Don Williams in Waterloo, IA

I left Peoria early enough that I would be passing through Iowa City in time to have brunch with my daughter Annie. We went to a new place she had been meaning to try (Her Soup Kitchen), a casual funky spot on the south side of town. Annie had a breakfast sandwich but I thought I should try soup and sandwich. My turkey artichoke sandwich was pretty good but I wasn't thrilled with my soup. But I'm always game to try most any place once!

Back home in Cedar Falls-Waterloo, I got ready for my third show in 3 days. Old time country singer Don Williams was performing in a small arena on the National Cattle Congress grounds.

Since I had seen the billboard announcing his visit before tickets went on sale, I was primed and ready and got a front row seat! : )

A talented young singer/songwriter named Drew Smith opened for Don. He was quite good and I wish he could have done a couple more songs.

Don was pretty laid back and pretty much sang one song after another without chatting very much with the audience. He did take one shouted request for a song that he said he hadn't played in years. Don had a lot of ardent and vocal fans in the audience who shouted out their love throughout the show. Here are a few favorites:

I Believe in You http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWLvnjKnYq4
Livin' on Tulsa Time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aHtWCZQuck
It Must Be Love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqWmZeU85aI
If Hollywood Don't Need You http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULT9daZSZ74

Trace Adkins in Peoria

When I received an email alert about Trace Adkins coming to Peoria, IL on March 10, I realized that I would be flying into Moline from my Nashville visit to see Keith at the Opry that day. Peoria is only 70 miles from Moline, so it seemed an opportune time to catch one of Trace's shows. Taking advantage of the Peoria Civic Center presale, I scored a Row B seat - sweet!

I arrived in Moline before lunchtime so went to my favorite Thai restaurant before heading to Peoria. In Peoria I initially tried to check into the wrong motel but eventually made it to the right location. All day long I racked my brain for Peoria memories. I knew I had been there in 2008 for a Keith show. I recognized the Civic Center and remembered the floor plan of the lobby. But damn if I could recollect anything about that previous concert and somehow a Peoria review is not included in my blog. Once I was in the Civic Center auditorium for Trace's show I was even more shocked about just how blank my memory is for my previous visit. The Peoria Civic Center has fixed theatre seating; plush chairs are a rarity for Keith concerts. So why can't I recall seeing him perform in this unusual theatre environment??? I fear my mind is going! : (

Trace's stage set-up was relatively simple. What looked like windowpanes formed a backdrop and a bit of "ceiling" above the stage and a large wood-panel set of double doors marked the center of the back of the stage (Trace entered from these doors later on.) It was funny sitting in the middle of the front floor Trace-crazy crowd instead of in the midst of a Keith-crazy crowd! Most of the seats around me seemed to be filled by fan club members and about 4 of the gals were scheduled for the meet and greet that Trace holds AFTER the show. I listened to them raving about how sexy Trace is and sharing the numbers of shows each had been to (sound familiar?). Trace was funny and self-effacing. He came out and, after the screams had died down, said that he was serving as his own opening act tonight. He said that first he would be playing material from a new album and - "Just like when you see some opening acts, no one will know any of the songs and some of them might suck" (hee hee) but then the Trace Adkins the audience knows will be out to sing all their favorites. The new songs did not suck and were a nice mix of both the light-hearted and serious songs that Trace is known for. Trace (the opening act) began the night a long sleeved shirt, sleeves rolled up. Later Trace (the headliner) came out in a form-fitting teeshirt. And still later in the show he removed his hat, untied his ponytail and let his long locks swing free for several songs.

You're Gonna Miss This http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtKlvflQYcI

Love Buzzhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1Y9C1hjH4A

Trace singing a song from his college days http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1Y9C1hjH4A

The crowd got most rowdy for hit songs like Ladies Love Country Boys and Ba-Donkkadonk. But another highlight of the evening came when Trace reported that during the intermission he had gotten a tweet from a husband in the audience asking that Trace sing One Hot Mama to his wife. And so Trace did, which tickled the audience. It happened that this husband and wife were sitting in Row A right in front of me, and their 2 teenage kids were sitting next to me. They went abolutely nuts during this song, the 15 year old son gesturing "That's my mom!!" throughout, the daughter cheering. A fun song and a fun and enjoyable concert!

Keith Urban at the Grand Ole Opry 2012

During the many years that I have been teaching, faculty have always been frustrated by the early departure of students before the start of any break or long holiday weekend. For example, on the Friday before spring break about one-third of the students may be in attendance, everyone else having caught their flight or their ride home. Some professors may schedule an exam to combat this, but I've never had the heart to do so. But this year has been so stressful and frustrating - with a surprise increase in my teaching load (I'm now expected to teach almost double what my deal was when hired) and then this week's announcement that the university is closing down 50 majors and minors (without any faculty consultations) because of the budget crisis, I was ready to go-with-the flow - the student flow, that is, and leave these stresses behind a little early. All of my classes were tickled when I gave them the link to the online lectures I prepared to substitute for all my Friday class periods. Thursday night I flew to Nashville to celebrate my spring break!

Since I was arriving about 11:30 pm I picked a near-the-airport hotel with a free shuttle, then shuttled back the next morning to pick up a one-day car rental (Nashville has the cheapest rentals in the country in my experience - $21 last trip and $25 this time, total price!!). It was a lovely spring day in Nashville and I spent the day just wandering the town (with short jaunts to Franklin and Leiper's Fork : ) ). I walked around the Opry grounds a bit, enjoying the blooming trees and flowers that have not yet shown their faces in Iowa. I hoped I might find a spot to catch a view of the band coming in for rehearsal or perhaps catch sight of Keith's Mustang, but no such luck. I had a nice dinner with concert buddies before the show and then we all headed back to the Opry parking lot. They had lucked out with stagefront seats, but it seemed my call from the Opry about the exchange of my ticket from the cancelled performances was slow coming, so I was sitting way back in row Q this evening.

It is rather amazing that we diehard fans travel so far for a mere four songs, but desperate we are for each and every KU fix! Keith looked just great, was all happy smiles, and sounded fantastic. But at the same time that I savored every second, in the back of my mind I was worrying about how quickly the performance was passing by and just how long it is likely to be before another. The plight of the truly addicted!

The band was looking sharp as well, with Danny looking particularly cute (I love his hair this year but can't say that Brian's does much for me). The short set began with Better Half. I was on the aisle and hoards of Keith fan were moving down the aisle for a closer view, making it hard sometimes, to keep Keith in view, hence my Better Half is in 2 parts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXP5TzjsQ1A and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqlub8iYJoc . Then we got You Gonna Fly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c_U9Z0ZkC0 . But the big surprise and JOY for the night was Keith's performance of The Luxury of Knowing!! Here it is with Keith's fun introduction to the song as well http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKyqYyxYIkg We have been waiting for this song since the release of the album and it was so, so special to hear it at this more intimate venue. Just wonderful!! At the end of this song of course he got a huge response from the audience and I just had to shout out at the top of my lungs "Thank you Keith!!!"

Kiss a Girl was last, complete with a Kiss-a-Girl contest! I wonder if the Opry knew that was coming and what they think of it!? It was fun as usual and featured a nervous young lady whose voice shook, a spunky guy and a darling tiny little girl. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6QPWLTBKS8

I was happy I had parked behind the Opry avoiding the post-show traffic crunch of the front lot.
I had an early morning flight back north. After arriving in the Quad Cities, however, I wouldn't immediately be driving home. Saturday night I would be attending the second concert of my "Spring Break Celebration" - seeing Trace Adkins in Peoria!