From her Grammy-winning “Steve McQueen” all the way through to the well-known “Everyday is a Winding Road,” Sheryl Crow brought all her hits to Mystic Lake Casino Hotel June 28.
With a country album slated for release this September, Crow showed her career has been just that – a winding road.
From working as a backup vocalist for Michael Jackson, winning multiple Grammy awards, and doing duets with countless musicians such as Eric Clapton, Luciano Pavarotti, Willie Nelson, BB King, and Kid Rock, her career has spanned more than 20 years down that road.
Her show is also a winding road, weaving a path through her most well-known hits like “All I Wanna Do,” “Can’t Cry Anymore,” “My Favorite Mistake,” “The First Cut is the Deepest,” “Strong Enough,” and “Soak Up the Sun,” and yet mixing in some new tunes with ones pulled out of the vault.
She showcased her most-recent single, “Easy,” which she calls her “staycation” answer to Kenny Chesney and Alan Jackson songs about vacationing on exotic beaches and in the water.
“They are singing songs about going to the Bahamas or Mexico when gas is $4 a gallon,” Crow told the crowd. “So I wrote a song about staying home, drinking beer in the back yard.”
Fans also heard “Call Me When I’m Lonely,” which seemingly is primed to be the follow-up single to “Easy.”
“Real Gone,” a song Crow co-wrote for the 2006 Disney-Pixar film “Cars,” gave Crow the chance to cut loose on the harmonica.
Despite the fun harmonica solo and the solid performance of her six-piece band, the sound production made it difficult to clearly hear Crow’s voice a majority of the time. However when she was given the chance to highlight her vocal chops, she was right on.
When prepping herself to sing “Leaving Las Vegas,” Crow’s first single in the early 1990s, she asked the crowd if there were any gamblers in the audience. Being at a casino, of course there were. She also asked if there were any drinkers or strippers in the audience. For the record, drinkers received the biggest response of the three questions.
Another new song, “Shotgun,” led into a medley of part of her Kid Rock duet “Picture” and her hit “If It Makes You Happy.”
“Soak Up the Sun” saw the audience dancing in the aisles of the Mystic Lake Showroom. A brief break brought Crow back onto the stage to perform “Tumbling Dice,” “Nobody’s Business” and “Give It to Me,” before closing with the all-familiar “Everyday is a Winding Road.”
A fun Minnesota music fact, Prince covered the song on an album in 1999.
The Missouri-born Crow gave props to her band several times throughout the night, which performed on a no-frills stage. No background videos, catwalks or elaborate stage set up of any sort. Just Crow, her musicians, and her music.
Contributing writer: Ryan Gueningsman