Little Big Town and Sugarland filled with fun and friendship at Target Center – Twin Cities

Little Big Town's current tour celebrates the country band's 25th anniversary, and their concert Thursday at Target Center definitely felt like a party.

There was a good atmosphere at the basketball arena in downtown Minneapolis during the headliner performances and Sugarland's opening concert, with a generous offering of numerous hits from both groups from their heyday in the late 2000s. The pairing wasn't a coincidence either. “One of our very first tours was with Sugarland,” Kimberly Schlapman said from the stage, adding that they had long since become friends. (Schlapman also poked a little fun at Target, jokingly lamenting their red card balance.)

On their first major tour in six years, Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush were all smiles during their breezy 50-minute performance. They started with a silly version of the title track from “Mister Rogers' Neighborhood” and then jumped straight into “There Goes The Neighborhood,” the title track from their latest EP.

From there it was one banger after another, including “Stuck Like Glue,” “Want To,” “Settlin',” “Baby Girl,” and “Something More.” For the most part, Sugarland's songs are as sweet as their name, but when things get serious, they're hard to beat. Her deceptively simple ballad “Stay” is considered one of the best country songs of the '00s, and Nettles really brought the emotions through with her still-powerful vocals.

As for Little Big Town, they're not afraid to turn up the guitars on songs like “Stay All Night,” “Self Made,” and “Bones.” The latter sounds a lot like Fleetwood Mac's “The Chain,” to the point that LBT has mixed the two songs together on previous tours. On Thursday they played “Bones” to start, then played a full (and absolutely rocking) version of “The Chain” later in the evening.

Little Big Town is the relatively rare band, country or otherwise, that features four lead singers. Schlapman and Karen Fairchild do most of the heavy lifting, but Phillip Sweet and (Fairchild's husband) Jimi Westbrook each got their time to shine, both as leads and in the frequent four-part harmonies. Like Nettles, her vocal power hasn't waned yet. If anything, the bandmates' voices gain new strength and depth as they age into their fifties.

In addition to their originals – including “Day Drinking”, “Girl Crush” and the bombastic “Pontoon” – Little Big Town indulged in some well-chosen covers. They incorporated Joe Cocker's version of the Beatles' “With A Little Help From My Friends” into their own “I'm With the Band” and brought Elton John's “Rocket Man” to Nashville with a memorably twangy version. The latter was one of several stripped-down, mostly acoustic numbers they played midway through the set.

Sugarland accompanied Little Big Town on two particularly stirring covers: Dream Academy's early MTV hit “Life in a Northern Town” (which they first performed together at the 2008 CMT Music Awards) and Phil Collins' hit “Take Me Home.” from 1985 (they appeared together on the same awards stage back in April). The friendship between Sugarland and Little Big Town was not only crystal clear, but it also made for a fun and memorable evening.