Primarily visiting the United States and Canada, the tour supported her ninth studio album, Waking Up Laughing.

We put a lot of thought into which artists to include on this tour, and I really feel like this show is going to be a treat for my fans from beginning to end.

Titled Martina McBride: Live in Concert, the special aired on PBS in March 2008 to correlate with the station's quarterly pledge drive.

He comments, "McBride has earned her fame and made her fortune singing slicked-up modern country, but she is a traditionalist at heart, and she showed it resoundingly during those numbers; 'Stand By Your Man' was especially spectacular.

But most of the feminine mystique came courtesy of country queen Martina McBride, the Kansas-born beauty whose crystalline vocal chords have earned her the nickname 'the Celine Dion of the CMT set.

"[49] For the concert at the BJCC Arena, Mary Colurso (The Birmingham News) felt McBride gave a crowd pleasing performance.

The lovely singer radiates a wholesome, friendly charm that makes her seem safe and utterly approachable -- the superstar next door, we might say.

McBride was at her best while singing two vintage covers: Loretta Lynn's 'You Ain't Woman Enough" and Kris Kristofferson's 'Help Me Make It Through the Night.

Mac Randall (Newsday) answered, "McBride's voice is honey-sweet and stunningly pure, and when she leaps into her upper register and milks a note for every possible ounce of emotion—as she did on "Where Would You Be" and "A Broken Wing"—it's guaranteed to get a crowd on its feet.

Although McBride began her solo career in the early '90s as a country singer, newer songs such as "How I Feel", from her latest album Waking Up Laughing, have more in common with Benatar than Lynn.

He continues, "Besides her amazing voice, one of the things that sets McBride apart from the rest of the country music singers is that she still possesses the enthusiasm of a newcomer.

Before singing a duet with her younger brother on 'Trying to Find a Reason', a song off her new album in which she is joined by Keith Urban, she was able to make fun of herself.

Kate Darby (Evansville Courier & Press) thought highly of McBride for her concert at Roberts Municipal Stadium.

He writes, "Throughout the evening, McBride gave a powerhouse vocal demonstration, her Titanic-sized voice belying her petite 5-foot-4 frame.

She also exhibited a great sense of humor, such as when she introduced her cover of Kris Kristofferson's classic "Help Me Make It Through the Night", which is featured on McBride's 2005 platinum-selling album Timeless.

He explains, "Partly, the illusion could be chalked up to an abundance of female fans in the stands (and on the concourse, where the lines snaking out of the women's washrooms were at least three times as long as those for the merch tables).