"Badass" Alpharetta

Boy, Keith would have made it easier on his crew and bus drivers as well as us fans if this weekend of shows had been scheduled: Raleigh, Charlotte, Alpharetta! Raleigh being second in the list meant that we all had to re-trace our 2.5 hour drive back to Charlotte and then another 2.5 hours down to Alpharetta (on a good day) in pretty heavy traffic. And, unfortunately, it was not a good day weatherwise. Just like the last time I drove to Georgia for a KU show in Athens, once again there was a torrential rainstorm that nearly stopped interstate traffic for quite a while. We drove 25 mph for quite a distance because visibility was almost nil. During this time I passed a couple of the tour buses going even slower and hoped their "important contents" had gotten down south by another means or they were going to be really late for soundcheck!!

I finally made it to suburban Atlanta and laid down briefly to try to de-stress from the trip before heading to the venue. The Alpharetta Verizon Wireless was especially well organized in that they assigned you to a specific parking lot when tickets were purchased to equally divide up the crowd and traffic. That seemed to work well and happily my parking lot was immediately next to the venue so there wouldn't be a long walk tonight. Although the shape of the pavilion was the same as previous shows, this one appeared to be significantly larger with an especially high roof equipped with circulatng fans. It quite attractively had some of those "Georgia pines" on either side, rather than the hot pink crape myrtle so prevalent in Raleigh and Charlotte. Here security was much more liberal allowing us free access to the aisles and entrances, which I appreciated.  Another difference here: what had been handicapped seating in Raleigh was premium box seats here, and those in wheelchairs were relegated to the upper most row of the reserved seats, by the aisle that ran in front of the general admission lawn area.

Tonight my seat was not the best. Better than the wheelchairs, but as far to the edge of the seating as one could be, giving me a very angled view. So I relied mostly on the lefthand side videoscreen most of the evening and did not catch too much on video.

Both Dustin and two of Little Big Town are from Georgia and had family in the audience tonight. LBT also spent some time thanking and saying goodbye to their current tour manager who was moving on to a new position. I've noticed that LBT switches up which of the guys takes the lead on some of the songs.

We all know some of the songs where Keith stops singing and leaves it up to the audience to sing a couple lines (like in Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me). Tonight for the first time that I recall, he did that in Sweet Thing.
Since it was unexpected, our audience response was a bit weak even though we were singing along. Next time we'll do better! I Told You So featured some of those "wild bird call" trills. Keith seemed to be in a great mood when he greeted each part of the audience and teased the lawn people about how they started drinking on Thursday. Tonight Keith had his giant spotlight at the ready and used it to get a better look at the lawn audience, mentioning that some of them were sitting in the trees! He said that they had been warned it was going to rain on their Alpharetta show but they had said "Nah...". He then thanked those who put in a good word in to the Higher Powers for helping prevent the rain. Happily the afternoon rain had left the temperatures very comfortable for the show.

There were quite a few signs in the audience in Alpharetta. The one that Keith focused on was down by the pit and said something like "I flew all the way from Saudi Arabia twice to attend your shows." Keith chatted with her and brought her up on stage asking about why she was in Saudi Arabia (her dad works there) and when was the last time she came over for a show (the Biloxi show last tour). He asked if here dad was there (no) but her sister was and so Keith brought her up too so that they could all take a picture.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHoAO8fleHs
 Another sign held by a couple asked if Keith would sing at their wedding. Keith asked them when the wedding was (maybe March 29) and whether we could all come 9"Boy, that will be a hell of a bar tab!"). He asked them what they would have him sing at the wedding and they replied Making Memories, so Keith spontaneously obliged by singing a verse of that song right there and the couple started to dance.

Tonight my biggest thrill was heading out to the small stage as Kiss a Girl Began and scoring a spot on the rail right next to the stairs Keith, Jerry and Chris take up to the stage. Unfortunately, that is the back of the stage this tour (since Keith is primarily out there to sing to the lawn people) and has quite a bit of electronic equipment, so my view was partially blocked and often of his back, but still it is the closest view I have had given the rather disappointing locations of the presale seats so far. So I really enjoyed my time out there even though the mad crush of fans behind me nearly knocked over the railing surrounding the stage, so some of the crew had to rush to hold it up! Keith of course looked amazing (love his hair!) but if you look at all the tiny bugs in the spotlights, it is a wonder he doesn't inhale a throatful of them!!  Be patient - although we saw a lot of his back, he did periodically turn and smile at us in the back.
Won't Get Fooled Again http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn2Kc10SYcs
Days Go By http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYVH3vy0wq0
Keith Rocking Out to Jerry's solo and end of DGB  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lApNm_BNbOg
Once in a Lifetime Love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luMd3lU3YAw
Better Life  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrFLhBy1_k8

Back inside I believe, after Without You, Keith said that the love of his life was standing offstage tonight!
(Since my seat was fairly far away I couldn't always catch his every word). I also thought I saw Nic there, raising her hands in over-the-head applause after a couple of the songs. Not a clear shot, but I think that is her head in the back.

During the encore we were once again gifted and teased with just a single chorus of But For The Grace of God  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcotBD5CZ8U
 Keith asked that those with cell phones shine their lights during Tonight I Wanna Cry so it would "look like those Georgia fireflies" which a huge number in the audience did (even prettier in this outside venue than when we did this in arenas).  For You Look Good in My Shirt Keith once again went to his left and ended up about as far away from my side of the arena as possible : (

He thanked the audience for just such a badass, insane, off-the hook night. He thanked the buses of young people who had come down from Nashville to see the show (?).  He slapped many hands and signed some autographs. Some lucky gal brought Keith a bouquet of flowers and he bent over and kissed her hand (my show memories are starting to merge together now, so pardon me if I mix up nights).