where yellow laser lights graced the stage. She took her fans on a trip down memory lane to her first No. 1 tune “Wild Angels,” as the songstress moved from side to side so that everybody could see her gracing the PlayStation Theater stage.
She was able to tug at the heart with such power-ballads as “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” and the schmaltzy “In My Daughter’s Eyes.” She brought up the pace with the fun and up-tempo “Reckless,” which is the title track of her latest studio album.
McBride did the late Merle Haggard justice on “Today I Started Loving You Again,” but the highlight song of the night was her flawless cover of “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden,” which displayed rose pedals falling down on the giant televised screen. Anderson herself would have been smiling, especially since McBride sang “Rose Garden” as if it were a soothing lullaby.
She had fun with the spitfire and sassy “When God Fearin’ Women Get the Blues,” and brought opener Lauren Alaina back on stage for “This One’s for the Girls” and garnered a standing ovation for belting out “Broken Wing,” which featured her impressive whistle register.
The Kansas native closed her set with her signature song, “Independence Day,” which received an enormous standing ovation. She wished everybody a good night and reminded them to “take care of each other.” For her encore, the country goddess returned on stage to sing a Beatles classic, the tender “All You Need is Love” and concluded on a melancholic note with “We’ll Pick Up Where We Left Off.”
The Verdict
Overall, Martina McBride was fantastic at the PlayStation Theater in New York City. All hail the reigning queen of country music. 25 years well into her career, she proves that she is the best live performer in the country genre, male or female. Her live show in the “Big Apple” garnered an A+ rating.
