CONCERT KICK-OFF

Country superstar Faith Hill will kick off the Concert Series in Fort Worth

By Hy Cotten

Thursday, July 29, 2010 - 11:24am

Are you ready for some Faith Hill?

One of America’s top pop and country artists will help launch the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee’s ambitious Kick-Off Concert Series at Fort Worth’s Bass Performance Hall on March 6.

Why is it called a Kick-Off Concert Series? Because this first-time ever Super Bowl extravaganza begins the 12-month countdown that crescendos with next February’s Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium.

Why Faith Hill? Because she greets fans every NFL Sunday night with Are You Ready for Some Football? Hers is the ideal face, and voice, to kick-off the first of the Host Committee’s unique and historic Concert Series.

“I’ve never had the opportunity to play Bass Hall, but I’ve been told it’s an amazing venue,” Hill said in an interview with the Host Committee’s XLV Insider quarterly magazine when she signed on for the event last summer. “It’s exciting for North Texas to host the Super Bowl.”

While Hill and band will be center stage that night, Kit Sawers will have her own entourage working behind the scenes. The Host Committee’s VP of Special Events, Sawers has been preparing for this Series for many months now.

“We’re very excited to begin the Super Bowl countdown with this first concert,” Sawers says. “We expect a full house, and we plan to have a lot of fun with Troy Aikman and Joe Buck. And Faith Hill is sure to be incredible. It should be the perfect kick-off to our yearlong countdown.”

Buck and Aikman, who will announce Super Bowl XLV for FOX, are serving as emcees for all three concerts. The second show, at Dallas’ AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Winspear Opera House, stars Sting. A third concert in September will be a massive blowout at Cowboys Stadium featuring a yet-to-be-announced performer.

“We expect to make an announcement about that performer in the next few weeks,” Sawers says.

For now, the concentration is on the opening kick-off of all kick-offs. Very few tickets remain available for Bass Hall, which seats just over 2,000. And while Faith Hill’s strong voice will carry the show, the night will include football-related elements, as well.

“Troy and Joe will bring a little bit of the world of football to the concert,” Sawers promises.

In a 10-year career booking events at SMU’s McFarlin Auditorium, Sawers never had to land a music act. Her concentration then was on the renowned Willis M. Tate Lecture Series.

“A concert is very similar, other than the technical aspects associated with the actual performance,” Sawers says. “But I have 10 years of experience in selling tickets to a series of events, and it’s been fun to revisit a previous career.”

Of its own choosing, the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee has created several vibrant additions to the multi-faceted events put on by the NFL each Super Bowl. The Concert Series is one. Another is the Century in the Making campaign, ongoing now both online and around the region as fans select the 100 Greatest Football Moments in North Texas History. And another, in conjunction with non-profit Big Thought, is the SLANT 45 service-learning project involving elementary school students.

Each adds its own special touch to North Texas’ first-ever Super Bowl. And Faith Hill gets the proverbial ball rolling.

“We’re very excited about this,” Sawers says. “It’s really taking shape nicely. The Concert Series Action Team did a great job selling to individuals across North Texas, so the audience will be very regionally representative.”

Honorary Co-Chairs of the Kick-Off Concert Series are Linda Cluck, Laura Leppert, Rosie Moncrief, Gene Jones and Marianne Staubach.

“In my estimation, having Faith Hill for the first concert is such a perfect fit, but so are Troy Aikman and Joe Buck because that really ties into Super Bowl Game Day,” said Moncrief. “And we feel very fortunate that she was available on that day.”

They have united as one voice. And the first voice officially trumpeting Super Bowl XLV will be that of Faith Hill.