Chicago! Chicago!

I always enjoy traveling back to Chicago, even if I have lost some of the tolerance for city traffic that I had while growing up there. This weekend was a “girls’ roadtrip” – my oldest daughter came in from Ann Arbor, my middle daughter drove up from Champaign-Urbana and my youngest and I came from Iowa so all of us could rendezvous in Chi-town. We stayed in a fun and funky Lincoln Park neighborhood rather than a big downtown hotel and had our own little slumber party!

On Saturday we lunched at Giordano’s, then headed for the stadium early because we were unsure how fast parking would fill up. Loads of tailgaters had beat us there but the non-tailgating lots were still empty. The partiers got sprinkled on a bit but the light showers ended an hour or so before concert time. We caught 99.5’s free Jake Owen pre-concert (fun!) and got us some cute “I (heart) Keith” and “I (heart) Kenny” hand-fans that a local bank was distributing (and they came in handy as the weather turned warm and sunny!).

The fan club presale graced me with 16^th row tickets this time. We sizzled a bit in the sun during the first few acts (lots of sunburn victims I bet). Today the speaker units once again blocked the second half of the catwalk for performers other than Kenny. Gary Allen was great – I am liking him more and more and he’s getting some good singing from the audience. Leann did her whole energy-packed show barefoot again today – even though the runways weren’t damp. Seemed to fit the casual “first day of summer” atmosphere of the concert. She really wowed us again with her vocals and I heard others around me saying that they hoped she’d put her Joplin song on a future album. She was wearing another “might as well be naked” silky top which really kept the attention of the males in the audience.

Keith’s video wall was back today and it was really quite impressive watching the 2 halves glide into place from either side of the stage during the break before Keith’s performance. The wall (and, necessarily, Chris M.’s drums) were positioned closer to the edge of the stage than usual, making the screen look even bigger. From my angle I could see Keith’s screen was 8-10 feet taller than Kenny’s screen behind it. An unusual treat during set-up today was a camera which panned the stadium crowd in vivid color on Keith’s big screen (and everyone reacting with waves and other antics). An even bigger treat was a new video opening to Keith’s set!!! In black and white halftones we first saw the silhouette (a little bit like the opening of OIAL in concert) of Keith a long way down a winding country road (a bit like the road in the YTOM video). And then Keith walks towards us, growing larger on the video screen, until all we can see is that sexy smiling Keith, walking with his guitar. I wish I had known something new was coming so I could have captured it!!

The man was stunningly gorgeous last night. The natural light just brings out Keith in living colors like no spotlight can ever manage. The rosy red of his teeshirt with an image of a Native American chief, the bright blue of his sparkling eyes, the lighter blond highlights in his hair, the warm tones of his tanned skin. It was all I could do to muffle an inappropriate moan when he first came out on stage. He was also wearing what I think are old favorite jeans – light blue with white worn, torn spots on all the pocket edges and the knees, and the flaps with buttons on the back pockets. So comfy but fine looking!! And a belt with kind of silvery filigree design rather than just studs.

Keith was in high spirits, thrilled to be playing in Soldier Field and so happy (as we discovered later) to have Nicole there with him. He included references to Chicago and Soldier Field in several songs and reminisced about playing at the Whiskey River in 1997. At the appropriate moment in Better Half the camera showed Nicole sitting just offstage on the right, looking lovely in a floral dress with spaghetti straps – large print on the bodice and fine print on the flowing skirt. Keith often looked to that side when he was singing center stage. When he came out on the catwalk for ROS, he said that before he sang the next song he wanted to ask a favor of us. Since Nicole’s birthday was Friday, he thought it would be nice to have 50,000 people sing her Happy Birthday! So he led us in song and the camera caught some cute shots of her blushing and covering her face with her hands in embarrassed delight backstage. Very sweet!

Keith was totally ambushed by dozens of clinging, hugging, kissing fans during his YLGIMS walk into the audience. He almost did not make it back to stage! Security had to pry some ladies off of him and the camera couldn’t even keep track of Keith in the crowd of fans as he struggled back towards the stage. I could not see how he got back up there – seemed like he re-appeared from behind the video wall, somewhat breathless, hair mussed by all those grabbing hands.

Keith again had the guys do their solos during introductions. Looks like Brad has somewhat tamed his wild hair with a new haircut. Brian’s hair is getting longer. Chris R. sang “Hot Blooded” last night. Keith and Brian did their great lyrical guitar duo towards the end of Better Half. Keith did a quite emotional performance of YTOM – not just at the end of the song either. He sang the verses so intensely that I thought he might start to cry.

I think the gal sitting next to me might be a new convert. She had never seen or heard Keith before but was all “Wow! He’s GOOD!” at the end and said she would certainly be checking out his albums. SLY was back as the closing song tonight. Keith both jumped and circled on the catwalk at the end and then jumped all the way back to the stage. He played so vigorously during the song that his guitar seemed to knock his wallet-chain loose, so he finished the song with the chain swinging free with every his every movement.

Yay – Kenny and Keith did their duet again tonight and seemed more at ease and playful during it. Especially Kenny – he is just so tickled to have Keith out there. Keith came out in a fresh baby blue tee shirt with an image I can’t recall (I’m afraid I was looking at him and not the design!). The two of them got the whole audience singing along with Take It To The Limit.

Kenny was cute last night – he brought his dad and uncle up on stage to introduce them! Kenny said they had gone to the Cubs/Sox game at Wrigley Field that afternoon.