Sugarland Atlanta-Hope and Shenanigans

Atlanta. Sugarland. The last planned concert of the season. It was finally here. My daughter, Heather, and I were going. It was reality.

The adventure started about a week before. There was so much going on regarding the concert. We weren’t in the pit, we had seats on the floor, but we still wanted to take part in all the activities. The first was that we were all to wear Converse shoes, if we had them. Erica wanted to do a train with them while waiting in the pit line. We didn’t have any, but maybe we wanted to get some. A pair of sparkly purple ones had caught my daughter’s eye.

I planned to surprise her with shoes, and go shopping for them Monday after work. But Monday was a horrible day, and shopping did not sound fun. Thankfully, Tuesday was much better, so I headed to the shoe store after work.

There wasn’t a big selection, and there were no sparkly purple Converse shoes. I picked out a pair of gray high tops for me, and some shiny black ones for my daughter. A salesperson walked by, and I asked if those were all the Converse shoes they had. She remarked that those were all the adult ones they had. Something inspired me to head to the kids’ section. And there were the sparkly purple ones. Then I started looking at the sizes and decided to pull out a box to see what they looked like. Gee, a size 4 in the kids’ size was the same as a 4 in adults. I grabbed the purple shoes for my daughter, and a pair of grey shiny satin ones for me. They were $15 less than the adult shoes, I got $5 off each pair, and then it was buy one, get one half off. Good deal.

I didn’t discover the best part about my Converse shoes until I was packing for Atlanta. The fabric lining has winged hearts on it.

Our Converse Shoes

We also needed pajama tops to don when Sara Bereilles sang “Uncharted”, and glow sticks…I had my L.L. Bean hunting dog pj’s, and Heather picked up some cute pj’s at Target. Heather’s friend had given her a bag of glow sticks, glow wands, glow bracelets and necklaces, so we were all set with that.

Our crazy pj's!

Finally Friday arrived, and I headed to Heather’s after work. Of course, there was a big accident on the route I planned to take, which caused me, and everyone else, to take back roads. So many cars! And lots of seconds at the Sun Stare, as well. That is NOT a good activity!

Heather, her hubby, and I went to dinner, then we got organized for the next morning and went to bed. We got up before early, so we could leave early. We had an uneventful drive to Atlanta, highlighted by realizing we could have stayed the night before at Heather’s friend’s in South Carolina, a very bad breakfast from McDonald’s, and lots of Sugarland, JNB, and SMD music on my “All Jennifer All The Time” playlist.

We arrived in Atlanta and headed to the Hard Rock Café for the pre-party. I got to see my Texas concert buddy, SugarTaz, and Terri & Rich, who I met in Nashville. I also got to finally meet Kathie, Karen, Katherine and Yvonne & Keith. We had appetizers and Sugartinis and visited and played Sugarland trivia. BTW, many of us disagreed with some of the trivia answers!

We checked into our hotel, which was just a short walk from the venue. We decided to walk up and see what was happening on the Fan Club Pit Line. We got up there, and there was a film crew taking video of everyone’s Sugarland-themed tattoos. I don’t have one. Yet. Erica saw me, waved hello, and came over and gave me a big hug. I also met Krista, and we got to visit for a few minutes. We picked up our very cool, designed by Katherine, Little Miss signs, and headed off for a bite to eat before the show. We found this great place around the corner from the hotel, Peasant Bistro. We had appetizers, salads and dessert, and they were all fantastic. They used a lot of local foods, so the place really appealed to me-I highly recommend it.

We headed off to the concert and got settled in our seats-we were four rows back from the pit. We handed out glow bracelets and the like to anyone who wanted them. There was a young girl sitting in front of us-Heather gave her the glow wand.

Heather found out, via Twitter, that one of her favorite gymnasts, Shayla Worley, was sitting in the section behind us. So exciting!

It was time for the concert to begin! Sara Bereilles came out and opened with “Uncharted”. Even though no one could see us, we put on our pajama tops. After the song ended, the people in the front of the pit gave Sara a memento regarding the Sugarpit Pajama Party.  Sara sang another song, and Jenn tweeted something about it being time for shenanigans. Sara was about to sing “Love Song”, when the entire Sugarland band, including J&K, came out wearing black track suits, wigs, hats, make-up…and sang an a cappella version of “Love Song” complete with choreography, led by Annie and Thad. It took a few moments to figure out who everyone was…and it was fantastic!

Sara is very talented. She has a beautiful voice, is great on piano and guitar, and engages the audience well. I really enjoyed her set.

Then, it was time for Sugarland! Yay! There’s no more Incredible Machine set, just the geared heart with wings projected onto the curtain. But, you know, that was ok. This time, it wasn’t about the set, or the staging, or the costumes or hats. It was about the band, Jennifer and Kristian, and the music. It seemed without the distractions, one could really focus on the music and the message, and the musicians were freer to express themselves.

The concert was amazing, with lots of special moments. During “Little Miss”, we all held up our signs. “Look around,” my daughter whispered…the ENTIRE venue was white with Little Miss signs of hope and healing. And there were more shenanigans. Sara’s band running across the stage in their underwear, while Sugarland “froze”…Darth Vader in tighty whiteys…Sara’s band dressing as Cee-Lo, Britney, Dolly, Beonce, and Sara herself as MKB during the “Everyday America” remix…It was all fantastic.

And then, in the middle of it all, as we were singing and dancing and having a great time, something amazing happened. I felt… hopeful. It was as if singing the words made everything possible. Maybe my heart could beat again, maybe I was worth it, maybe I really could change the world, maybe things were looking better now, and most of all, maybe I’d be alright again. Maybe everyone in the room, heck, maybe everyone in the world feels awkward and like they don’t fit, like me, and yet, we still can make the world a better place.  We laughed, we cried, we hugged-“Baby Girl” takes on new meaning when you’re standing next to your baby girl!

This time, I was ready…as the bass drum thumped at the beginning of “Find the Beat Again” (AKA “Hey, Hey”), I let the wave pick me up and carry me through to the end of the concert. It didn’t knock me over, like last time, like an unexpected wave at the ocean that wasn’t caught quite right, but it was still fabulous.

Such a fun, but exhausting night. We walked back to the hotel, and got ginger ales out of the vending machines. I watched a little college football and Heather studied. Then we went to sleep. We are so lame.

Before heading back to VA the next morning, we stopped in Decatur. (Yes, I am THAT kind of fan-and my poor daughter gets dragged along!) We wandered around the town and took photos at Eddie’s Attic. I would like to point out that we were not the only Sugarland fans doing so.  My daughter was so cute…pointing out that Jennifer had probably climbed up the steps at Eddie’s Attic-just like we were doing. We went to Dancing Goat for coffee, not to be confused with Laughing Goat in Boulder. (I have been there, too, thinking it was Kristian’s favorite place. How many coffee shops can there be with the word “goat” in their name?) The coffee and baked goods were so good. Heather had a seasonal coffee, I think it was called the Autunna, and she said it was the best latte she’d ever had. My chilly mocha was pretty darn good, too.

We got in the car and headed back to reality-with a stop along the way at Panera for lunch.

Sugarland in Atlanta. Definitely a do-over.

CMA Fest/Day 4/Pancakes!

There was some discussion on Saturday about church on Sunday morning. The former pastor of the church we attended when we first got married pastors a church just outside Nashville, and we thought about going Sunday morning and surprising him. But in the end, exhaustion won out, and we decided to sleep in.

We were tired of the hotel breakfast, and I really wanted to go to the Pancake Pantry, which is a Nashville institution.  I had read that people line up for pancakes, and that there can be up to 200 people waiting for a table. It was too far to walk, so we piled into the car and headed out. Sure enough, when we got there, there was a line around the front of the building. We hopped out of the car and took our place in line. The system is actually quite efficient, and they have self-serve coffee outside, so you can help yourself while you are waiting.

After about 30 minutes, it was our turn to be seated.  The host thanked us for waiting and promised us the best breakfast we’d ever eaten.  The menu had 23 types of pancakes, plus all the normal breakfast items-eggs, omelets, bacon, sausage…We all decided on different types of pancakes, which made it great for sharing. Heather got potato pancakes, Nick got SWEET potato pancakes, I got sugar & spice pancakes, and Randy got Santa Fe cornmeal cakes which had cheese, bacon and chilies in them. ALL of the pancakes were really good. I don’t think I could choose a favorite. And we got a side of hash browns, which were also amazing. Check out the menu. You’ll wish you were there, too.

http://www.thepancakepantry.com/images/Pancake_Pantry_menu.pdf



Waiting for our pancakes



We headed back downtown. I was hoping to meet up with Terri and Deb, as I had not yet gotten to meet Terri, and her husband, Rich. Also, Heather and I wanted to see Josh Kelley, who was performing at the Riverfront Stage.  Deb and Terri were at a fan club event featuring Bucky Covington, Jaron and the Long Road to Love, and a few others.  They didn’t think it would be over before Josh Kelley’s performance…so I decided to go find them. We walked into the place that was hosting the party, and saw a sign that the party was upstairs. Heather and I just walked on up, but the boys didn’t think we were supposed to, so they stayed downstairs. We found Deb, Terri & Rich, and Bucky Covington and his security shoved past us. Yes, I was shoved by Bucky Covington’s security. And Terri got his autograph.



Meeting up with Deb and Terri



We listened to Jaron sing “I’ll Pray for You” and visited with Deb, Terri & Rich, a little. Terri wasn’t sure who Josh Kelley was and wanted me to sing “Georgia Clay”. Haha. We headed downstairs to go to the Riverfront, hoping that Terri, Rich and Deb would be able to meet us. We got downstairs, and there was Randy, with people’s cameras in his hand, taking pictures of fans with Bucky Covington. And Bucky was helping him use the camera. The best part is that Randy didn’t even know who Bucky Covington was.

We headed over for Josh Kelley. Charles, obviously feeling fine, introduced him. Josh was great, and we stayed for Terri Clark’s first song, as well. Heather noticed Katherine Heigl with Josh in the golf cart as he drove away from the stage.



Listening to Josh Kelly at the Riverfront



We also had to plan dinner. There were a couple of “Original Nashville” restaurants we were interested in…we had fun reading the reviews. There was one that talked about an “inappropriate sauce” on the fish, which still makes me giggle when I think about it. I imagine the meal arriving, the customer taking a bite, and saying, “This sauce is totally inappropriate!” Who does that? Anyway, the restaurants were either too far away, or closed Sunday night. Nick finally found an Italian restaurant about 2 blocks from the footbridge, but away from Broadway, that had good reviews, called Sole Mio. It lived up to its promises, from the Italian margarita, thru the pasta course, and onto dessert (which Heather had been wanting for days). It was only 2-3 blocks from Broadway and the main CMA Fest activity, yet very few people ventured out that far, so there were plenty of tables, we didn’t have to wait, and the food and service were fabulous.



Our last walk to LP Field



We headed over to LP field for our last night of concerts. It started with the Jane Dear Girls-Susie is very talented, but Danelle needs to work on her stage presence. I liked them, but Danelle made me feel like she was copying Jennifer Nettles, instead of being herself. Next was The Band Perry-who were fabulous, then Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, and Miranda Lambert. Pistol Annies debuted with Miranda, which was fun and exciting. I didn’t think Blake or Miranda were as good live as some of the other performers I had seen during the festival, yet they are the Male and Female Vocalists of the Year, so…

Last was Entertainer of the Year, Taylor Swift. Randy and Nick left before Miranda, so just Heather and I remained. Taylor began her set, and there was a lot of posing, hair-flipping, and skipping around the stage. Her band was very loud, and we really couldn’t hear her singing over the band. At the end of her first song, Heather leaned over to me and said, “She just copied Jennifer Nettles!” Have I mentioned how much I love Heather? She is able to say things that would be judged as “biased” if I said them. As Taylor went through her set, more and more people left. You have to remember that is was late Sunday night, and a lot of people had to work the next day-which may be why our entire section cleared out by Taylor’s third song.  We stayed until the end…because we are die-hard fans.

Heather and Nick got up and left at 5 the next morning-Nick was planning to work half a day. Randy and I dragged our exhausted bodies to Nashville Airport, where  announcements are given by country music stars. We heard Kristian Bush giving directions to the rental car area.

Between CMA Fest and Bonaroo, everyone at the Nashville airport was tired, hungover, and sunburned…but still pleasant and friendly. However, by the time our flight landed at LaGuardia, everyone had turned back into New Yorkers with attitude.

CMA Fest was awesome. I hope it becomes an annual event for us. Though we are already discussing that next year may be “girls only”.  Hehe.

CMA Fest/Day 3/Beer & Popsicles

I woke up on day 3 of CMA Fest wondering how anything could be as good as the night before. We were all beginning to feel a little worn out. The free breakfast at the hotel was starting to lose its luster.  Have you ever had that experience where even though there are tons of choices, since the choices have been the same each day, there’s no longer anything you want? My made-to-order omelet was not as good as the day before, and there were no cheese grits. Nothing looked or tasted good, except the fresh fruit. That was still amazing.

We were going on a tour of the Yazoo brewery at 3:30, and I wanted to drive down music row. Other than that, we didn’t have any plans. Heather wasn’t happy with how her “I heart country music” t-shirt fit, so she wanted to get another one. So we headed down to Broadway after breakfast to do that. We tried to talk the guys into getting shirts, but they said the shirts were too dark and heavy. So we used their e-mail addresses and got another shirt for ourselves.

Carhartt was giving away these very cute pink bags at their booth in the convention center, and Heather and I really wanted one. We went over there, but were told they weren’t giving them away until 1:30.

There wasn’t really anything else we wanted to do. No one wanted to go to listen to music at the Riverfront or other stages. We had explored everything else. I suggested going to the Country Music Hall of Fame, or tour the Ryman, but no one wanted to do that. We were hot. And tired. We decided to go back to the hotel…we got some frozen Starbucks drinks and relaxed in the lobby, reading books and catching up on Facebook.

Later that afternoon, we got in the car, and drove to what was possibly Music Row-I’m not sure. It wasn’t much, but I had been told not to expect much. Then we went to this place that sold homemade popsicles, called Las Paletas. I found it online, but when we got there, Heather realized she had seen it on Food Network. It was amazing. There were several interesting flavors, and people filed in the shop, asked for their popsicles, paid and left. The line never ended. Heather and I got avocado flavor, and the boys got chocolate with chili. They were really good, but I felt like I rushed through mine and didn’t enjoy it because I was concerned about making it to the brewery tour on time. I really wanted to get another one and try to savor it, but I resisted the temptation.



Enjoying our popsicles!



There was a gourmet burger place next to the popsicle store that looked really good.  We could see people eating delicious looking burgers and stacks of onion rings through the window. We decided we would come back for dinner.

We headed off to Yazoo brewery for a fun tour and some delicious beer.



I took this photo because one of our cooks always invites me to eat at her school and describes the food as "bangin', yo"...as in 'come have some bbq chicken; it's bangin', yo."

 Then we headed back to the burger place, “Burger-Up”. We started with fried mushrooms and a cheese spread-delicious. Then our burgers came…the boys got more basic ones, beef with cheddar and some other toppings. Heather and I split a beef burger with pesto and goat cheese, and a lamb burger with goat cheese and some other toppings. Although the boys’ burgers tasted good (we had bites), ours did not. The beef tasted really strong, almost “off”, and the lamb was even stronger. Since the boys’ tasted ok-we wondered if the goat cheese or the pesto was what made it taste bad. Anyway, it was a big disappointment. Thankfully, the onion rings were crazy good.

Concert time! The only artist I was dying to see that night was Little Big Town, so I wondered how the concert would go. The evening started with Chris Young, and then it was Little Big Town’s turn. I love them, but they chose a weird set, I thought, for CMA Fest. They did “A Little More You”, “Shut Up Train”, “Born This Way” (EPIC!), “Little White Church”, another slow one, and “Boondocks”. I thought it was weird that they didn’t perform “Kiss Goodbye” or “The Reason Why”. Also, slow songs at CMA Fest are mood killers. You get the audience on their feet, singing and dancing along, and then you sing a slow song. Guess what happens-everyone sits down. Or goes and gets a beer.

Josh Turner was next, and as he was singing “Your Man”, the crowd went crazy. I couldn’t figure out why at first, but then I saw that Scotty McCreery had joined him on stage. After Josh was Trace Atkins, and then Martina McBride, who was joined by Lauren Alaina, again to a screaming crowd. Martina McBride enjoyed a standing ovation, but we felt she kind of “milked” it…instead of moving on with her set, she just let the crowd keep cheering for her. Rascal Flatts went last. They handed out lights to everyone in the audience, and we were to turn them on during “I Won’t Let Go”. Perhaps you will see that on TV! They closed their set with a medley of songs from my high school and college days that they performed with Little Big Town. That was great! Thompson Square also performed 2 songs between sets, and Big & Rich with Gretchen Wilson performed the “Fake ID” song.

Every performance was very good-I enjoyed the night much more than I thought I would.  Of course, though, I am partial to Little Big Friends.

We headed back to the hotel, and had a drink in the bar before turning in. It was 1 AM, every table and seat was taken, and there was one server. Poor thing! But she did great. Heather’s chocolate martini was the winner.

Tomorrow-Pancakes and Bucky Covington

CMA Fest/Day 2/Sugarland. Also, Heather Gets a New Name

Friday of CMA Fest was very exciting for me. Sugarland was performing that night, and I was hoping to meet some fellow Sugarland fans that day. Apparently I was so excited I forgot to take pictures. I do have this one, however:

We started off with our free breakfast. Our waiter was telling us that he was working security at LP Field. He showed us his schedule, and my daughter (who from now on shall be named “Eagle Eye”) noticed that Sugarland was rehearsing during the day. The people at the next table asked to see the schedule, and then my daughter asked for it back and confirmed that Sugarland was indeed rehearsing at 1:30 PM. She and I decided to go. I texted the 4 Sugarland friends I had contact info for, to let them know the scoop.

We headed down to Broadway. Eagle Eye had seen a girl in a T-Shirt the day before that said “I <3 Country Music”. Apparently they were free at the Guildan booth, so we were off to claim our own. There was also free ice cream and Ocean Spray Drinks (I recommend the cranberry cocktail with lime, yum, yum).  There was a singer I didn’t know signing autographs at the Guildan booth, so it was a little crazy. We just had to fill out a form with our e-mail and turn it in to get our t-shirts. Eagle Eye got a pink women’s cut shirt that said “I Heart Country Music” and I got a blue one with a horse that said “Born Country”. We liked this booth because they had all sizes and would give you the size you asked for.

We saw people walking around with Pedigree bags and figured they must be giving away dog treats. Eagle Eye asked where they were from-the Pedigree booth was in the Family Zone. So we headed over there. Not only did they have treats, they had puppies! There were puppies from a shelter that were looking for homes. They were just being brought out of the car. There was a brother and a sister, and the people from the shelter decided to name them Blake and Miranda. There was also a little black and brown female puppy, and names were being discussed. Someone suggested “Reba”. I said “Jennifer Nettles”. The folks from the shelter liked “Nettles”, and decided to give her that name! Pedigree also had very cute shirts for sale that said “Country Rocks/Dogs Rule”. Eagle Eye and I really wanted one, but decided we needed more shirts like we needed holes in our heads.

Around 1 pm, we left the guys and headed over to LP field. Deb, a fellow Sugar Fan, was planning to meet us over there. When we got there, Keith Urban was rehearsing. There were about 10 people standing outside the gates. You couldn’t see anything, but you could hear perfectly. He sang a couple of songs and also talked …he said something about “Jake”. We decided Jake Owen must be performing with him. We were “in” on the surprise!

Keith finished and everyone left except Eagle Eye and me. Deb hadn’t arrived yet, but soon called to find our exact location. We had chatted several times online-it was so fun to finally meet her! She is very sweet and a diehard Sugarland Fan.

We could hear Sugarland’s band setting up and noodling around on their instruments. Why was Brandon playing the intro to Shania Twain’s “Man, I Feel Like a Woman” over and over? It was so annoying! And what was Travis up to? Crazy drummers-there was a marching cadence going on-I felt like I was back in my college marching band.

While we were waiting for them to actually play a song, an idea dawned on us. What if Shania was going to sing with Sugarland? That would be epic!

They finally rehearsed “Find the Beat Again”, and we could hear some discussion. We heard Jennifer say that she couldn’t hear very well; she could only hear herself.  “We need to check our ears on something besides ‘Glue’,” she said.  So they sang “Settlin’”, and when they were finished she exclaimed “So fun!” (Have I mentioned I love these people? Clearly she enjoyed rehearsal!! Who does that?) Then there was Shania’s intro one more time, and they were done. What an amazing experience. It was like we had our own private sound check.

We headed back across the bridge and found the guys at a bar.  It was time again for a little snick-snack, so we ordered some nachos, and we girls also got drinks. The guys had spent the entire time searching for a place for dinner. Yes, if you hadn’t noticed by now, food is very important to us.

We wandered around some more, and watched a dog jumping competition (where dogs jump into the water and try for distance). We were ready to head back to the hotel and regroup before dinner.  However, I noticed I had a text from another sugar fan stating that several of them were at Big Shotz. Deb and I decided to meet up with them, so I left my family and we walked over-scoring a backpack with a Bridgestone logo on it on the way. At Big Shotz , I got to meet Maria and Sara, and say hello again to Joe and Jen. J

Deb headed home, as she had to work. And I met back up with the family. The guys had scoped out “The Best Thai Food in Nashville”, which was at a place called Thai Phoo Ket, (which cracks me up because it's actually spelled 'Phuket') a double-wide trailer across from the stadium. Actually, the food was good and reasonably priced-not the best Thai food I’ve ever eaten, but it was tasty and got the job done.

Concert time! Ashton Shepherd was up first. She has really improved since I saw her open for Sugarland-was that 3 years ago? She was quite sassy when singing “Look It Up”. She made me think of Jennifer without thinking she was copying Jennifer. I realized later in the week-there is a big difference between the 2. Then Dierks Bentley performed-I love him!  After him was Lady Antebellum. There’s going to be a TV special of the CMT Fest, so after Lady A performed, they tried to tape Lady A announcing the show. They were in the middle of the audience. They tried a couple of times, but it wasn’t perfect, and the crowd was getting restless.

Finally it was time for Sugarland!!! They were announced and Brandon played the intro to “Man, I Feel Like a Woman”. Shania came out, but instead of singing with them, she just introduced Sugarland. Sugarland performed “Stuck Like Glue”, “All I Want To Do”, "Tonight", and “Everyday America” with the remix. Then the drum cadence started and a drum line came out on stage and performed “Find the Beat Again” with Sugarland! Wow! They finished the set with “Something More”. Then it was announced that they were going to do “Beat” again-for the TV show. An extra Sugarland performance? Yes, Please! It was absolutely perfect except for the 2 annoying women farther down the row who went in and out several times each night, and felt it necessary to walk by me right at “TWO STUCK TOGETHER FROM THE ATL”! How rude!

I would also like to mention that Ms. Nettles was wearing red pants-which might be categorized in the more outlandish fashion choices category. However, I would like to point out, that even in our decent seats, the stage was far away and it was kind of hard to follow the performers (thank goodness for the big screen), but Jennifer was easy to spot, due to her wardrobe choice. Well played, Ms. Nettles.

The night finished with Keith Urban, who brought Jake Owen out, and they sang one of Jake’s songs together, and Reba. I thought they were great, especially Keith. So many people left before or during Reba’s set…and Randy fell asleep, haha. What a lightweight.

Favorite performance of the night-Sugarland-and everyone around me thought so, too, so even though I’m biased, many agreed with my opinion. However, Dierks, Lady A, and Keith are all favorites of mine, so the whole night was absolutely fabulous.

Coming up-day 3: Beer and Popsicles

CMA Fest/Day 1/Grand Ole Opry

Thursday morning started off with a free breakfast at our hotel. Our breakfast was free because my husband is a triple-platinum quintuple-diamond member of the Hilton Honors program, so the hotel gave us free breakfast. Then we set out for our adventures-CMA Fest was on!




having a bath

We headed down to the Riverfront Stage, as concerts were starting there. It’s GA and open to the public, and I heard it could be quite crazy down there, so I didn’t quite know what to expect. I didn’t realize there would be all kinds of activities and promotions set up. As we were walking towards the riverfront, we saw the Budweiser Clydesdales! And they were getting their baths! Then we came to an Outdoor Zone, where we tried shooting air rifles and hunting bows. Randy and Nick also did minnow races. We played some games and the guys both won T-shirts. We were very entertained. We didn’t make it to the Riverfront Stage, but we could hear Craig Morgan, and then Jake Owen performing.



trying out the hunting bow



We then went down to the riverfront area, and it was really crowded. I couldn’t even see over the people to see how many folks were in front of the stage. Not fun. So we wandered around Broadway, and checked out other exhibits, tried samples, listened to music, etc. Chevy had a game where you did half of it by the river, and the other half in another area off Broadway. If you completed it, you got a free shirt. Heather and I decided to do it, and got shirts, but they only had XL, so we gave ‘em to the boys.  Jack Daniel’s had a trailer set up with a “tour” of the distillery, so we went in there. (We had planned to go to the actual distillery, but it was a long way away).

We were getting a little peckish, but we had a nice, early dinner planned. We just needed a little snack. Every place on Broadway was packed. We had visited the bank the day before, and the teller recommended places to eat in the arcade across the street. It was away from the main section of town, and it wasn’t crowded. There wasn’t a huge selection of places to go, but we ended up at a place called Maggie’s. It was just a place where you ordered at the counter with sandwiches and stuff. I wasn’t expecting too much. Randy and I split a chicken salad plate and it turned out to be perfect. What a surprise! When I opened the white styrofoam container, there was a scoop of chicken salad on a beautiful green lettuce leaf, some watermelon and orange wedges, and whole grain crackers. Just the right amount to take the edge off my hunger.




In the afternoon, we drove out to the Grand Ole Opry and took a tour. If you go to Nashville, I recommend doing this. I loved it. It was interesting to hear how people become members. They have to apply, and they have to show that they want to uphold the tradition of country music. I don’t think Sugarland will ever apply for membership.

We went to dinner at the Capitol Grille at the Hermitage Hotel, which a friend at church had recommended to us. It was very good, but expensive. The cocktails, the Brussels sprouts and the onion soup were fabulous. Randy’s pot roast and Heather’s filet were to die for. I didn’t really like the lamb I got. Sad face.

After dinner, we walked to LP Field. I was ready for my first night of concerts! Zac Brown Band opened with a lot of guests: Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Amos Lee, Sonia Lee. Then Easton Corbin played-his eyebrows are out of control! He was followed by Sara Evans, who I enjoyed even though she seemed a little nervous. Then Jason Aldean performed with Kelly Clarkson, and Brad Paisley closed out the night with Alabama. We decided being the 3^rd or 4^th performer of the night is the best spot. The concerts went on until midnight or later, and a lot of people left before the last performance or two.

Favorite performance of the night: Jason Aldean



Coming up tomorrow-our Friday adventures. They might be Sugarland-tastic.







CMA Fest/Nashville, TN/Day 0

June 8, 2011. Randy and I left for Nashville. Travel was super easy and problem-free. In fact, it was probably the easiest drive I’ve ever had to JFK airport, which is weird, because we left at 7 AM and one would think we would have hit rush hour traffic.

We arrived in Nashville, took a cab to our hotel, and checked in. They had warm chocolate chip cookies in the lobby, which was great, because it was 3 PM and all we had eaten was an apple and coffee. I don’t do well when I’m hungry.

We went up to our room, got settled, and Randy checked in with what was happening at work. I finally dragged him away from it, and we went out to get the lay of the land. We went down to Bridgestone Arena to see what was going on with the CMT awards. I didn’t bother to buy tickets to this, as before we got to Nashville, I wasn’t really interested in going. But now that it was actually happening, I wished I was going. Note to self for next time-get CMT Awards tickets.

Randy noticed a group of people congregating on a corner. We went down to see what was happening. About a block up the street, people were being dropped off for the CMT awards. We saw a lot of unidentifiable men in cowboy hats. We also think we saw Little Big Town, JaneDear Girls, Trace Adkins, Sugarland’s tour manager, Hellen, with food (for Sugarland?), and others that I thought I wrote down, but apparently didn’t, and can’t remember now.

I had maneuvered my way up near the front, but was getting hungry and a little bored-since we couldn’t always be sure who we were seeing…we decided to head to the Wildhorse Saloon, since they were having a CMT viewing party that night. I figured we should get there early as it would probably be crowded. 

We had no problem getting a table near the front, and we ate and drank slowly so it wasn’t a problem to stay. But I think we could have gotten there a little later and still been ok. It was a big place and there really was plenty of room. We had BBQ and fried pickles. The baked potato salad was really good.

We watched the CMT awards, and I cheered extra loud for Sugarland. My husband booed a certain artist he doesn’t particularly care for. Oops.

They raised the TV screen, and it looked like the stage was set up for a live band. The people at the next table confirmed that Jerrod Neiman was having his fan club party that night. Meanwhile, Heather and Nick had arrived and were trying to decide to come in-there was a $10 cover, the line was long, they had no cash, and they didn’t want to pay if we were gonna leave. After some intense texting, they decided to come in. Our waitress graciously let us keep our table and we got another round of drinks.

We waited about an hour and a half, and then Jerrod Neiman came out.  Lee Brice and Jake Owen also joined him during the performance. It was really enjoyable as it was such a casual atmosphere and a laid-back music set.

It was over at about 12:30 (1:30 for us East Coasters), and we headed back to our hotel, excited for what the next day would bring.

Sugarland in Columbia,MD May 22, 2011

Last night, I saw Sugarland at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD. In so many ways, this was the BEST SHOW EVER for me! And it’s not because I had great seats-they were probably the farthest I’ve ever been from the stage, and there was nothing special going on-no meet & greet, no sound check, no hanging out and eating bad croissants with Annie at one of her renegade meet and greets. And, no, I did not attend the wine festival that took place at the venue before the concert.  It was great because Sugarland is awesome and they just keep getting awesomer. I know that’s not a word, but Sugarland is so fantastic that new words must constantly be created to describe them. Their passion for music, their enjoyment of performing, and their desire to engage the fans was cranking at 110% last night. In other words, they were having so much fun on stage, and it translated directly to the audience.

So down to the nitty-gritty: I think they sang about 19 songs. They did ALL the songs from The Incredible Machine EXCEPT “Wide Open” (What? No “Wide Open”?) and “Shine the Light”. I’m still waiting to hear “Shine the Light” live-that will be amazing. OK-digressing here-let’s get back to the subject at hand.  Kristian even did the “Incredible Machine” interlude, and they tacked “Sweet Caroline” onto “Find the Beat Again”. They also played their usual hits: “Baby Girl”, “Who Says”, “All I Want To Do”, “Something More”, “Settlin”, “Everyday America” (with remix), “Stay”. I did miss “Want To” and “Already Gone”. Heck, I still miss “Down in Mississippi”.  Jennifer and Matt Nathanson sang Matt’s new song “Run” together.  And, of course, for the encore they did “Stand Up” and “Like a Prayer” with LBT. Then Jennifer rambled on about the Rapture and how she knew it hadn’t happened because she had gotten a hold of her momma after 6 pm the night before-and since her momma is the best person she knows, and her momma was still here, well, then clearly the Rapture hadn’t happened. Then they did an “all sing” with Matt Nathanson taking the lead on “It’s The End of the World…” It was clear that he was totally enjoying himself!

Highlights of the evening:

“It Happens”-big smiles and laughs all around, and the most blurred “Pshhh….it happens” I have ever heard. Most fun moment of the night.

“Stay”-I’ve never seen Jennifer get so angry when she gets to the part, “well I don’t think that’s the truth, and don’t like being used, and I’m tired of waiting”. Great facial expressions.

“Tonight”-this is epic live, and I couldn’t wait to hear it. But I found myself thinking of Abby and Hannah’s facebook convo about this song, which was a little distracting…

Jenn’s outfit-her clothes were almost normal-some days, they’re just a little weird for me. And she looked fantastic. She did wear those special boots, though. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch the episode of “Desperate Housewives” where the art teacher at MJ’s school hits on Susan.  This is just a statement…please don’t read any subversive meaning into it. Thanks.

The transition from “Stay” to “Find the Beat Again”- How do you go from “Stay” to anything else? But they did it-flawlessly-and carried the audience to another level of joy in the process.

Little Big Town covering Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”-Yep. There are no words that do this justice. http://littlebigtown.com/videos/scattered-smothered-covered-born-way-lady-gaga

Jenn dancing during the remix - You all know what I’m talking about.

Sugarland, led by the talented and beautiful Jennifer Nettles, gave more of themselves at a performance than they thought they could. The band left the audience wondering how people can perform at that intensity for that long. Well, they left me wondering that, anyway!  Jennifer never missed a note, never missed a beat, and was a fireball of energy and performance all night long. And she carried Kristian and her band right along with her.

Wow. I just want to do it again.

The Agony and the Ecstasy of…Presales

It’s that time of year, when tickets to Sugarland concerts go on sale! Just last week, Columbia MD tickets became available, and since I am a proud Sugarpass member, I couldn’t wait to try the presale for this year’s concerts. The presale was on a Wednesday at 9 AM. I work Wednesdays at 9 AM, and SugarlandMusic.com is blocked at my place of employment, as it is categorized as music/entertainment. And there will be none of that at work! How was I going to get on-line?

I had been planning to go to the concert with Jackie, my daughter’s friend, who is also known as my second daughter, or fake daughter, and her mom. The three of us have gone to a couple of other Sugarland concerts, and it’s becoming a tradition. Jackie had offered to do the presale if I couldn’t, but her mom mentioned that she had class at 9 AM on Wednesday morning. Jackie is a Med student at Georgetown-she probably shouldn’t miss class for a ticket presale. I tried to call her to see if she could buy the tickets, but I couldn’t get a hold of her. I went around to other offices in my building to see if anyone knew where there was free wi-fi nearby, thinking I could try to use my iPod at Starbucks or something. 

Someone suggested the library, but it didn’t open until 10. And there’s really nothing else nearby. One colleague said I could go to her daughter’s office-no sites were blocked there.  Did I know where it was? Go down West St., turn left at the coffee shop, go through the stop sign, blah, blah, blah, my mind was wandering-what did she say?

About 10 minutes before 9, I headed out-wishing I had done a better job remembering the directions. What was I supposed to do at the stop sign? I turned. “Hot french fries and red balloon ties…” Who’s calling me? It was Jackie…could I do the presale? Because she could if I couldn’t. At this point I was driving aimlessly around Danbury-well not completely aimlessly-I was driving around the block and planning a different tactic at the stop sign. Jackie said she would try to get tickets until I could find where I was supposed to be.

I found my destination and got on the internet at 2 or 3 minutes after 9. No seats together. Sugarpit. 3 separate seats. Texting Jackie. Jackie texting me. We want to sit together. Your mom and I are too old for the Sugarpit. We need our bubble of space. ..

In the end, we decided to wait for tickets to go on sale to the general public. It was more important to us to sit together farther from the stage, versus having better seats, but not being together.  And really, is there a bad seat at a Sugarland show? I think not! Hopefully we will not be sitting behind any big tree trunks of people or next to any obnoxious drunk people-which is what happened at the last SL concert we went to!

The tickets went on sale Friday at 10 AM. We had to figure out how we would we buy tickets when we were all at work or school at that time. Thankfully, the weather helped-snow day in Danbury! I was able to purchase tickets from the comfort of my own home!

We’re all set…3 tickets to Sugarland with Little Big Town and Matt Nathanson. Let the fun begin!

My Trip to Denton, Tx

This blog is divided into four parts, so if you are only interested in the concert, and don’t want to read about all the extra stuff, feel free to skip down!

Getting There

Saturday morning arrived, and I was ready to start on my adventure. I set two alarms but didn’t need the second one. I headed out to the airport only 15 minutes behind schedule. I had my radio on XM 16-The Highway and was hoping for a Sugarland song. As I approached the Whitestone Bridge toll plaza, “It Happens” came on …I read the bright lighted sign that said “E-Z Pass holders use outside lanes”. I went to an outside lane, and it was cash only! All I can say is “It Happens”, and thank goodness I had cash!

I arrived at the airport in plenty of time. I was able to get a seat assignment the night before, when I checked in, so that concern was a non-issue. Let me just say that La Guardia Airport should be re-named “Ghetto Airport”. It’s old and has a run-down feeling. There are not many places to get food or coffee. It’s so dimly lit you cannot read. And the chairs are packed in so tightly that you cannot walk down a row towing a suitcase. I grabbed a cup of coffee from a makeshift stand (currently under construction), and waited patiently for my flight.

The flight and arrival were uneventful. I have to give some shout-outs to the friendly New York based flight attendant who I followed from the parking lot all the way to Dallas, the kind rental car bus driver who thought he was older than me-he was forty J, and the sweet guy at Enterprise who gave me very good directions. Also, the employees at Enterprise were all interested in my big adventure, which made it more fun.

I was singing Tommy the TomTom’s praises as he effectively navigated me to the Hampton Inn. However, it was too early to check in, and I was hungry. Panera sounded good, and there is free internet there, so I plugged “Panera” into Tommy. Tommy dumped me at a big mall without a Panera In sight. Not cool, Tommy! I drove around the mall and decided to go in-Panera was inside. I was unable to go on-line there with my iPod, but I still had a good lunch. The new Thai salad is a little salty, if you ask me. But the natural chicken noodle soup was good. How can chicken noodle soup be unnatural?

After eating, I decided to wander around the mall a little. I was looking for shoes other than Ugg boots to wear to the concert, and I needed to go to the bathroom. Then I decided to get a manicure. I couldn’t have Jennifer seeing me with ugly nails! The lady at the nail salon tried to sell me everything under the sun-acrylic nails, French manicure, designs, she even asked if I wanted my eyebrows waxed (I had them done 2 days before)….all I wanted was a basic manicure!!!! She kind of rushed me out when I was done…

All of a sudden I wasn’t sure what I did with my jacket. Did I leave it in the car? At Panera? In the bathroom? At the nail salon? (Please don’t make me go back there!) I ran out to the car and there it was. I decided I’d had enough of the mall. I had not had a lot of sleep and was starting to feel a little overwhelmed. Then I couldn’t find the keys to the rental car. I started digging madly through my bag and guess what? The nail polish was not dry and the manicure was wrecked. I headed back to the hotel and a crazy Texas blond woman almost pulled out in front of me…Looking back, all this seems very insignificant, but at the time, I was getting pretty stressed out.

I checked in the hotel and tried to rest, but I was feeling worried about the meet and greet. I had no plan of what to say to Jennifer. I heard that it can be less awkward if you bring something, so I decided to write a little note to her. It was lame, but since I couldn’t bring organic CT grown maple syrup on the airplane, it was going to have to do.  I showered and changed and headed to pick up my ticket.

The Meet and Greet

Tommy led me to the concert hall where I got my ticket, and then through the town center and out of town to the reception. I don’t know what I was expecting when the info said the reception was at the Diamond T Arena, but I was not expecting a horse/animal arena in the middle of nowhere-with a horse show in progress. I love horses-it made it all very fun and exciting!

I went into the reception room and gave my name…I guess I didn’t need a ticket to get in there, but I did feel confident that Tommy knew where the concert was being held and could get me back there.  I was alone and didn’t know anybody, so it was a little awkward at first. There were chicken and beef fajitas and chips and guacamole-also beer and wine-but only one per person. I got a beef fajita and started munching on it. Halfway through, I thought that eating onions, garlic and spicy foods was probably not smart before wanting to make a good impression. Oh, well, I had breath mints.

I saw Joe walk in, and a big guy with a bigger beard who I knew had to be Mark, aka Ozark SugarTaz. I went over and introduced myself. After a few more minutes of awkwardness, we were all chatting like old friends. I met so many nice people-it was my first time to meet other Sugarland Fan Club members-Davey, Angie, Ashley, Jennifer, the other Mark (MAK) and others.  Since I didn’t want my beer, Mark (mak) asked if he could have it….

Jack Ingram came in, and people lined up to meet him. None of us were that interested in meeting him, but MAK-Mark and I had never done a meet and greet before, and decided it would be good practice before we met Jennifer. I felt more relaxed as I saw they had a checklist, and it seemed like the event was very well organized and no one would get left out. Jack was really nice-I had seen him in concert a couple of times and we chatted about that.

Then Jennifer Nettles came in. We all cheered for her! She is just so cute! The 2 Marks and I got in line with Ashley and Jennifer-but then Ozark Mark convinced us to go to the back of the line-that JNett would be less rushed at the end-which I’m not convinced is true. She really seemed to spend as much time as people wanted with her.  All of a sudden it was my turn. Remember, I had an agenda: Say hello, shake her hand, get a picture.

I walked up to her, shook her hand and said, “Hi, I’m Robin”

She said, “Hi, I’m Jennifer”

I asked if it was ok to hug her and she said yes, so I did.  Wow.

I babbled on about how it was a really big deal to me to get to meet her and how much her music means to me. She was steering me around to get a picture. I gave her the card I wrote and told her I really wanted to bring the organic, CT grown maple syrup. “I would have loved that” she said. I explained about the plane and 3 oz of liquid…Somewhere in there someone dropped a beer bottle and it broke-which was a little distracting. Then we took a picture (I hope I look ok in it), and she thanked me for coming and supporting school music…I said something about it being important…

I regret I didn’t say something less generic. A fan-artist relationship is weird. I feel like I know her, at least in her professional life, but she doesn’t know me at all. She’s made a huge impression on me, yet I’m sure I made no impression on her. I wish I had told her that school music is VERY important to my family-my husband and I met in the school band.  Or that I changed my job because of “Settling”. Or that if I ever get to meet her closer to home, I’ll bring the local organic syrup, and maybe some Nettle Meadow goat cheese, too.  Anything but babbling about how much I like her music. I need to get over it-she’s probably my favorite artist of all time, I’m a fan, and I got to meet her. That’s amazing.

Jennifer Nettles and me!

The Show

Mark, Mark and I hung out till the end of the meet & greet, which wasn’t too much longer. Mark (Mak) realized he forgot to tell her something, so he went back up. Then Jennifer got in a white van, we got in our cars, and we all headed over to the concert venue. We got there just as the show was about to start and my seat was right next to Ozark Mark’s!

Jack Ingram was quite good. He didn’t sing any hits-he said if we wanted to hear those, to go to a concert where he was with his band. But since this was an acoustic show, he could play what he wanted. I did know “Ava Adele” from the CD of his that I have, and I recognized a couple of other songs from when he was a guest DJ on XM. He told very entertaining stories about the songs as well.

Then it was Jennifer’s turn!!! We all stood up for her, but she encouraged everyone to sit and relax.  She sang “Wide Open” and narrated what would be happening if she was performing it at a Sugarland concert. So funny! She also sang Baby Girl, Something More, Stay, Want To, All I Want To Do, Already Gone, Stuck Like Glue, The Incredible Machine (which was AMAZING as an acoustic song!), and Little Miss.  She sat down at the piano and debuted 2 songs (yes it was the De-BUTT!). One was called “Done” and it was about being over a guy, but clearly the narrator wasn’t over him. She described it for a “Broken Heart”. Then she sang a song about a down-and-out clown, which had a vaudeville feeling. It was funny, but it’s hard for me to hear, process and remember lyrics, so I’ve got nothing to share. Maybe someone will post videos of these 2 songs and we can dissect the lyrics. She sang “Don’t Stop Believing” which she tagged onto “Something More”. For the encore, she sang “Jessie’s Girl” with Jack Ingram.  I think I got all the songs… And I cannot begin to describe how great they sounded.

Jack Ingram and Jennifer Nettles

There was a lot of banter, too-of course, I couldn’t catch all of it. But there was a story about getting “The Crud” from a three-year-old who picked his nose and ate it. She came out with a bottle of cough syrup with codeine in case she started coughing during the show. There was a story about how good things always happen to Jennifer (Scott Patton helped with this), a story about her grandmother’s drink. There was some jesting with the audience about singing a JNB song. (The audience was shouting out titles, but Jennifer said she couldn’t remember the lyrics-Scott, however, played a few bars of one on his guitar).

I really hope they put out a CD of this concert. It could be called “An Acoustic Evening with Jennifer Nettles III”. I would totally buy it. And I think other fans would, too. It would be a great way to raise money for Attic Community Playhouse.

Going Home

The show was over, and I said good-bye to my new friends and headed back to the hotel. I called my daughter and gave her a full report, as she had requested, and went to bed. The next morning there was Hampton Inn breakfast. Besides waffles, they also had biscuits and gravy. I had both. Can anyone say “carb-tastic”?  I headed back to the airport. At the car rental, several employees asked about the concert. J It was fun to share with them! Everyone is so much friendlier in the south…the flight home was uneventful, and except for missing an exit and heading to Kennedy Airport instead of home, the drive home was, too.

Now it’s time to rest up until my next Sugar-venture. Though I’m not sure ANYTHING can top this concert.

I'm Heading to Denton, TX...I’m going to hear Jennifer Nettles, my favorite singer, perform live!

Yesterday I was listening to “An Acoustic Evening with Jennifer Nettles II”, and I realized that, I will be going to an intimate solo performance by Jennifer Nettles on Saturday. All of a sudden, the concert became so much more real. And Jennifer mentioned that there will be banter. I am very excited for some Jennifer Nettles banter, as well as her beautiful music. And, to top it all off, I bought a VIP ticket, and found out AFTER I purchased it, that a Meet & Greet was included. So not only will I get to hear Jennifer sing from a great seat, I may actually get to meet her.

Of course, between now and Saturday night, lots of things can go wrong. And if you know me, you know I am obsessing about all of them.

1.       What if I oversleep on Saturday and miss my plane?

I could set a couple of alarms as back-up…and really, this rarely happens to me!

2.       What if I don’t get on the plane?

This is actually a very real concern for me. I used frequent flyer miles to get my ticket, and I am unable to get a seat assignment. In my mind, that means the flight is oversold, and I will get bumped. There are later flights, but if I don’t leave till 11 or 11:30, there will be no time to stop at the hotel and shower and change. That means I will be wearing my Adidas stretch warm-up suit and airplane flat hair to meet someone I deeply admire.

3.       What if there are problems getting the rental car?

There are 10 other rental car companies to choose from-one is bound to have a car. Plus, I have a good driving record and good credit-so I can’t foresee what could go wrong.

4.       What if I get lost?

I will bring Tommy the TomTom-it may not be the best way, but he always gets me where I need to go. Also, I will allow plenty of time to get to the different places I need to be (hotel, reception site, concert site)

5.       What if I forget Tommy the TomTom?

I will bring printed directions as well.  And I think I can even download a navigator on my phone.

6.       What if my hotel is in a bad neighborhood?

It’s a Hampton Inn, how bad could it be? Plus…I will check in, shower, change, return after the concert to sleep, eat my Hampton Inn waffle Sunday morning and be on my way. I can’t really see much opportunity for a problem.

7.       What if Jennifer doesn’t have time to meet everyone who wants to meet her, and I’m one who is left out?

This will suck eggs big time.

8.       What if I act like the biggest dork when I meet her? I ‘m concerned I won’t say anything, or I’ll blabber on about nothing…or worst of all, she won’t notice me!

My daughter says I need a plan for this…I need to set some goals. I need to be content if I am able to say hello, shake her hand, and get a photo.

9.       What if I get sick, or even worse, Jennifer gets sick and can’t perform?

This also will suck eggs big time.

10.   I don’t know what to wear!

Yes, I definitely want to look my best, not like a frumpy 50 year old! Of course, if I don’t get on my flight but do manage to get on a later flight, I will be wearing my Adidas warm-up suit (see number 2). Do you think I can lose 20 pounds by Saturday?