The concert year in review

So, this was my last concert for Carrie’s first tour, and let me get a little sentimental here. what a great first year it has been for her, and for me as a fan. A year ago, carrie was thrust into a whole new world with a lot of uncertainties. I think many of us were hoping she would be accepted into the industry as an artist and not just a contest winner. A year ago, I think she would never have imagined being invited by the king of tours, Kenny Chesney, and the best guitar player in the world (and one of the nicest guys in the world), Brad Paisley, to be on their tours. It doesn’t get any bigger than those 2. they obviously recognize her as a talent. Thank you, Mr Chesney and Mr Paisley!

Her touring year could hardly get any better. Apart from the brief period at the end where she caught a bug, she performed consistently at show after show, doing over a hundred shows as us fans packed the auditoriums and stadiums. She has often said how amazed she is at Kenny chesney’s consistency; she sure is very consistent herself. Has she ever put on a bad show, or even an average one? Every single show, she has poured her heart and soul into the performance as she is living her dream, and us fans feel proud as we watch her grow, but still remain the sweetheart that we saw the very first time we saw her on TV.

Some of the memories from the past year:

1) her very first country show last December, when she opened for leann rimes and martina mcbride. It was a gutsy move, on her part, to open for those 2 huge voices. Carrie not only held her own, but she got me hooked

2) the debut of patience and sweet child of mine at the NCAA final 4 in Indianapolis. I remember I got a shock! Lol. it was just 4 months after the show in Detroit, and she grew so much from her first show. I remember staring at Richard in shock as she completed those 2 songs, saying “did she just sing that???”

3) The power going out during the concert at the Fowlerville fair. Nothing could have prepared carrie for that! The whole crowd was stunned in silence as IAICA got interrupted. Carrie tried to entertain the crowd by telling some stories, and I wouldn’t have minded the power being out for a little longer.

4) The concert that still stands out to me in terms of atmosphere and electricity is the concert at the Missouri state fair. Wow. The crowd was absolutely rocking, and carrie felt it and gave the most outstanding concert of concerts. You could tell she loved performing for this crowd. Still easily #1 in my book.

5) All the different firsts I did just for carrie, like being on my knees for a few afternoons as I made my very first concert sign. I would never have dreamt, just over a year ago, that I would make one. Thankfully, carrie got a kick out of it . Also, driving those insane distances to see her in concert. The furthest venue ive driven to is about 450 miles away. Wow lol.

6) Carrie’s randomness. She really goes off tangents talking, and she is just so endearing; and she says she’s bad at talking. Some of the random chatter: “mark, is that yogurt behind you? Why yogurt? Let’s have pizza and chocolate!” and after one of her SCOM performances, she yelled: “school dismissed!!!”

7) I got a HUGE and pleasant surprise at the brad paisley concert in Columbus ohio, where our carrie made her debut for Whiskey Lullaby. I had forgotten how much I had loved this song when I first heard it. I had attended a brad concert before carrie joined him on tour, and I recall brad playing the video of Allison Krause singing her part on the screen. Imagine my surprise! Carrie was pretty star struck singing with brad, it was so cute. Of course, she did a stunning job and would continue to sing with brad for the rest of the tour.

8) Getting to meet the fantastic people on this board! There are too many to name, but seriously, some of you guys are a riot! Lol. thanks for being a great part of these memories

9) last but not least, my encounters with this amazing young lady. wow. can anyone be any sweeter (and any more gorgeous as well?). she is just so personable and never fails to smile at her fans. ive had my fair share of encounters, being part of the insanely long lines to get those precious few seconds with carrie. No complaints here for sure. Ive met her a number of times, but it took me till my n’th attempt when I managed to finally spit out what I had planned to say to her all along. I still remember her laughing and her eyes having this incredulous look when I told her I had planned to say that all along. certainly many great memories from those meetings and I can never thank her enough for staying back hours after each show to meet the fans. to top it all off, she actually called me by my name during my last encounter, wow! i still cant believe it till this day. oh yea, for my second to last encounter, she actually michieviously took my sharpie from me and made sure i wouldnt remember asking her for it.

My WV concert review

So, a few days after the concert, I decide to write my review, thanks to finals and all that. Im probably nuts for even going to this concert even though I have finals lol.

First off, stupid mapquest screwed me royally so I end up taking about 45 mins longer to get to WV than planned. Don was getting nervous since I was holding on to his ticket and I wasn’t in WV till after 6. apparently, he had a deal with heather and sara. He should have more confidence in me I say.

It was quite funny, as I bumped into perry during the intermission and she mentioned how she saw me in my car on 77 speeding pass her… speeding is a bad habit that I need to kick.

Now on to the concert. Carrie came out with her new shorter hair, and I think im in love with the new style. She looks so girl-next-door. Wow, can i say i LOVE it? I was concerned that with her illness how she will do tonight. But wow, she was full of energy and her voice was almost perfect. She did cough after songs and her talking voice was a little raspy, and she had a couple of bum notes, but if this had been my first carrie concert, I wouldn’t have guessed she wasn’t feeling well. She was lively performing, jumping and moving all over the place. The crowd actually didn’t stand up for much of her set, but boy was it a LOUD crowd. I had people behind me screaming into my ears the whole time lol. the atmosphere was just great! Def one of the best crowds ive been a part of.

She did talk about how Tom Hanks talked to her in DC, and how impressed she was with his demeanor. I guess it takes a truly humble person to recognize another humble person. Carrie mentioned a couple of times how great a lady her mom is. She again said what a wonderful year it had been for her, and she just wrapped up the time well wasted tour with brad paisley the night before. At this moment, the crowd starts cheering and carrie interrupted the applause “no! no! don’t clap! I’m sad its over!” (or something like that). Im sure she had a blast touring with brad and was absolutely thrilled to sing whiskey lullaby with him.

After the show, I met numerous people from the board: lynn, renee, rob, jen, perry & mom, and “the chauffer”, who are all super nice people. I hope I didn’t miss out on anyone.