Jason Aldean - Eric Church - 2-4-11

What an awesome concert! of course it all starts with the tickets - and we were 5th row back directly right of the stage... so while we rarely saw straight-on action, we were able to watch the whole bands all night - it was perfect!

JaneDear Girls opened - they're good - they were lively - i don't love their music yet though...








Eric Church was next - and it was so nice to see a NORTH CAROLINA NATIVE perform and work the crowd!









Interestingly, there was an Appalachian State flag hanging from the rafters (it was at Greensboro Coliseum where UNCG plays) where Eric graduated from...









He is FULL TILT the whole time and it's really obvious how much he just loves what he is doing!







He played all his hits and seemed so excited when the let the crowd sing the words - and everyone knew them!







He also played his crowd favorites - including These Boots - when everyone either held a boot over their head - OR threw them on the stage.








He was an excellent performer - all his songs were great - Sinners like me - how bout you - ain't killed me yet - finishing the night with smoke a little smoke. Thoroughly entertaining - no one was sitting!

And as if THAT wasn't enough...







The energy did NOT slow down at all - he ROCKED from start to finish - his songs are so great - I'm thrilled he's finally getting the recognition he deserves.

Early on, he played 2 of his slower - but extremely powerful ballads - Why - to the fans on the other side of the stage - and then The Truth to OUR side:


Hmmm - apparently video isn't publishing - i'll work on that...




There wasn't a bad song all night - OBVIOUSLY, all the big hits - Johnny Cast, the FABULOUS new My Kinda Party, Amarillo Sky, Relentless...













He had Kelly Clarkson on the Big Screen to help with the new duet, Don't you wanna stay...

And, of course, the most played song on country radio in 2009...





From the new album, he sand Tattoos on this Town and Dirt Road Anthem - which i just LOVE - both Jason's cut and Colt Ford's - cool, cool song.


Showing a little crossover savvy... From his recent Crossroads show, he sang Bryan Adam's Heaven and the first song in the encore was Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive - the crowd seemed to love it.







He ended the night with She's Country - seriously, how do you listen to this song without standing up and dancing - i don't know.

Actually, i think the whole coliseum was up on their feet dancing the whole night. Rich pointed out that it was typically all the girls doing all the singing and dancing and their dates standing there watching them (us!) - either way - it was a fantastic concert - one of the best and most energetic in a long time.

CMA Festival - Day 1 - John Conlee

If you didn't listen to country music in the late 70's & 80's, you probably don't know that John Conlee has one of the most distinctive voices inthe genre. And wile you may not know him, many artists today, such as Craig Morgan, cite him as one of their biggest influences. Perhaps because his first single - Rose Colored Glasses - was such a huge hit, going all the wasy to #5 in 1978. Then his next 2 singles - Lady Lay Down and Back Side of Thirty - both went to #1. Big hits that fast isn't very common (if your name isn't Carrie), so he got popular fast.



He performed all those hits plus his #1 hits from the early 80's, I Don't Remember Loving You, I'm Only In It For Love, and Common Man. This one hit home with a lot of attendees with lyrics: "I'm just a common man, I drive a common van, My dog aint got no pedigree"...

You can still see John Conlee fairly often playing at The Grand Ole Opry and a few months ago
surprised Craig Morgan onstage at a concert in Jacksonville, NC to invite him to join the
Grand Ole Opry.

Considering he was one of the older performers at the festival, he put on one helluva show. 
It was extremely entertaining...

CMA Festival - Day 1 - Will & Caitlyn

Will & Caitlyn Rocked!! These are the winners of the CMT reality show, Can You Duet, and i have to say that I LOVE these 2!! A little background diversion... Last Spring, on CMT (Country Music Television for you newbs), Naomi Judd was one of the 3 judges that weeded through hundreds of contestants to come up with 10 pairs of duos for the TV show. Then a duo was eliminated each week until Will & Caitlyn finally won. Think of it as American Idol for duos with a country twist. (Note: Season 2 is about to start - check it out: Can You Duet Season 2...

What is special about these 2 is that they didn't come to the show together - they each came with other partners, who didn't make the cut. But these 2 did and it was the judges who had the foresight to pair them together. And Caitlyn & WIll didn't have a choice - they either sang together or left the show!

AND... when they were here at CMA Fest last year, they had won the competition, but they couldn't tell anyone because it hadn't aired yet. That must have been tough!




On the Sommet Stage this Thursday afternoon, they really played to the crowd and livened up the place. Their current hit, Even Now, was a crowd-pleaser and my personal favorite, Stupid Boy, which likely won them the competition when they sang it on Can You Duet, was superb - better by far than Keith Urban's version and only slightly below Sarah Buxton's (the co-writer) version, which is just exquisite and full of emotion.

Then they spontaneously decided to play one of their current favorites and by Will's own admission, his "Favorite song Caitlyn sings" - the emotional, very-well-done I'm Not Who You Think I Am. The chorus of "you may hate me in the morning, but you're gonna crave me when the sun goes down" speaks to a lot of people.



I love this pair and while it's hard to tell yet if their music is too influenced by the labels, it's refreshing to see that their image isn't. They still look like the same lived-in folks from the firs Can You Duet. And God Bless them for remaining true to that and [hopefully] to their style of music as well. I'll be surprised if they aren't on the Riverfront at least next year. She can SING!

Travelin with the Dogs...

Ok - i must digress for a brief moment to display some of my favorite pics from the trip... Travelin with the Boys just has to make you smile!! Go Rich for building the perfect bed in the backseat!



We found the dog park at Centennial Park near Vanderbilt. On weekdays it was pretty empty but on Sunday afternoon - i bet there were 50 dogs there - no fights, though... Just lots of sniffin'... Here's some pix:

Party at the Water Fountain:


Sequoia makes a friend:

Then we found the best place in Nashville for dogs... a nice lady at the dog park told us about this AWESOME place out by the lake - it's an old campground for RV's & tents that's been abandoned for about 5 years - so it still has the circle street but everything else is overgrown - so LOTS of great smell. The boys just RAN & RAN & RAN... we had tongues wagging in about 20 minutes...

Here's one of the long stretches...


And here are the boys with their tongues wagging:



And here's Sequoia on the porch - it's a little porch - hard to get a faraway shot so i opted for a closeup:

CMA Festival Day 1 - Steve Holy

Steve Holy was up next… You may not automatically know his name, but you’ll likely remember his gorgeous Good Morning Beautiful and his rowdy, fun-loving I Got A Brand New Girlfriend (also the new album title). He’s a cutie and he did a very nice job on his songs with keeping the crowd engaged.


And here is the classic line that you'll all love (SORRY the video is so bad - i didn't realize i had to set its settings at a different place) BUt you can sort of make it out and you can hear it... In case you need the cheat sheet...
I Got a Brand New Girlfirend
We went and jumped off the deep end
Went out to LA for the weekend
Just lying on the beach wearing nothing but a smile
Playing Kissy Kissy Smoochy Smoochy - Talking Mushy Mushy about Nothin...

I GOT A BRAND NEW GIRLFRIEND

Aah - just listen! :)

CMA Festival Day 1 - Fast Ryde

First up was caught an act I hadn’t heard of - Fast Ryde. They were apparently from Nashville and talked about how great it is (which I agree with) and had a nice, fast-paced sound for most songs, which was lively for the day. Their downfall was their apparent need to repeat everything multiple times. It wasn’t just the chorus - it was everything - like we wouldn’t get it the first time, I guess, Anyway,the slower Makin’ It Rain, was quite enjoyable and the faster songs were nice - just repetitive.

CMA Festival - Day 1 - June 11, 2009

Well - today started off SSSOOO well… I planned ahead - I got up early - I recognized there would be a crowd… so for a 10:00 concert kicking off the Riverfront stage - where ticket holders could get in at 9:00 and the non-paying public could get in at 9:30 - I got there at an unbelievable 7:45 to get in line (and be the 75th person in line, no less). But no worries, as time drew close, I too got closer - got my bag checked - and made it inside at about 9:00 am (for the show starting at 10:00).

There was a mad rush to get the best seats - complete with sound effects of a stampede, which was awfully cute… So I landed a primo spot right at the center of the stage and the second grass section back… laid down my towels, secured my space… brought out my umbrella to cover my computer and other necessities… and was ready for the MUSIC! (in an hour). So everything is going great… And then... the sky looked like this:




And at 9:45 when the producer of the festival came out to warn us that while they could play through the rain, they couldn’t play through lightning. And they had the National Weather Service on hand to tell them when the lightning was going to come (defined as: “the lawyers made me be this safe”) SO… they evacuated the WHOLE PARK!! Can you believe that?!?!

My whole morning was wasted!!

So I left as instructed and followed the herd into the Wildhorse Saloon as instructed - who wasn’t even selling alcohol yet!!!! Then when I came out the line to get back in was SSSOOO long it wasn’t even worth it!!

So… I gave up on the riverfront concerts… the line (that I got up at the crack of dawn to avoid) just wasn’t worth it!! My first plan was to go watch the dokdogs competition or the dog Frisbee/high jump show… but it got rescheduled for an hour later. But then luckily our new friends from yesterday had the foresight to go to the rooftop bar while it was still slightly raining and snag the corner primo table with the ultimate view of the Sommet Center stage (with beer table service)… what a way to spend the afternoon! The Sommet Center stage doesn’t have quite as good of acts as the Riverfront Stage (who doesn’t have quite as good of acts as the LP Field stage), but nonetheless they have some great performances… you’ll read all about them. So here I am at the rooftop bar watching the off-off-broadway performers drink beer and getting waited on - what a THURSDAY! Here’s the 411 on the performers… Other than the first one, who I missed!) I’m going post individually so they can be tagged appropriately.

And here's me at the bar...