Our Hunter Hayes Adventure

The insurance company Country Financial has been a sponsor at several country concerts I've attended over the years. They have hosted special photo booths at some shows (the Houston Rodeo and a Little Big Town concert are 2 I have souvenirs from), so at some point I must have given them my email address. As a result I periodically get emails from them about country events that they are involved with. Early this year I received one of their "Road Trips and Guitar Picks" announcements of their upcoming live streaming concerts and free ticket contests to promote Hunter Hayes. Two of the shows were to take place in Chicago and in Minneapolis where my daughters Sara and Annie (respectively) live. So I entered those contests daily until the deadline. Happily, a few days later I received the email that I had won 4 tickets to the private Hunter Hayes show at a small club in Minneapolis!! YAY!!

Country Financial, as is their right, seemed quite intent on not having these free tickets end up being brokered. They immediately requested the names and addresses of those who would be attending and stressed that each person had to have a photo ID that would be matched up with this list of attendees to enter the show. Annie invited two of her best buddies to accompany us and I sent in our list of names and addresses.

I was very excited at the idea of an intimate Hunter Hayes show. I had seen Hunter perform at Keith Urban's Las Vegas concert last tour, and was familiar with his couple hit singles, but did not know much else about his music. I kept an eye out for his CD at my local stores, but didn't find it. Finally, on the morning of the show, I decided to downoad Hunter's album off of Itunes so that Annie's best friend Katie and I could listen to it during our 3 hour drive up to Minneapolis. I did so, burned myself and CD and Katie and I headed up north.
Since Annie would be working until 5:00 , Katie and I planned on being in the Twin Cities about an hour before the 5:30 venue arrival  that Country Financial had requested.

About halfway to Minneapolis, we stopped for gas. I grabbed my purse to get out a credit card only to discover NO WALLET!! Here I am, driving to another state for an overnight visit and a show requiring ID, and I have no driver's license, no photo ID, no credit cards!!! How could this be?? I called home and was informed that my wallet was there, next to the computer where I had used a credit card to pay for my Itunes download : (  It was too late to return home and still make the show. I had enough cash to pay for my gas and asked that a copy of my driver's license be faxed to our Minneapolis hotel. Hopefully with that, the hotel would let me check in and perhaps the FAX would satisfy those checking us in at the concert. But I was still totally stressed, thinking I may be traveling all the way to Minneapolis for nothing, and was feeling naked without my wallet and its contents. I would have to rely on my daughter's credit card to get us through our visit.

We arrived safely, parked 2 blocks from the venue and found an odd little bar nearby to wait for Annie to get off from work. At 5:30 we headed over to the Fine Line Music Cafe, where several dozen people were already lined up, waiting for the doors to open. When a guy came down the line, checking IDs, I kept my fingers crossed that my FAX would do. Well, he was just checking that we were of legal drinking age, so was unconcerned that I only had a fax. As we entered the club, they checked off our names on their list,gave us our souvenir lanyards with our Hunter passes, but did not ask for photo IDs, so I was greatly relieved. The Fine Line is a cute little club with just a few tables close to the bar and an open floor area right in front of the small stage. We staked out a spot at the right side of the stage, then enjoyed the free drink tickets Country Financial had provided until they annnounced it was time for us to line up for our Meet and Greet and photos with Hunter! : ) Annie's friend Ping was not an ardent country fan, so wasn't interested in the M & G, so she held our spot while Annie, Katie and I joined the line that wove its way up the stairs to the second level, where Hunter and the photographer were located. Hunter was very cordial greeting each of us. I mentioned I had seen him in 2011 at that Vegas concert with Keith and knew then that he would be a big hit. He thanked me and thanked us for coming and we had our photo taken.

We re-claimed our spots upfront and were surprised to find a half dozen others who had come up from Cedar Falls, Iowa standing right next to us! It was such a treat to be perched  on the edge of the stage for a great hour long show with Hunter and his band. He was so personable, telling us stories and cracking jokes between songs. His vocals were great,  he is quite the guitarist and his bandmates are almost as cute as he is.  He sang all of my favorites from his excellent album and ended with his hit singles. Here are a few samples:

Love Makes Me
Love Starts Slippin'
Light Me Up
Rainy Season
Storm Warning
Wanted

A highlight, which unfortunately I did not catch on camera, was when Hunter incorporated in his great song If You Told Me To a bit of Somebody Like You, commenting afterwards that he had to include a bit from one of his idols Keith Urban! Luckily, someone else did catch this medley at another of Hunter's small shows:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqwhAbgbXtA

 The four of us had a great time at this wonderful show and I hope to attend more Hunter Hayes concerts in the future. Thank you so much Country Financial and Hunter Hayes!!

We left the warmth of the Fine Line Music Cafe to walk a couple blocks in the bitterly cold Minnesota wind to a pub for a late supper before heading to our hotel. Annie and Katie decided to have a couple drinks together but mom was ready for some sweet dreams before heading home to Iowa.

Maroon 5 in Moline

  Last year I became a fan of The Voice and enjoyed watching Adam Levine in his role as judge and coach. This year I am watching again and decided it was time to try to see him and Maroon 5 in concert again. I did seem them perform many years ago, when they were opening for the Counting Crows rather than
headlining.  When I saw they were coming to Moline, IL I bought a ticket during the arena presale. I hadn't kept up with Maroon 5's music in the intervening years (I rarely listen to pop radio), so I splurged on their most recent album when I saw it on sale so I could "study up" and prepare for the show. I played the Youtubes of  some of my old favorites of theirs like Misery and She Will Be Loved to my classes on the Friday of the concert, then after class headed to to Quad Cities. Hubby was out of town, so I also booked a room in the hotel right night to the I-Wireless, which was really nice given the cold weather and icy pavements that day. I don't know why I never stayed in that hotel any of the times that Keith Urban played Moline!
      It was obvious how far Maroon 5 had come since I last saw them perform. Instead of being the opening band without even a banner behind their drummer, they now had a very impressive, shiny,  glitzy Las-Vegas worthy stage set-up, complete with a satellite stage mid-arena. The high gloss stage and catwalks formed a huge M V (5) and the back of the stage was a huge nearly 180 degree semi-circle of the best high def video screens that I have ever seen - just gorgeous!! The changing visual displays projected on that screen during M5's set were really beautiful and engaging - I have never been so impressed by the background displays at a a concert. Since I was sitting in the lower risers closest to the stage I felt almost immersed in the scenes portrayed on those screens during the show. Kudos to their staging designer!!
     There were 2 opening bands, both of which I had heard of but really didn't know. But again, I did my homework beforehand, listening to their Youtube videos. Owl City seemed to be a fairly lightweight very pop sounding group - pleasant songs that did have the audience singing along. Here is their song Fireflies

     Neon Trees were a bit edgier indy-pop-rock with a slinky lead singers whose moves just captivated so that you could not look away. Again, they did seem to have a following in the audience, so I guess I am just woefully out of touch with the genre. I did enjoy both the openers, which is not always the case, so I was happy. Here is Neon Tree's Trust http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMU8mmoGXa4in Moline.

     Maroon 5 came out strong with their hit Payphone and then had a good mix of old songs and new album songs throughout. I enjoyed watching Adam, dressed in all white, moving constantly from centerstage to left catwalk to right catwalk. With the exception of one or two guitar solos from their lead guitarist, the rest of Maroon 5 definitely stayed in the background. Adam chatted with the audience on and off throughout the show, but I noticed that most of the time he kept his distance from the edges of the stage or catwalk and did not physically interact with fans until the very end of the concert. Towards the end of the show a long arched bridge like one might see over a stream was lowered from the arena rafters to allow Adam to get to the mid-arena satellite stage (tricky!) Here is She Will Be Loved  out in mid-arena.

I Won't Go Home Without You
Wakeup Call

Alan Jackson in Iowa

Alan Jackson was one of the country artists I first became familiar with when I finally became aware of modern country music rather late in life. When I was growing up in Chicago country music was not on my radar! I had a chance to see Alan  perform a set at CMA Fest a few years ago, but had never had the opportunity to attend one of his full concerts. But recently I ended up seeing not one but two of his shows in a short time span.

I first bought a ticket to his concert in Des Moines when I had to be there for a conference anyway. I had a seat rather far back on the floor, so didn't have a great view, but very much enjoyed the long string of familiar hits that Alan performed. His show is definitely a warm, fuzzy, feel good show, with his wonderful slow, southern drawl telling touching tales between numbers. He almost never moved from center stage where he stood or sat, but since I mostly had to watch the video screens that wasn't a problem.

Not long after the Des Moines show there was an announcement at my university that Alan Jackson would be playing on campus! Even though I had just seen him, I always feel like I should support concerts on campus. In addition, our basketball arena is much smaller than the Wells Fargo Center in Des Moines, so I thought a little more intimate concert might provide a different experience.

I got a good first row riser seat close to the stage and was excited to see a catwalk at either end of the stage, on of which ended just 5 feet in front of me.His set list was much the same as in Des Moines but you can help but enjoy all those number one hits from over the years. I kept waiting for Alan to venture out on the catwalks, but again he really stayed close to that center stage territory, never really focusing his attention on the stands to either side. It wasn't until the encore and his final goodbyes that he VERY briefly ventured out on the catwalk on my side, slapping a very few hands before making a quick escape back off stage.

Maybe after all these years of performing he no longer feels the need to physically interact with his fans. While his storytelling was warm and friendly, his behavior was definitely more remote than what I am used to with younger country stars. I guess this was also the case at his Meet & Greet. I happened to be sitting next to a gal with a Meet & Greet Pass, so asked her how she enjoyed it. She was rather disappointed, saying the Meet & Greet had been nothing more than an extremely rushed quick handshake and being handed a glossy photo of Alan - no song or conversation - just the bare minimum of interaction.

Des Moines Show

A bit of She’s Got the Rhythm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcUBCWft1KI

You Don’t Have to Love Me Anymore

http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_edit?ns=1&video_id=qtt0cxbLs9Q

Cedar Falls Show 

A bit of Livin’ on Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfNs9poepl8

Remember When

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPXRoDzml0w

A Highway 20 Ride to See Zac Brown Band

     I saw the Zac Brown Band open for Keith Urban several time before they really hit it big. Ever since they started headlining their own tour, I have been trying to make it one of their shows. But it seemed that every time they were scheduled to play some place close, I had a conflict..... my husband's Irishfest, my daughter's wedding. But I finally found a date that would work when they announced a show in Peoria, IL - with the added benefit that Peoria has a somewhat smaller arena. Peoria is about 4 hours away from me, but only two hours away for my daughter Sara in Chicago, so I popped her an email to see if she might want to come as well.  Yes! She and hubby Sam were available! So I arranged a "double date" of sorts with them. Jim would come along for the ride and drinking and dining, even though I couldn't talk him into the concert.

     It happens that I live not far off of Highway 20 here in Iowa and take it east towards Illinois, so I mused that I was on a Highway 20 ride to hear "Highway 20 Ride" ! : )  One of my favorite songs.

     We met Sara and Sam at our hotel for the evening, then headed off to the Rhodell Brewery to sample some of the local craft beers. Sam was already very familiar with Rhodell from frequent stops there to pick up a growler on his way to visit Sara in Champaign-Urbana when she was doing her graduate work there.
Now, although Sara is an engineer and Sam works in insurance, they brew beer in their apartment and fantasize, I think, about having a microbrewery of their own sometime in the future.

     The beer was tasty but then it was time to catch some dinner before the show. We tried to go to an Italian place just around the corner from Rhodell's.but the concert crowd had them booked solid. Then we tried Joe's Crab Shack which was also wall to wall with concert goers waiting to eat, but at least they had a waiting list. It took about 45 minutes but we finally got a booth. Sam and I are both seafood fiends so were delighted that we got to eat there.

   I had an excellent 3rd row riser-next-to the stage seat from the arena's presale so had a perfect view for the Zac Brown Band's terrific show. I really enjoyed every minute of their music. Here are a few more samples:

As She is Walking Away
Colder Weather
Toes
Sweet Annie
Free   - Just the best!!

    Unfortunately our warm glow from a great concert rapidly chilled when we went outside and found the temperature had dropped precipitously. Sleet and freezing rain pelted us mercilessly and everything was covered with a sheet of slick ice. We weren't dressed appropriately, I feared a fall with every step and we really hadn't made a good pick-up plan with Jim. After struggling a block or two we found a building lobby to huddle in until Jim (also lost in the nasty weather) managed to rescue us. Not the way I like to end a concert evening!

     We made it back to the hotel but in the morning all the vehicles in the hotel lot were encased in thick ice.
Good thing that the kids have strong ice-chipping arms!! Breakfast at Bob Evans and then we headed back for another Highway 20 ride.

A Bucket List Concert - Bruce Springsteen In St. Paul

     Made some progress on my "Bucket List" a few month ago but haven't found time to post. For a long time I have been wanting to go to a Bruce Springsteen concert and I finally had the chance when his toud came to St. Paul, MN. I only found out about the show the week before the date from a colleague at work so was unsure whether I could even get tickets. Bruce was playing two nights in a row; Sundays show was essentially sold out but Ticketmaster did have seats left for the Monday night show. I would have to drive north like a bat out of hell after my last class on Monday to get there on time and leave early in the morning to be back for class on Tuesday, but what the heck, especially since it meant a chance to see my youngest daughter who now lives in the Twin Cities.

     My seats appeared to be in the risers next to the stage and were labeled "May have an obstructed view" - probably why they were still available so close to the concert date. I hoped they wouldn't be too obstructed. I met Annie in downtown St. Paul and we grabbed a quick dinner at a pub, then rushed off to park my car at my hotel about a mile from the Xcel Energy Center. It wasn't the best weather and we worried about being late, so grabbed a cab rather than hoofing it to the arena. We needn't have rushed.
Being a first-timer at the Bruce concert I didn't know that he routinely comes out 45-60 minutes after the scheduled concert time!! We had plenty of time to chat with the older gentlemen sitting next to us - avid Springsteen fans who had flown up from Tampa for both nights' shows. I told them I had done the reverse in the past -- flown down to Tampa for Keith Urban's shows : )

     We were lucky - our seats turned out not to be obstructed at all, so had a great side view of the stage. This was the first big concert I've been to where they seemed to be quite serious about no videos - somehow that just didn't fit with Bruce's 'working man' personna. I did, however, sneak a few clips during the night.

     Springsteen is certainly a charismatic performer and I envied his energy and agility moving about the arena ( he is the same age as me!). Although I guess it is totally routine, Annie and I were amazed when he not only played while weaving through the densely packed general admission floor to a catwalk mid-arena, then - after saying to the fans near the catwalk "Are you ready?" flang himself backwards onto to the raised hands of the audience and the proceeded to pass him hand to hand all the way back to the main stage!!! Now that's a man that trusts his fans! At other points he pulled fans up onto the catwalk for a little dance.

     I've followed Bruce on and off over the many years of his career, so I am familiar with some albums but not others. With the arena acoustics (and being sidestage), I could not follow the lyrics of unfamiliar songs, which really is a disadvantage. But I enjoyed my old and new favorites (I had gotten his newest CD in preparation for the concert) and especially loved some of the slow heartfelt numbers.
Stolen Car
Waiting on a Sunny Day
The Rising
Born to Run

    We were kind of worn out after the THREE hour, no breaks show - I can only imagine how Bruce must have felt!!

Vince Gill in Cedar Falls!

What a treat!! An intimate Vince Gill concert right in my hometown! It was such a pleasure spending the evening with Vince (looking quite slim and handsome). He shared dozens of funny stories about family life (now and when growing up) and his experiences in the music business - he is so personable and self-effacing.
And of course his music was just great - wonderful vocals, thrilling guitar licks - in a theatre built with exceptional acoustics. And Vince played and talked non-stop for nearly 3 hours!! What a performer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MOaSzK1qdk  Look at Us

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kZ9xiyYAiQ  Some Things Don't Get Old

And my all time favorite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhdDvp80gbE    Trying to Get Over You

Eric Church & Company in Moline

Okay, I was wrong. The first time I saw Eric Church perform live - as a special surprise guest at a Keith Urban concert, singing Creepin' I believe - I was unimpressed and bad mouthed his voice as too nasal and his performance as uninspired. But after buying his new album and then attending his concert, I am a convert. I enjoyed his music and his showmanship. Although the old saying is that "Familiarity breeds contempt.", that just isn't the case sometimes concerning hearing new music. Although some songs might grab one right away, more often it is through repeated listening that one starts to relate to the lyrics or internalize the music so it starts playing on the radio in your head. So I recommend his show (but listen to his album first!). Eric, like many performers today - had 2 opening acts: Justin Moore and newcomer Kip Moore (unrelated). Justin I have seen a number of times - I like much of his music and his good ol' boy style, although I could do without his NRA promotion and related songs. Kip Moore I was unfamiliar with. He is a cutie with quite a voice but men (boys?) who wear backwards caps drive me crazy (probably because a lot of my poor performing students were back-row of the classroom backwards cap guys!).

Here are a few of Eric's songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8tNApc4YrM   Springsteen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDEy5no7Xa0    Drink in My Hand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrEBqKe6nDM   Creepin'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftm9W8IUAj4   one of Eric's early songs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHtxP8F-oF0    a bit of Jack Daniels

Justin Moore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp5ycXRb7iM  Til My Last Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp5ycXRb7iM  Small Town USA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69G5iZfcQJE   covering With A Little Help From My Friends

Kip Moore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUiG0szkSUI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIsquxBXpc4