Concert Review: Jo Dee Messina

Image found here.

I am not a spontaneous person. But last night on a whim I went to see Jo Dee Messina perform at Rams Head On Stage in Annapolis. I loved her music growing up, and I always thought she should have become more famous than she did. Let me say this: she is great live! She sounds just like she does on her albums! She has such an amazing voice, and I loved seeing her in person. Here are the songs she performed:

Heads Carolina, Tails California

Bring on the Rain (Love this video, by the way)

Bye Bye

I'm Alright

Masquerade (One of her newer songs. It is the fraternal twin on Evanescence's "Everybody's Fool." They're not identical, but honestly, it's hard to tell the difference between them.)

You're Not in Kansas Anymore

My Give a Damn's Busted

Stand Beside Me (I LOVE this song! 100% how I feel about what I want in a relationship.)

Lesson in Leavin'

That's God (She didn't sing the whole thing, but she talked about the inspiration for the song.)

She performed some of my favorite songs of hers, so I was pleased with that. But she left out some of her other hits: Burn, That's the Way, Was That My Life, Because You Love Me, Downtime. Looking back at this list, she really did sing a lot of songs. But at the time, the concert felt so short! She only performed for an hour and a half, and even then, I'd say half of that time was spent with her talking to the crowd! She is quite funny, joking with everybody. She took questions from the audience, and when someone asked who her favorite artist is, she said, "Me!" Later she said she respected Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift as performers. She took one man's jacket when he wasn't in the room, and when he came back he saw that she was wearing it! I liked her interaction with the crowd, and she is very down to earth. BUT I did go there to see her sing, so I wish she would have sung all of her hits.

I think the main thing I didn't like about the concert was, at the end, she essentially gave a sermon and sang a very repetitive song about Jesus, which seemed the last forever. She joked that it was a Sunday, so that's why she was singing it. But if I wanted to go to church, I would have gone to church, not to a concert. I was annoyed that my ticket price included this bit that I didn't even really want to see. And it was too bad that this was the last song of the concert, because it sort of took away from the joy I had been feeling earlier listening to the songs that I love.

I'm glad I went to this concert, and I still think Jo Dee Messina is a talented singer. But I wish I had not paid $60 for this. It was worth maybe $40. Live and learn!

Fun Fact: Jo Dee Messina said she is named after her uncle Joseph Dunlop. He went by "Joe D." so that's how her name came about!