Tim McGraw Turns Back the Clock at Alpine Valley on the Pawn Shop Guitar Tour

There are concerts that lean heavily on nostalgia, and then there are artists who remind you exactly why those songs became part of your life in the first place. Tim McGraw did the latter when his Pawn Shop Guitar Tour, featuring 49 Winchester, rolled into Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin.

Photo By: Aaron R. Shriver Photography

Few venues in the Midwest carry the history of Alpine Valley. Opened in 1977, the massive outdoor amphitheater has hosted generations of legendary performers, from The Rolling Stones and Grateful Dead to Jimmy Buffett, Pearl Jam, and countless country superstars. Built into the rolling hills of southeastern Wisconsin, Alpine Valley has always felt like a destination rather than simply another tour stop. When thousands of fans fill that hillside on a summer night, there is still something special about the place.

Photo By: Aaron R. Shriver Photography

49 Winchester kicked off the evening, bringing their Virginia-bred blend of country, Southern rock, and Appalachian soul to the Alpine Valley stage. Formed in Castlewood, Virginia, the band spent years grinding it out before breaking through to a much larger audience. Frontman Isaac Gibson and company have built their reputation the old-fashioned way, touring relentlessly, writing honest songs, and letting word of mouth turn them into one of country music's most respected rising acts.

They opened their 12-song set with “Bluebird,” from their recent album Change of Plans, before rolling into “Hays, Kansas” and “Bringing Home the Bacon.” From there, 49 Winchester kept their foot on the gas with “Pardon Me,” “Russell County Line,” “Anchor,” “Everlasting Lover,” “The Wind,” “Slowly,” “Tulsa,” and “Last Call.”

Click The Image Above For The Full 49 Winchester Photo Gallery

For their finale, the band threw the Wisconsin crowd a curveball with a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, performing “Changes.” Instead of simply trying to recreate the original, 49 Winchester put their own identity into it, giving the classic song an Americana-influenced makeover and providing an unexpected ending to an already impressive opening set.

Then it was time for Tim McGraw. At 59 years old, McGraw still moves, performs, and sounds like a man right in the middle of his prime. After decades of hits, sold-out tours, and songs that have become part of country music's fabric, it would be easy for McGraw to simply walk onstage and run through the greatest hits. Instead, he did something unique. McGraw opened the show with a seven-song acoustic set, immediately making a massive amphitheater feel considerably more intimate. “Forget About Us” started the night before “Just to See You Smile” and “Where the Green Grass Grows” had Alpine Valley singing along.

Photo Courtesy of Tim McGraw's Instagram

Then came one of the night's biggest surprises. “My Best Friend” returned to McGraw's set after being absent for more than a decade. As home videos of Tim and Faith Hill played on the screens behind him, the song took on an entirely different meaning. What was already one of McGraw's most sentimental songs became a personal look at the life behind the superstar. McGraw also offered a small snippet of his duet with HARDY, “McArthur,” before heading “Down on the Farm.” He closed the acoustic portion with another longtime staple that has become increasingly rare in his recent sets, “Don't Take the Girl.” Hearing thousands of voices singing that final chorus together was one of those reminders of just how deeply McGraw's catalog is connected to multiple generations of country fans.

Photo Courtesy of Tim McGraw's Instagram

After a quick five-minute break and a shirt change, McGraw came back ready to light the fire. “Real Good Man,” “Indian Outlaw,” and “Something Like That” turned Alpine Valley into one enormous country singalong before McGraw arrived at the song that gave this tour its name: “Pawn Shop Guitar.” That's when the night became unforgettable for one young fan named Amelia. McGraw explained that throughout the tour, he has been sending his tour manager into local pawn shops in each city to find a guitar. That guitar is then given away to someone in the audience during the show. On this night, Amelia, who appeared to be around eight years old, was the lucky fan McGraw spotted in the crowd. He handed her the guitar, but it came with one condition.

“You need to promise me you will learn how to play this, because in 20 years I'm going to come to one of your concerts.”

It was a beautiful moment and perfectly captured what live music can be. Maybe that guitar ends up hanging on a bedroom wall as a reminder of the night she met Tim McGraw. Or maybe, just maybe, McGraw really will be sitting in the audience at one of Amelia's concerts 20 years from now.

Photo Courtesy of Tim McGraw's Instagram

From there, it was back to the hits. “Southern Girl,” “Song for America,” “I Like It, I Love It,” “Felt Good on My Lips,” and “Mexicoma” kept the energy high before McGraw closed the main set with one of the defining songs of his career, “Live Like You Were Dying.” The night wasn't finished. McGraw returned for an encore featuring “King Rodeo,” “The Cowboy in Me,” and “Humble and Kind,” with the latter creating another massive Alpine Valley singalong. Finally, there was only one way to send Wisconsin home. “Truck Yeah.”

Photo Courtesy of Tim McGraw's Instagram

After more than three decades in country music, Tim McGraw doesn't need to prove much to anyone. But the Pawn Shop Guitar Tour showed exactly why he remains one of the genre's most enduring live performers. He can strip everything down to an acoustic guitar and decades-old songs, then minutes later command one of America's most historic amphitheaters with hit after hit. At 59, Tim McGraw isn't simply revisiting his prime. He still sounds like he's living in it.