By Brandie Gonzales
People''s Choice Award''s 'Favorite Male Music Performer for 2004,' Tim McGraw, will continue the 'Tim McGraw and the Dance Hall Doctors OUT LOUD Summer Tour 2004' with a concert tonight, July 15, at the USANA Amphitheater in Salt Lake City.
The concert will feature songs off his ninth album 'Live Like You Were Dying,' which will hit store shelves Aug. 24, such as 'How Bad Do You Want It,' 'My Good Friend,' 'Drugs or Jesus,' 'Blank Sheet of Paper' and the title track.
'Live Like You Were Dying' is the fastest rising chart single of his career. It made the top five within the first five weeks and it hit No. 1 on the Billboard country airplay chart after only seven weeks.
Tim McGraw kicked off the tour June 11 in Virginia Beach, Va. The first weekend of the tour, he performed in front of 50,000 people over three days.
The Warren Brothers and Big & Rich will open for McGraw.
The new, state-of-the-art set is one aspect that makes the concert unique. The set utilizes the entire length of the stage, which is rare for outdoor theaters.
McGraw will also perform at a private, pre-show party exclusively for fan club members and radio contest winners. The pre-show parties will be held under a tent at each venue. The pre-show party begins with the Warren Brothers performing an opening act, and then they perform a few songs with McGraw. Following the private performance, Tim will open the floor for a question and answer session where fans will have the opportunity get to know McGraw on a more personal level.
Fans can go to the Tim McGraw website, www.timmcgraw.com, to enter for the chance to win access to the private pre-show party. Ten fans will be chosen at random for each show.
'If ''cool'' were an instrument, McGraw would be its premiere country virtuoso,' said John Hayes, of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, in a review of the concert. 'In a black tank top and hat, he paced the stage, posing on cue to reinforce lyrics and pulling fans from a crowd that exploded with the first few notes of his big radio hits, ''Indian Outlaw,'' ''Don''t Take the Girl,'' ''Red Ragtop'' and ''Where the Green Grass Grows.'''
Due to the great success of the tour thus far, McGraw has added additional concert dates in an attempt to meet the high demand.
'The dude really knows how to throw a show,' said Jimmy Rex, 23, as UVSC student majoring in business, who saw McGraw''s show last year. 'His music really touched my soul. It was as if he was singing directly to me.'
'I have been waiting for this day since April,' said Jacquelyn Leavit, 19, a UVSC student majoring in nursing. 'I made sure to buy my ticket the second they were available.'
'So far there have been about 11,000 concert tickets sold,' said Teresa Mooney, promotions director for United Concerts and USANA Amphitheater. 'We expect many more to be sold at the venue.'
McGraw will donate $1 for every ticket purchased through his website to two charities: Swampstock or the Gridiron Heroes Spinal Cord Injury Organization.
The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. Doors will open at 6 p.m. For additional information go to www.usana-amp.com.