Jagarbombs Anyone?

Last night we went to the Class of 2011 hosted by FM106 in Milwaukee and was at the Northern Lights theatre in the Potowatami Casino. We scored 4th row seats and it was a very nice place for a concert! The lineup included The Band Perry, Brett Eldredge, Josh Kelley, Frankie Ballard and Sunny Sweeney. Amazing show!!! I love these kind of shows because they all sit on stage together and it seemed like last night they all had a great time being there together.

The first artist they brought out was Brett Eldredge.
I admit I was very excited to finally see him in concert. After seeing his music video for Raymond on CMT I instantly wanted to know more about him. He came out and sang his first song which I don't remember the name but it was very good. After he sang Raymond in the 2nd round, Josh Kelley said he plays that song all the time on his ipod and his bassist didn't know that Brett sang that so he stared at him in awe the whole time!
Next up was Josh Kelley!We've seen him open before for Miranda Lambert back in November but last night I felt we got to see him true personality show because it was such an intimate show. He started off with his single Georgia Clay, he starts playing it then had to stop because he remembered a story about his dad's old pickup truck and how him and Charles siphoned gas out of a yamaha jetski for it one day. He had to start the whole song over but that story was pretty good!
Time for The Band Perry!!!

Love this band!!!! They started off playing their latest single You Lie :) They played my fav song in the 2nd round called Independence with a little Tom Petty Free Fallin thrown in there. They also covered Rolling Stones Fat Bottomed girls in their last round which was very very cool!
Time to get your faces melted off.....it's Frankie Ballard!I wasn't too sure what to think of him at first but he is very good! His voice and his look just don't match for me. But he was there to have a good time :)
Last but not least....Sunny SweeneyShe was kind of a deadringer of Gretchen Wilson to me....her songs mainly being about divorce and her attitude just kind of turned me off. She looked bored or nervous throughout the whole show......just not too sure about her yet!

Needless to say there was a lot of fun and jokes the rest of the show. Frankie Ballard told a story about when he almost got to play the drums for The Band Perry. There was talk about party panties between Sunny and Frankie. Frankie made fun of the members of TBP saying they weren't old enough to drink. The lead singer Kimberly asked how old Frankie was and she said she had him beat! ha! The show went on for about 6 or 7 rounds of them taking turns playing. The last round Frankie used his turn to play a blues song with everyone, it was amazing!

Frankie bringing out some Jagarbombs!

All in all what an amazing show!!! Love seeing artists interact with one another and tell stories about their songs!

Life's a dance you learn as you go: Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow

So I did promise a concert review for every concert we went to in 2011......last night wasn't the greatest one though. We left for Joes Bar again yesterday and when we got there, there was a steelers game going on and it was PACKED. The back room where the concert was going to be was packed too so we went to Starbucks for a bit then decided to head back to Joes and grab a bite while standing in line. Doors we supposed to open at 7 for the concert.....it was more towards 8 when they opened. We were first in line and yet they didn't kick anyone out of the concert area....so we get in and it's already 2 rows deep. My parents came along with us and my dad stayed in there after he went to the bathroom and was saving a spot for us by the stage. I follow my mom up to the front by him and Dave just stayed back behind me. I told him to come up by me but he wouldn't budge....this is where the fun begins......Two old ladies stand in front of him, they were soooo drunk! They proceeded to ask me what was wrong and why I was depressed. I told them my boyfriend was standing behind them and I wanted him by me. So then they start pulling on him to get him up by me. He gets pissed and starts to leave, I hang onto him and abandon the front row. I don't want to sugarcoat everything that happened after that........he said I embarrassed him and he was trying to be nice and that everyone was making him out to be an ass. Then he wanted to go home.....and I still feel like shit for everything that happened last night. We eventually calmed down and stood in the back by the coat check to watch Jason Jones. We left before Josh Thompson even made it on the stage. I feel so bad for everything that happened last night..........We are never going to Joes that early again.......we talked a lot last night after we got home and I feel a little better about it but still feel like shit.

Roll with it: Easton Corbin at Joes Bar!

So I've decided that since it's a new year I can start things off right by writing a concert review for every single concert I go to in 2011! First concert of the new year was Easton Corbin, The Janedear girls and Eric Paslay at Joes Bar in Chicago on Friday January 7th!
I started out the day by going up to the WI/IL border back home to get my hair done, picked up my mom and headed down to Chicago for the show! As soon as we got to Joes we sat down to have supper and drinks since there was no one in line which is kind of unusual since it was a sold out show! We got in line behind 3 ladies and when they opened the doors to the back room we got right up front no problem!
First up was Eric Paslay, a guy I've never heard of but at first glance he looked a lot like Dierks Bentley. He said that he just recently got signed to Capitol Records in Nashville too. I have a feeling people are going to mix him up with Eric Church too with the voice similarities. He was really good though! He wrote a song that the Eli Young Band just put on their new album coming out soon. I got really excited of course because I really like the Eli Young Band and have heard the song before! During his set we were literally right in front of his mic stand so my neck kept getting sore from looking up at him. My mom started to not feel well and we switched spots during his set so she could lean on the stage. After his set was over he bent over and asked us if he was spitting too much! haha! Nope mom just didn't feel good!
Next up was The Janedear girls! I was kind of worried about them because I've seen pictures of them before the show and the girl with the black hair and red lipstick kind of freaked me out lol.In person they weren't too bad! They did have a pretty wild set and had some great crowd interaction. During the song Saturdays in September they brought 3 couples up on the stage to dance behind them. They said everytime they sing the words Saturdays in September everyone had to scream and the couples had to make out! Then during their medley the blonde girl made a guy come up on stage and dance with her....during alejandro....



I thought that was pretty funny! After their set I ended up getting a setlist! pretty cool!
Yay finally time for Easton Corbin! I've only seen him once before when he opened up for Gary Allan at Joes so it was nice to actually see a full show of his! I'm not exactly sure of all the songs he played but it was a good mix of his songs on his debut cd and cover songs. I especially enjoyed when he covered Kenny Chesney's Just Don't Happen Twice and the George Strait covers at the end. Other songs he covered were Brooks and Dunn, Gary Allan, Alan Jackson and Merle Haggard!





The funniest part had to be when Easton noticed my mom staring off into space. I'm sure she's tired of me telling this story by now but....it was funny! He pointed at her and the guitar player in front of us got her attention the he asked her if she was bored! Then later Easton was running around the stage with his guitar, he stopped right in front of my mom plopped down on both knees and played right in front of her. The smile on her face was priceless!
The show was amazing! He signed mom's ticket at the end and said he had to sign it just for her! I can't wait to see him again!

She's got a bumper like a billboard covered with stickers of her favorite band.

I first heard of the Eli Young Band while in Best Buy one day just wandering with my boyfriend. In the music department they were playing When It Rains and thought the song had a cool groove. I downloaded Jet Black and Jealous onto my ipod that night. I waited and waited for them to come around here to go see them in concert since most of the concerts they have are in TX or OK. They came to Bloomington, IL last November with Jack Ingram and Gary Allan. I didn't buy tickets because they had another date booked for Joe's Bar in Chicago in December. So the day came of the concert in Bloomington and they tweeted they were having a contest for tickets. We were doing nothing else that day so I entered. I didn't think I would win until I got a direct message on twitter from them saying I won. My boyfriend didn't feel like driving so I drove of course! The seats we won were pretty good, a nice side view of the stage. They came on a performed 5 or 6 songs because they were opening, then I wanted to see a little bit of Jack Ingram then leave because my boyfriend had class in the morning. I was looking at twitter on my phone during a break and saw that I had another DM from the Eli Young Band saying we were welcome to come to their meet and greet as well at 8. It was 7:45. WHAT?!?!?! so the next fifteen minutes we were scrambling around trying to find out how to get back there. Finally we found their tour manager at the merch booth and he was so nice to hook us up! We went down to meet them and it was kind of different than any other meet and greet I've been to. We were put in a holding room then taken inside their dressing room to meet them. I thanked them for the twitter tickets and they thanked us for coming. I couldn't believe things like that could happen to us until then. We still saw them at Joe's Bar in Chicago the following month which was awesome because it was a full show!I didn't think I would see them again for a while until the Country Throwdown tour was announced and they were on the lineup. The date for the Chicago show was the same day as my brothers graduation so we planned to drive to Indy the next day to see them. The drive was well worth it. See what happened that day was probably one of the best things that has happened so far this summer. So the Eli Young Band had this contest where they were hiding USB wristbands around the arena where the concert. 3 red ones and 1 blue one, the blue one gets you backstage. So we get to the venue and start searching. My boyfriend wouldn't give up and we were searching until we went to the EYB signing at like 3:15. I get up there and shake all their hands and say hi until I get to the drummer. I told him we were having trouble finding the bracelets, he looked over towards the lead singer and said there were more still out there. I glanced around looking for one and the lead singer was wearing the blue one on his wrist! My boyfriend Dave immediately pointed it out and we got it!!! We met their manager again and he led us backstage. He said to talk to the guys after the show and not before the show since they will be getting ready. Wrong. As soon as they walk backstage they wouldn't stop talking to us, especially the drummer. He even took a picture of Dave and I with a cameo by the bass player. It's pretty hilarious!
I kick myself for not getting a group picture now! The show was awesome, totally different being backstage. It didn't sound as great as it would out in the actual seats but I enjoyed watching the crowd react to them.After the show they left and said they would be back. One of the security ladies let us walk back by the dressing rooms to look at the pictures of other artists that played there. I couldn't resist taking pictures of myself by the dressing room signs.
See that was worth the drive wasn't it?!?! Can't wait to see these guys again in Madison, WI in a couple weeks. Maybe something exciting will happen again? You never know with these guys!

Dancing in Circles: The reason why I love Bluegrass

A lot of you may know I love country music. I grew up listening to Alan Jackson, Patty Loveless, George Strait etc., but you may not know I've been listening to bluegrass since I was pretty much a baby. My grandpa grew up in Kentucky and brought his love of bluegrass with him to Illinois. In one of my Dad's home videos my Grandpa was dancing around with me in the living room of his house to some bluegrass music. I can't quite remember what the song was or who it was by but he looked like he was having so much fun with me and I had a huge smile on my face. I guess I pretty much have my Grandpa to thank for falling in love with the sound of the fiddle, mandolin, and steel guitar. When we were a little older, my parents would take us down to a dance hall in a neighboring town at a campground that had live bluegrass and country music. My grandpa was always there too and would take turns dancing with me and my brother. My parents have a great picture of my brother and I dancing somewhere that I wish I had a copy of. They also have another home video of my brother and I dancing to the bluegrass music at Opryland when it was still open in Nashville not Opry Mills. Sweet Memories :)
Now to the real reason why I am writing this blog. Dierks Bentley. He is one of my favorite country artists that recently released a Bluegrass album this year. I've always liked the bluegrass tracks he put on the 4 cds he put out before this one. My Aunt Barb once said after a Dierks Bentley concert in Iowa that my Grandpa would've liked him because of the bluegrass songs he sang in the bluegrass set that night. I think he would've played this CD over and over again like we did when it came out in June. If you want to know what real bluegrass sounds like with a mix of country I would go get a copy of Up On the Ridge if you haven't already!

There's a boy here in town, said he'd love me forever

I was downstairs putting away some more stuff since we had moved when I came across my diary that I started 3 years ago before I met my boyfriend Dave. I was reading about how I met my exe's and how I wrote how much I loved them.......Kept turning the pages thinking how much I have grown since then. I don't like to dwell in the past anymore. I'm too worried about the future. As I was reading I kept thinking how insecure I was then compared to now. Like now I feel comfortable and safe even if something happens I know things will turn out alright in the end. That was just a chapter in my life that seemed out of control, but that chapter lead into the book I'm in now. It's been hard I admit sometimes over the 2 and a half years I've been with Dave but we always work it out. He may like to play video games a little more than I like but I deal with it because it's what he likes to do. Just like he puts up with me and my concert addiction although he does enjoy the concerts. I finally feel like I'm coming back into my own for the first time in a while. I've been trying to practice my guitar as much as possible which is turning into almost everyday. I want to be ready and I will be ready for when we move next year. I sure hope Dave finds a job in Nashville so I can do what I love too.
Sing. Write. Dream.

Nashville. Fan Fair, 2010 Dos

Well since I feel like I've been procrastinating enough I think it's time for part 2 of my blog! finally!

Day 3
Yikes.
So the beginning of the trip wasn't too bad, the only day I was worried about was Wednesday.....We managed to do everything and possibly more than I planned. So here is goes.....We and head downtown to the Country Music Hall of Fame for the Jake Owen signing. After about an hour of waiting in line we finally start moving and it's time to meet Jake!After we're all done there we head downtown to watch the CMA music fest kickoff parade! I thought it would be a little longer but it was really neat seeing a parade of country stars going down lower broadway!
After the parade was over we headed to the Chevy Stage right outside the Bridgestone Arena to see David Nail!He was even wearing a Miranda Lambert shirt!!!! :)
After seeing David Nail was kind of a blur, I think we went over to the Hard Rock to lunch and maybe a little shopping downtown. While we were having lunch I remember a pretty bad storm rolled through and was happy we weren't outside in it!One of the things I was looking forward to the most was the CMT music awards. I was excited because it was my first awards show I have ever been to!Our seats weren't that great but it was still really neat to have a great view of the stage and see where all the stars were sitting! My favorite performance of the night was when Keith Urban and John Mayer sang together. I still can't believe I witnessed two guitar gods playing together. Wow.We left as Lady Antebellum closed the show so we could make it to our next destination......wait not bed time yet?!?!

It's time for Dierks Bentley's Up on the Ridge/Last call ball 6!......well I don't think those should ever be combined again! I love Dierks and all but it was such a long day made longer......got back to the hotel at like 3 a.m.....Ok enough whining lol
Loved hearing mostly all of the new songs off his new bluegrass/country cd and some grassed up tunes of his own like Free and Easy :)

When the show was over it seemed like we waited FOREVER in line.....wait it was because we did! It was great finally meeting Ronna the DB congress site runner, seeing David from KY and a whole bunch of familiar faces :) Including Kristin from Indiana! Finally got to meet the man at about 2:30 in the morning. Hardly remember what I said to him but he remembered me by my shirt of course that said I'm with the Band on it. He asked me when I saw him last and I said in Purdue, IN but he was like nooooo when was the last time I met you? Oh yeah Harris, MI! Then I told him I threw him off by wearing a U2 shirt that night lol. He thanked us for staying so late and then we went back to the hotel.

I thought I would look way worse than I do in this picture.....being that I was so sweaty all day and tired. Wow what a long day!! I'm getting tired again just thinking about it! And that leads to me having to make a Part Tres for this blog. Until next time!