Reviews: Carrie Underwood, Iggy Pop, Bonnie Raitt, Richard Marx, David Crosby, Bruce Springsteen

Carrie Underwood @ the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, March 17 – “Wearing ripped leather pants and high heels, she opened her two-hour show with the rocking ‘Renegade Runaway’ from the current album, and later marched through ‘Good Girl.’” – Guy D’Astolfo/The Vindicator

Iggy Pop @ Austin City Limits Live At Moody Theater  in Austin, Texas, March 16 – “On Wednesday night he hurtled onstage with legs pumping, arms flailing and hair aswirl. Two songs later he tossed away his jacket and he remained bare-chested through the rest of his two-hour set at the Moody Theater here. After he belted out the credo of ‘Funtime’ – ‘I just do what I want to do’ — he stage-dived into the audience. At 68, he was not holding back.” – Jon Pareles/The New York Times

Bonnie Raitt @ Detroit Opera House in Detroit, Mich., March 16 – “Well known as one of the greatest slide guitarists of all time, Raitt did not disappoint. Her playing was brilliant – smooth and slinky to gritty and dirty. She also got a bit folky at times with her acoustic guitar, her signature left leg bounce keeping time to it all. Equally as solid and exactly how we all remember it was that voice.” – Stacey Sherman (For Digital First Media)/The Oakland Press

Richard Marx @ the Kia Theatre in Manila, Philippines, March 12 – “The stage set was minimal, with just a grand piano on one side and mood candles for accent. No matter. It’s all about the songs, after all, and Marx was more than ready to deliver.” – Punch Liwanag/Manila Bulletin

Mariah Carey @ The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, March 15 – “Even though her voice was heavily supported by backing singers, her vocal chords were demonstrably still in shape in Glasgow, swooping from whistling high notes to gravelly lows via pristine improvisations adorning a set of her greatest hits, and there were plenty of them.” – Charlotte Runcie/The Telegraph

David Crosby @ the Royal Theatre in Victoria, British Columbia, March 16 – “The two-time member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame proved – more than once – why he’s regarded with such high esteem. The title track from 1993’s Thousand Roads was a bluesy treat, while ‘Carry Me,’ a powerful song he wrote about the death of his mother, moved him to tears. ‘Sometimes that one’s hard to sing,’ he said afterward.” – Mike Devlin/Times Colonist

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band @ Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, Calif., March 15 – “The master stroke of The River is the way Springsteen juxtaposed such anguish with the joy that life also can contain. He and the band also took the crowd along to pinnacles of ecstatic celebration in the likes of ‘Sherry Darling,’ which gave saxophonist Jake Clemons a great opportunity to salute his late uncle, Clarence Clemons, and ‘I Wanna Marry You,’ ‘I’m a Rocker,’ ‘Cadillac Ranch’ and ‘Out in the Street.’” – Randy Lewis/Los Angeles Times