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Boston Globe

George Strait skipped the pyrotechnics and let his voice do the heavy lifting at Gillette

And that was even with the singer not seeming to exert himself all that much. Beyond flashing the occasional crooked grin, Strait didn't suggest that he was getting much of a charge from performing his songs, not even during the jumped-up Lone Star swing of 'All My Ex's Live In Texas' or the frisky and sly sexual bravado of 'The Fireman.' There was no particular animation to him, whether on the affectionately horny 'How 'bout Them Cowgirls' or the beachy Jimmy Buffett bite of 'Three Drinks Behind' or the thick sentiment of 'I'll Always Remember You.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Instead, Strait's voice did all the heavy lifting, and he sang with a simple authority that countered any stiffness he may have had otherwise. What's more, he never pushed too hard and tried to force either fireworks or emotion; he simply let the natural weight of his sturdy baritone do all the work. It worked wonders on the recrimination-free relationship collapse of 'I Can Still Make Cheyenne' and 'The Chair,' a slow dance of hesitance and loneliness, and it helped make a song as reflective as 'Troubadour' big enough to fill a stadium. Advertisement With his elder-statesman status established firmly enough that no one could question life-lesson songs like 'I Saw God Today' and 'The Little Things,' Strait stuck to the tried and true, though the Creedence-y swamp rock of 'Waymore's Blues' was an intriguing detour and 'Código' stood out for the crass audacity of basically being a jaunty honky-tonk jingle for his tequila brand. Instead, he leaned into the self-mythologizing that's always been built into his songs but has taken on substantial weight in the latter days of his career. 'The Cowboy Rides Away' and 'Amarillo By Morning' (the singer's avowed favorite of his own songs) may be four decades old, but that just means that Strait's been on the road singing them for four decades. Even if they started out as pure myth, truth has long since been embedded in them. With nearly an hour and a half to make his case, Advertisement Unlike Stapleton, opener Parker McCollum's energy couldn't match the magnitude of the stage. His songs and performance weren't bigger than life and he lacked the necessary charisma to create the illusion of intimacy and draw the listener in; even on revved-up numbers like 'Big Sky,' he performed them as though he couldn't bother getting worked up about it. GEORGE STRAIT With Chris Stapleton and Parker McCollum At: Gillette Stadium, Saturday Marc Hirsh can be reached at officialmarc@ or on Bluesky @