Last year I was driving home from work and heard on the radio that Kenny Chesney was getting ready to announce a summer tour and it was rumored that he would be in Dallas on June 6. That night I jokingly said to my mom and sister that it's rumored Kenny Chesney is coming to visit for my birthday next year so I think it only fitting that I take the day off to see him, since he's making the special trip and all. I was totally joking and didn't really think much more of it. When the tour dates were announced it was Tim McGraw AND Kenny Chesney and it was scheduled for June 9... Holy Cannoli that's awesome, but I have NO money to go. Much to my surprise my sister and brother in law got me 2 tickets for Christmas AWESOME. I put the tickets in a safe place without even looking at them (I didn't want to misplace them). Well 2 nights ago I took them out to see where the seats were and where we were supposed to park and that's where it all began, Club Level Seats Section 312 Heck Yeah, parking in Lot 10 VIP, Suites parking... Double Heck Yeah.
And so it begins, We got there at 2:15 (doors were at 3:30) and walked up to an already forming line of people. Being the "Disney" people that we are we noticed that there were 3 poles to line up at by our door and people were only lined up at 2 of them, OK you all want to wait in the Sun fine, so George and I started the 3rd line, Really people this isn't rocket science but thank you. We were the first ones in to our section and had AMAZING seats. The view was awesome, the seats were larger than typical stadium seating and leather. We had access to the clubs so there were several concessions locations just waiting for us. As we headed up to get some food this couple walking ahead of us stopped to take a photo and an usher asked if she could take it for them to which the gentleman replied "I use to work at Disney I am so used to being the one to take the picture"... I stopped and said "SO did we", well that turned into a conversation in "Small World"Land. He worked there at the same time George and I did and we have mutual acquaintances, of course we do!
The Brothers of the Sun Tour was AMAZING. It was almost 7 hours long, by far the longest concert (short of Livestock), I can not even begin to tell you that this concert was worth every penny (yes I know "I" didn't pay for it but). Jake Owen went on stage around 4:30pm and much to my surprise, I knew who he was. LOL The name didn't ring a bell but I definitely knew his songs. He put on a really good show and had one SUPER hot guitarist :-) He was fun, playing with the crowd, signing autographs, and taking peoples cameras laying on the floor in front of them and taking pictures with them. The set changes were amazingly quick with Grace Potter taking over around 5:45pm. I must admit I didn't really like Grace Potter, for her style music she put on a great show... just not my style. Then it was time for TIM... Oh Tim, I love Tim McGraw! I have such a special place in my life for Tim McGraw. Kenny Chesney says Music brings people together and there is always certain songs that bring back memories... Well Tim McGraw has a lot of them for me, the most significant being "When The Stars Go Blue" (which he did not sing), as that was the song that was on in the operating room at the time Bryce was born. I also have a very special memory of Tim from my Disney Days that always makes me smile. I was working Parade and was on the bridge by the VIP section. Tim and Faith were on the bridge with their girls. At the time the Day Parade made Parade stops so the kids could come out and play with the characters. When the float stopped they came and took the girls to come and dance and Tim jumped up with them and became the cutest dad I have ever seen... he was laying on the ground, rolling in the grass, everything he needed to do to get the perfect photos of the girls being a part of the parade. It was so sweet! Sorry side tracked. Tim put on an excellent show and Looked AWESOME (somebody has been working out). He was so interactive with the crowd, signing autographs as he passed by taking pictures etc... The funniest part was he had his microphone stand at the very end of the stage and he had wondered back to the band during a solo. As the song was ending the roadie was going to get the stand and he raced him all the way to the end of the stage to grab his microphone before they took the stand and then raced him all the way back. I must admit that George knows me well, he was in charge of the camera and almost ALL of the pictures are of Tim :-) Kenny Chesney was awesome too. He is very energetic, smiles ALL the time and just really seemed to LOVE what he was doing. I can't even imagine having the amount of energy that Both Tim and Kenny have. They were ALL over the place, it is so awesome to see people that really truly enjoy what they do for a living. I hate to say that we left early but, we did. We knew that the encore was going to be Kenny and Tim jamming together and I really wanted to see them together, but I just couldn't do it. After working 6.5 hours and then 7 hours of concert I was TIRED so we left just before the encore. But just before we left Kenny sang "The Boys of Fall" and brought Jason Witten on stage (Dallas Cowboys Tight End) which was SUPER funny. Kenny (5'6" became a Munchkin straight out of Munchkin land next to Jason (6'6")... LOL he really didn't seem short until Jason came out, but I guess next to him everyone is probably short.
And what would a social outing be without "People watching" so here are some of the fun stories that make me laugh. First I must say, if you have never been to a Country Music concert in Texas you just have no clue how funny it is. We saw Rascal Flatts in Tampa and while I saw "some" cowboy boots nothing compares to a Texas concert. People literally dig into the back of the closet to pull out their "OMG we are going out" outfits. Not a lot of Cowboy hats but the boots and the ridiculous hoochiemomma outfits find their way into society, it is an awesome time for the "people watcher". Then there were "The Twins". This party of 3 sat in front of us, I would say early 20's (they were drinking but didn't look too old). At first it seemed like the Girl and one of the boys were together but it soon was determined, by profile view, that they were actually twins (or at least brother and sister) and their friend, who was perhaps the designated driver. Well the twins were SO funny, they were dancing like they were the only ones in the stadium, they were singing every single word to every single song.. TO EACH OTHER, not watching the concert, they were drinking and getting sillier as the night went on, while their "friend" sat calmly and watched the show, almost as if he was not with them. They were really cute but SO funny. Even funnier (and yes we video taped her) was "grandma" rocking it out 2 rows behind us. TOO funny! I love people that don't care who's watching, just enjoying themselves. AWESOME.
This was an amazing evening. It was full of laughs, memories, and good times. I really enjoyed every moment of the evening and am SO thankful that my sister listened to my craziness and took me seriously. I am so glad that George came with me, even though it's not really his kind of music. I am so thankful for an evening to "Escape Reality"
"Reality, yeah, Sometimes life
Ain't all it's cracked up to be
So let's take a chance and live this fantasy
'Cause everybody needs a break from Reality"
~Kenny Chesney "Reality"
