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.