Tim McGraw Tribute Packs The Vermilion Legion

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There might have been a few people doing a double-take at the Vermilion Legion Saturday night.

Peter Phillips brought his Tim McGraw tribute to Vermilion on Sept. 12, playing to a packed house and quickly proving this wasn’t going to be the kind of concert where the performer stayed put on stage.

Phillips worked the room throughout the evening, interacting with the crowd, joking with those in attendance and getting right into the middle of things. At one point, even the floor apparently wasn’t close enough to the audience, and Phillips found himself standing on top of a table as the crowd looked on.

It was all part of a high-energy night that had the Legion full and the audience involved from beginning to end.

Phillips has been portraying country superstar Tim McGraw for years, and his connection to the role goes a little deeper than simply putting on the trademark black cowboy hat.

He began performing his McGraw tribute in the late 1990s and went on to perform throughout Canada and the United States. His career also took him to Las Vegas, where he spent five years performing with Legends in Concert at the Imperial Palace.

Phillips has even worked for McGraw’s own camp as a decoy or double and has said he once asked McGraw himself how he felt about the tribute. According to Phillips, McGraw’s response was simply to “have fun with it.”

And fun seemed to be exactly what Phillips had in mind in Vermilion. The show brought out plenty of familiar McGraw favourites, including songs such as I Like It, I Love It, Don’t Take the Girl, It’s Your Love and Something Like That. Rather than simply moving from song to song, Phillips kept the audience involved and made the packed Legion feel like part of the performance.

His resemblance to McGraw certainly helped sell the tribute, but it was his willingness to joke around, move through the crowd and interact with people that seemed to make the night.

Phillips’ career has also included an appearance as McGraw on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, along with appearances connected to Hollywood Squares and the television series 7th Heaven.

For those who came looking for a night of Tim McGraw music, there was plenty of it. But the laughs, crowd interaction and one unexpected tabletop performance gave Vermilion a little more than the average tribute show.

And judging by the packed house, Vermilion was more than happy to play along.