Rascal Flatts

As most of my five readers know, concert date nights are my absolute FAVORITE! Bobby and I had heard that Rascal Flatts was touring with Little Big Town (whom I LOVE!) but we were going to turn it down because we had just been to my bestie Carrie Underwood's show. But, my man who loves me so had a little downtime at work and happened upon an amazing deal for tickets....and really good ones at that. Who could turn it down??

We called up our great friends Mike and Amanda and arranged a long overdue double date night. I never fail to laugh until my sides hurt with these two so I was really looking forward to it and as usual, I was still laughing the next morning at Mike and his antics:)

The concert started out with the Eli Young Band and I took this opportunity to use the "panorama" setting on my iphone. While it worked fairly well I was still aggravated that I didn't have my real camera with me. I'm taking it in next concert. It seems that the whole "no professional cameras" debacle that Barney Fife put me through with Keith Urban was just a fluke since there were plenty of nice cameras floating around at the last two concerts. Anyway, I think I knew  one or two songs from Eli. They were good.  

Up next was LBT. I'm really glad they've won some awards this year because they are totally deserving. I sang along with several of their songs and I'm sure Amanda was feeling a bit self conscious because my voice is somewhat superior to hers. Some folks have it. And I'm one of them. in my dreams.  

 

 This two sang a duet together that, let me tell ya, had the chemistry a'flowin'. We all agreed there was most definitely a little somethin' somethin' going on between these two and we were certain that their prospective others were probably NOT happy about the fact that they were traveling to and fro together all year touring. The funny thing is that they are both married. To each other. Ha! Good thing they have some chemistry! 

 LBT didn't disappoint. I'll be back to see them again. With my good camera.

 Bring on the Flatts! This is the second time that Bobby and I have been to see Rascal Flatts. While I feel that all the Rascals are great singers, Joe Don, despite his name, has for the most part been my favorite. That being said, I will be the first one to openly admit that Joe needs to cool it with the sleeveless shirts. Or, he needs to do some curls and get a spray tan. His guitar skills make  up for most of that but, hey, I'm just here to keep it real and give advice to famous people that obviously don't need any help from a stay at home mom nobody. 

 Ol' Gary LeVox about got a beat down when he walked to our edge of the stage shortly after this picture and gave Amanda a straight up point out. If Bobby hadn't been there to hold Mike back.........

 They had a little portion of the concert where you could yell out what you wanted them to sing. It was pretty fun but I really didn't have anything to yell out because for some strange reason I could not recall a single song that Rascal Flatts sings......and here I was, 3 rows back from the stage at their concert. I tell you, I've lost most of the capacity of my brain since having kids. I think the thing I'm best at at this point in my life is cutting construction paper. 

 Despite the fact that I couldn't remember the names of any songs, I DID remember the words to Life is a Highway (mostly because it was in the movie Cars) and I sang it like I was a contestant on The Voice. The one contestant that no one turns their chair around for. 

 Did I mention that going to this concert made the four of us bonafide stars? We're totally on the hit tv series "Nashville". The director was there filming concert scenes and for several takes we had to scream like crazy and act like we were at a concert (which wasn't hard to do since we were, in fact, at a concert). Most people were the standard concert hands, you know, heart hands,  longhorns, l love yous.....not us. We were just doing a single pinkie. Yep. One.single.pinkie. So when you're watching the show and you see a pinkie in the crowd, it's me. And Mike. And Bobby and Amanda. It's hard being famous so no autographs please.

Last concert date night of 2012 in the books. One of the best ones yet with two of our favorite people!!

Five and the Train

While our husbands were busy serving the Lord in Nicaragua, A'lyce and I decided (in our lonely wife angst) that it would be a great idea to score some tickets to Maroon5 and Train. After a few hours online we had secured row 10 and we just knew our hubs would be so filled with the spirit that they would overlook any miscellaneous spending done while they were abroad. Several months later we're finally making good on our ticket purchase! It's always fun having a mid-week date night!

Manphoto.

After a great dinner we headed to the Bridgestone with our listening ears on, ready to hear some great music. I had not been to a pop/rock concert since middle school when Katherine and I were dropped off by her mom at the Bryan Adams concert. I can still feel the emotion of "Please Forgive Me" and "Everything I Do, I Do It For You". Ahhh. Memories.

It was suppose to be Gavin Degraw up first but word on the street (and the news) was that he had gotten beat up in New York City or something. Needless to say, he wasn't there but the 30 minutes that were meant to be his were. We sat. We waited. And finally, Maroon 5:
We thought it was odd that Maroon5 opened when we thought they were the concert headliners. Oh well. You never know what's going to happen when you trade in your usual cowboy boots and Levi's for skinny jeans and patent black Nikes.
There was another giant disco ball though. Either it was left over from Keith's concert or the universe is trying to tell me something.
Adam did a great job singing. I knew lots of songs and sang to most of them. Be it known that I didn't sing the chorus of the one with the bad word in it. You have to keep your dignity even at a rock concert.
I wouldn't be able to pick out anyone from Maroon5 other than Adam Levine if they robbed me on the subway. I did, however, for a fleeting moment, feel sure that I had gone to highschool with the bass playing guy. He looks eerily similar to someone I knew. Too bad it wasn't really him. I could've played the hey!-We-went to-highschool-together-but-I-can't-remember-your-name-can-you-introduce-me-to Adam?-card.
After about an hour of playing, 5 shut er down. I've been to enough concerts to know that the end really wasn't the end. I didn't even sit down. I knew they'd be back.
It was an extended wait but back they came. I thought for sure that in all the minutes he was backstage that Adam would've taken 5 seconds to change that sweaty t-shirt. Anyway, after a couple more songs it really was the end.
The band came to the forefront for a bow and I'll be honest, we were all a bit bemused by the homeliness of most of the band members. They just didn't fit together. Apparently it's serving them well though since they've been around for a while and have a concert tour and some grammys. And, on another note, the one guy in his 1991 loose fit church khakis either has a really spacey guitar playing face or he did not take heed to his D.A.R.E officers in elementary school.
Anyhoo, I enjoyed their part of the concert but I do still prefer country guitar playing over rock guitar playing. Here is our obligatory concert self portrait during the stage change. Next up:
The first thing that caught my eye was the really cool drum set.
The second thing was that I was pretty sure that I had never seen this man in my life. And he's the lead singer to the band that I paid to watch. Oopsie. Should've done a little research I guess.
Despite not having seen this man (whose name I still don't know although I'm smart enough to know it's not "train") I was really enjoying his concert! He was randomly pointing out in the crowd to get some people on stage and despite the fact that he did indeed NOT point at us, A'lyce and I ran up to the front and did our best to get up there. Can you believe we were this close and then an overzealous security guard pushed us back. Auughh. Someone is always standing in the way of my being almost famous.
This guy changed outfits nearly as much as Carrie Underwood did at her concert. I've never seen a man with so many costume changes! It was unclear what he was wearing at first...
But when the stage lights went down a little it was clear that he had paired a feathery shirt thing (much like Seinfeld's puffy shirt) with his white skinny jeans. I got tickled thinking how ridiculous Bobby would look if he tried to wear white skinny jeans and a feather shirt. There aren't too many people that could pull off that look.
Another outfit change singing a U2 song. I was shocked at the number of songs that Train sings that I didn't know that Train sings! I was singing right along with 90% of the the stuff. I had no idea I was such a Train fan!
Then, out of nowhere, TrainGuy announces "Please welcome.....Martina McBride!" Whaaaa??? And sure enough, out comes Two Lungs and a Larnyx (pet name given to her by the great Gerry House because she has a big ol' voice in a tee-tiny little body).
They sang "With a Broken Wing" together and wowzer, TrainGuy can hit a note! That's a big song to try to duet with Martina but I'll give him his props, he did awesome. Martina headed off stage and then he got all quiet and sentimental. He started to sing his lovely song "Marry Me" and then began telling us a story of a couple.....
On stage rolls a man in a wheelchair followed by his wife and two girls. His wife told the story of how in January of this year her husband was in Afghanistan searching out IED's.....and he found one. In turn he lost both of his legs. TrainGuy wanted to recognize this man, as well as all the other men and women, that have to come home from war to a "new normal" after fighting for all of us. The last thing I thought I'd be is weepy at a Train concert but sho 'nuf. I was one second away from an ugly cry.
The mood lightened when he pulled out his last outfit change and did a pilates move.
Cool picture.
It was time for the fun to end. Train was finished with their set and I was left with a hoarse voice from all the songs I sang along with. Who knew?? Who knew I knew so many Train songs?? TrainGuy gave out some hand slaps. Row 10 is close but not close enough for the hand slap.
It was a great date night and if I wasn't before, I'm now an official Train fan. If you see TrainGuy, don't tell him I still don't know his name. I guess I should call my friend Google 'cause I'm pretty sure he knows all about Train and TrainGuy.
Unless something sneaks up on me, this is going to close out 2011's Tour of Concerts. It would be a good one to end on for sure!