I have always been a huge fan of country concerts. When I was little, my grandmother would come to town and take me to see George Strait, Reba, and Alan Jackson. I also have a great memory of driving back to college after a visit home with Emily... we saw a random county fair in the middle of nowhere with a sign featuring Diamond Rio. When we realized it was the real deal and not a cover band, we lost our minds in the excitement. We spontaneously pulled in to the parking lot and paid something like $5 admission for one of the best nights of our life :) The following concerts cover all other music genres I have viewed live: All 4 One, John Mayer, Counting Crows (3 times), James Taylor, Sister Hazel, and Da Bomb concert featuring a variety of rappers and R&B artists from the 90's. This list makes me realize how cool I am.
Pretty much the only folks that add our little city to their tour are country artists, and I'm always up for a trip down to the civic center. I was most excited to hear about this most recent tour. It took me a while to admit that I liked Jason Aldean's music. I kept gravitating to it. I told David a few times I wasn't sure if I liked him, but every time a new song came out, I would obsess over it. Finally, David told me to just give in and admit that he is one of my fav country singers out there. Once I owned it, I immediately determined that I must go to one of his concerts. I almost bought tickets to a show in Nashville, but hadn't made the final decision yet. Then, while attending a Lady Antebellum show, the local radio DJ announced that JASON ALDEAN would be coming to town. We were in the nosebleed section and I went insane cheering. I don't think many people were paying very much attention to the "boring" announcements, so I startled a few folks. Anyway, my friend Karri accompanied me to "My Kinda Party." It was magical and we had a great time.
Lauren Alaina opened with a few songs. She also reappeared later in the night to sing the Kelly Clarkson part of Don't You Wanna Stay. She sounds really good live.
There's Luke Bryan right in the middle. You can tell because he has jeggings on. Even though those things are painted on, he busted out some MOVES. It was comical. I think a large portion of the audience may have thought it was sexy.
The very beginning of the show. I didn't want to carry my huge SLR camera around all night, and I can't believe what an awesome picture I got with my iPhone! Most of the others were very blurry.
The surprise appearance of Randy Owen was quite a treat. He played a short acoustic set with Jason Aldean & Luke Bryan. And the crowd went wild. Actually, the entire auditorium full of people, including those seated in the rafters, stood up during the last hour and a half of the show. I heard that some of the seats close to the front row were going for over $500 online the day before. I'm glad we scooped our regularly priced upper deck seats up just in time, about 5 minutes after they went on sale. It seems there really was something for everyone... an American Idol princess, Luke Bryan's hip thrusts, awesomeness from Jason Aldean, and a little Dixieland Delight - a crowd pleaser for all ages.
