Miranda Lambert Brings Energetic Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars Tour to Springfield's JQH Arena

by Julian Spivey
Miranda Lambert brought her Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars Tour to the JQH Arena in Springfield, Mo. on Friday, Oct. 25 with a terrific performance of hits spanning her now 15-year career and a bunch of songs from her upcoming seventh studio album Wildcard, which will be released on Friday, Nov. 1.
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Lambert began her set with the rocking “Locomotive” off her upcoming release, which is in the vein of her hard-charging songs like “Kerosene” and “Gunpowder & Lead,” with the difference being this song is about a blissful love (assuming her husband), whereas many of her similar sounding songs are about getting even with an ex who’s done her wrong.

“Locomotive” would lead, appropriately, right into “Kerosene,” her first big hit from her 2005 debut of the same name, which has always been one of my favorite songs of hers and a clear fan-favorite. It’s the song that made me a Lambert fan early on.

Many of the new songs Lambert performed on Friday night (she’s already released seven singles from the album before its release, which is frankly too many) came early in the set, including “Mess with My Head,” which may be the worst songs she recorded to date, and “It All Comes Out in the Wash,” her current single which is nearing the top-10 on the country singles chart. These songs along with some others already released, like “Pretty Bitchin’,” which she also performed Friday night have been concerned that this is going to be a weaker than usual album for Lambert, especially coming off the high that was 2016’s The Weight of These Wings.

There are, however, some true highlights from Wildcard that Lambert performed in Springfield like the ballad “Bluebird” and the country as hell “Tequila Does,” that show the album will at least have something for those of us who prefer to keep as much pop music out of country as possible.

I’ve seen Lambert in concert a handful of times, but this was probably the most excited I’ve been going in because it was my first time seeing her perform with her supertrio Pistol Annies, along with the extremely talented singer-songwriters Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley. While the group didn’t perform my absolute favorite track of theirs, “Trailer for Rent” (as I knew going in they wouldn’t after peeping at setlists) I was still pumped to see them run through terrific performances of “Takin’ Pills,” “Hush Hush,” “Best Years of My Life,” “Got My Name Changed Back” and “Hell on Heels.” My favorite performance was “Best Years of My Life,” the only ballad of the set they performed and a true highlight off the trio’s most recent album Interstate Gospel from last year.

Lambert would continue throughout her set with her greatest hits like 2010’s “The House That Built Me,” which is my personal favorite song of hers and was recently named Song of the Decade by the Academy of Country Music, 2009’s hit “White Liar” and 2013’s “Mama’s Broken Heart.”

She would also perform some crowd favorites that I’ve never been the biggest fan of like 2014’s top-five hit “Automatic” and 2015’s “Little Red Wagon.”

All in all, it was an incredibly energetic and fun show from Lambert, which is exactly what she’s known for and it’s a shame she hasn’t been in Entertainer of the Year contention more than she has at the major country music award shows.

The Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars tour this year has been heralded for being an all-female tour in a genre that frequently snubs its great women and it was a pleasure to see so many talented women on stage on Friday night.

Ashley McBryde began the show right at 7 p.m. and she’s been one of my favorite up-and-coming singer-songwriters in the country genre of the last couple of years. McBryde performed her two absolute favorites of mine off her excellent debut release Girl Going Nowhere from last year: the incredibly touching title track (that must be a blast for her to perform in front of packed arenas) and “A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega.” She would also thrill the audience with performances of “Tired of Being Happy” and her newest single “One Night Standards.”

The only disappointment of McBryde’s set was how short it was; it couldn’t have been more than a half hour in length. I kind of wish McBryde had been able to split opening set with Elle King, but I understand King is more of a name at this point.

The addition of King on the tour was a bit of a head-scratcher for me when the tour lineup was announced. I only knew her for her 2014 pop hit “Ex’s & Oh’s,” but definitely became a fan of hers on Friday night. King isn’t your typical bubblegum pop singer but has an excellent bluesy voice that really shines on ballads and rockers. King really thrilled the audience with performances of “Baby Outlaw,” “Last Damn Night,” “America’s Sweetheart,” a combination of “Good to Be a Man” and “It’s Different for Girls,” a collaboration she had with Dierks Bentley and a show-stopping cover of Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty’s “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.” King also highlighted her set with “Ex’s & Oh’s,” which I’ve always found better than your typical pop hits, but if you only know her for that one song, I highly suggest checking out the remainder of her work.

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