Kenny Chesney

What an experience this concert was.  I do admit; every concert so far this year has been different and unique.  Saturday’s concert was no different. 

Thanks to Mike and Ashley for inviting us to take the bus with their group to Miller Park.  Looking back, I would not have done it any other way.   The parking lots were crammed!  The bus pulled up and we were amazed by the amount of people that were there.  The atmosphere was such a party in itself.  The music, the food, the decorations flying…I never thought Miller Park could get transformed to a tropical location.  We even had the coolest Tiki Bar set up right in front of us!

For this concert, my co-worker/friend, Julie, came along.  We were so excited that we got to meet Kenny.  I just couldn’t believe we were hours away from this dream.  We met Kasey Musgraves who was so pretty and relaxed.  Then we headed back to the bus for some tailgating while we waited to meet Eli Young Band.  The weather was so perfect….everyone was thanking the Country God for great weather, great friends, and a great time.

Off to meet the rest of the concert performers:  Eli Young Band was so welcoming,  Eric Church was a big teddy bear that you just melted in his arms, and Kenny…well, Kenny was just as gorgeous in person!  I couldn’t have been a happier gal at that moment.

The concert itself was a blast.  Kenny was so energetic on stage.  I have never seen Kenny in person, so I could only relate to his music videos.  His performance was just what you saw in the videos.  He was running around stage, engaging the fans, and really enjoying himself.     One of my favorite moments was when all the fans were able to sing Happy Birthday to George Strait and Kenny stated he was going to send it to him.  I know Milwaukee must be special to him because he said “THANK YOU MILWAUKEE” numerous times.  I really hope that this wonderful city is on his favorite list…because he is on my favorite list for best concert!  Kenny Chesney is not only a great singer, he is a wonderful performer that keeps his fans on their feet all night long.

I wish I could have taken more pictures, but I invite you to take a look at FM106.1’s pictures from the show - click here for the pictures.  I still have “Pirate flag and an island girl” going over and over in my head. 

Love ya Kenny!

BLOWN AWAY TOUR!

Yup, that is the perfect concert title.  This concert experience was the best!  My daughter had to back out of attending with me, so I opened it up to friends.  Holy cow...never thought I would get so many offers (even bribes...lol).  So, instead of playing favorites, I decided to keep it in the family and took my brother's girlfriend, Jenn along.  She was the perfect option.  I didn't know she worked at the BMO Harris Bradley center in the past, so she knew exactly where to go and get us there in a hurry. 
 
We started at 4:30 waiting to meet Hunter Hayes.  That guy is such a sweetie!  He took time to talk and even sign Jenn's CD.  Hunter Hayes has the Country Fans wrapped around him.  What an amazing artist and performer.  We attended his sound check and he constantly was talking to the audience.  You can tell he really appreciates his fans. 
 
Then, we were wisked off to meet Carrie Underwood.  It was such an intimate time.  She was standing 4 feet in front of me and she is as beautiful in person as in pictures.  Radar was so lucky to get to interview her.....I was a wee bit jealous!  When it was time for pictures, I thought we would be hurried in and out.  To my surprise, it was the opposite.  Jenn brought up that she is a hockey fan...and BOOM...Carrie and her started talking.  You can tell she is such a down to earth gal who would give her time and energy to anyone.  What a lovely lady she has become since I first saw her on American Idol.  You can definitely tell fame didn't change who she is.
 
Ok...enough about the meet and greets.  I asked Jenn to give her response on the show so I would like to share her response and give her a shout out on the blog.
 
"Hunter Hayes was amazing. Put on a high intensity show, kept the crowds attention. Played all of his hits. Showed off his piano skills during ‘Wanted’. Could really tell that he enjoys playing music and thanked Milwaukee for letting him come back.
Carrie Underwood put on a great show. High powered vocals were amazing. Sounds just like her records. 5 outfits...stage transformed to fit each of her different sets. Flying stage was awesome. Coolest thing I have seen in a concert. Amazing energy from beginning of concert to end of show."
 
I couldn't agree more on Jenn's comments.  I hope she enjoyed herself as much as I did.  Carrie and Hunter put on an awesome concert!  I would have no excuses in the world to miss another performance of theirs. 
 
Look at FM106.1's pictures....those pictures still could not do justice to see it in person.  I also encluded 3 of my favorite pictures (ok..maybe a bit biased).  To sum up my Friday night's experience......STAR STRUCK!

Happy Anniversary KSR!  What a way to celebrate…thanks for inviting us.
Arriving at the Horny Goat for the first time was a treat.  I never realized how big, spacious, and beautiful the atmosphere was.  Great place to pack in a few hundred FM 106.1 listeners!  When we arrived, I finally got to meet the Morning Crew.  Radar was stunning (as usual), Scott was very personable, and Karen was just as beautiful in real life.   My girlfriend, Deb, isn’t a huge country fan (unlike myself) and I wanted to introduce her to country the right way….to MEET Dustin Lynch!  After meeting up with some old friends (great seeing you, Shelli) we grabbed some drinks and waited to see the first act, Bella Cain.  I have not heard much about them before, so I was in for a surprise!  That group opened the Horny Goat with a BANG!  The band sounded great.  The variety of songs/music they played really rocked the crowd out.  The group really got the crowd moving.  They were so energetic on stage and really interacted well with all of us.  Bella Cain…you took the party by the horns and everyone loved it!

We took a small break outside.  It was really nice to see that they had ‘fire pits’ to stand by and keep warm.  Everyone around was talking about how much fun this night is going and how the bands sounded so good.  Looking around, I didn’t see many people wearing Dustin Lynch wristbands (we were given these for the meet and greet).  I was surprised when we were instructed to meet by his table on how many people actually had them.  We were led upstairs where we got to meet Dustin and have our picture taken.  I was immediately attracted to his eyes….they are sooo blue!  After  our picture, we quickly headed downstairs to finish listening to Maggie Rose.

Last up….Dustin Lynch!  His performance was awesome.  He definitely knows how to work with the crowd.  He was all over the stage playing his guitar and making lots of eye contact to the fans.  You can see that he loves to sing and enjoys playing for his fans.  His performance was huge, yet intimate (if that makes sense).  There were hundreds of people surrounding us, but when you would watch him sing, he would make eye contact like he was singing just to you.  It was surreal….Some of my favorites were Cowboys and Angels, Hurricane, and who can’t sing along to She Cranks My Tractor.  The show from start to finish was an experience to remember!

FM106.1…you definitely know how to throw a party for the #1 morning show on the radio.  Congrats once again Karen, Scott, and Radar.  Here’s to the past 15 years and 15 more wonderful years to come…CHEERS!

Well, being my first concert of the year...I was sooo excited!  I decided to take my girlfriend along. This was my first time at the Rave, so I was very nervous! The concert was off to a slow start, but once Gary Allan started...holy goodness!  The crowd just erupted with excitement!  I was so excited to hear many of his songs.  When he stated that his new single "Pieces" was sung for the first time by the whole band, I was wondering what was to come.  WOW!!!!!  That song hit the highest of any first time a band would play together for the first time!  I was in heaven!  The whole time Gary was on stage it was a time that I couldn't believe that I was there to share!  Thank you for the experience and I really hope to have much more to share within the year!

As usual I want to share my concert experiences with people who I know will truly appreciate the opportunity and whom I care about deeply; unfortunately this time it was very difficult to decide…how do you pick between your BF and your mom?  As this decision wasn’t easy, it also wasn’t based on who I care about more, it was based on who loves Kenny more and who loves Tim more.  As you could probably guess my mom loves Tim, in fact she told me that if I got to meet him during this experience and she didn’t get to join me that I had to express my mother’s love for him.  Mom didn’t join me in Chicago for Kenny and Tim.  Paul’s love of Kenny and his music far outweighs mom’s love for Tim’s looks and his acting. As if this experience couldn’t get any more exciting for the two of us, we found out 2 days before that we were going to meet Kenny Chesney and that there may be different tickets waiting for us at Will Call when we got there! Holy Upgrade! We went to the front row of section H which was directly in front of the soundboard and the “second stage!”

Even through the crazy Chicago traffic we got there just in time to see Jake Owen perform his heart out to the crowd with so many of his hits like “Yee Haw,” “Eight Second Ride,” “Barefoot Bluejean Night” and “Alone with You.”  Jake really seems to have gained a higher level of confidence when he performs even since last fall when I saw him open for Keith Urban at the Bradley Center or maybe it was the combination of the huge venue already filled with fans to see him start a 4:30 and all the ladies screaming in the audience.  Either way Jake really got the party started!

After Jake we were delighted to see Grace Potter and the Nocturnals were performing! She belted her heart out for a half hour straight and earned hundreds of new fans while on stage.  She was incredibly thankful and gracious to be out on such a life changing tour. Grace and her band did a great job of combining rock n’ roll, country and a bit of gospel all at once! I love it when artists give everything they have on stage and leave without regret! She must have been feeling an emotional high after her set!

Then onto one of the “Brothers of the Sun”! It’s Tim Time!!!  Everyone in crowd went crazy when Tim McGraw came on stage! He started with the first hit from his newest cd “Felt Good on My Lips!” Unfortunately (but not that unfortunate) we had to step out for a bit for the Kenny meet and greet so we missed quite a bit of Tim’s set, but what we did see was awesome!  Thankfully we made it back for the rest of Tim’s 21 song set, especially for “Live Like You Were Dying,” “Cowboy in Me,” and “I Like It, I Love It.”  Tim did an incredible job working the entire stage and getting the entire stadium involved. During the part of Tim’s set that we were able to see which included “A Heart Don’t Forget,” Paul revealed to me that it was this song from Tim that turned him onto country music in the first place. Good work Tim!  For his individual finale Tim played his new hit single “Truck Yeah” which made the crowd become unbelievably louder and is when I believe I completely lost my voice!

Back to the Kenny Chesney meet and greet…We anxiously waited in line and chatted with other greeters who were almost as excited as Paul.  Kenny was extremely gracious at the meet and greet; he let us use our own cameras so we immediately had the pictures with him in our possession and he signed autographs for us which I have learned becomes more and more rare as stars become more and more famous.  Thanks Kenny!  I introduced myself as Jen from FM106.1 in Milwaukee and told him that I got to write a review of his show, I think I may have flustered him a bit! Me? I flustered Kenny? Awesome!  Then Paul came up to join us for a picture and could barely introduce himself because he was so overwhelmed with excitement!

Kenny’s part of the concert was high energy from start to finish! Because of the generous upgrade of our seats we ended up being right in front of the second stage that Kenny emerged from at the start of his show! He started with “Beer in Mexico” (as Paul predicted) and then flew directly over us onto the main stage. Once on the main stage his 26 song set continued with all his hits old and new from “Back Where I Come From” and “Turn this Car Around” to his newest radio hit “Come Over.”  My favorite songs to hear/ see were “Somewhere with You” and “Reality” because our group of friends who went to see him at Lambeau Field last summer like to tell each other that we’re in the Reality video since it uses footage from his Lambeau concert!  Paul’s favorite performances from Kenny that night in Chicago were “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem” and “Live Those Songs.”

As if the concert couldn’t get any better Kenny and Tim still had to perform together!  There was no break either! They just went right into their combined part of the show!  All of a sudden Tim was emerging from the same stage directly behind us that Kenny came out of! As the two of them were singing “Whatever Makes You Feel like a Rockstar,” Tim came running and singing right past us! Holy amazing seats! Together they also sang Kenny’s hit “She Thinks my Tractor’s Sexy” and Tim’s hit “Indian Outlaw.”  Finally they ended the show with one more song and Jake Owen came out and joined them too! What a night! I don’t think it could have been any more mind-blowingly incredible!

As soon as Zac Brown Band was coming to Summerfest this year I knew who I wanted my guest to be! I wanted to share this concert experience with Paul. I am a member of the Zamily and have been for three years so I knew it was going to be a great show.  Now I do have to mention that July 5th was one of the hottest days all summer and luckily by the lake it was a little cooler, but not for long! After two straight hours of ZBB fans dancing in the Marcus Amphitheater it was well over 110 degrees in there!

ZBB kicked of their set and got the hot crowd on its feet with one of my new favorites “Keep Me in Mind,” and “Knee Deep” which are always jukebox favorites when we go out! The crowd was hooked so Zac and the boys continued to play a mixture of songs both old and new. One of the new songs they played called “Jump Right In” allowed the boys to get the crowd even more involved; they taught us the chorus and gave us the signal to “jump right in (to)” the song when we were supposed to!

Unfortunately because it was so hot out, I missed a couple songs for what I thought was going to be a quick run to the ladies room, but I could still hear them! Ladies in the lines wouldn’t stop dancing or singing along to “No Hurry” which made me laugh and enjoy myself even more because there was no stopping the fun and excitement of the crowd during this show!

This being my third time seeing Zac Brown Band in concert I wasn’t really expecting anything to surprise me, but they did! ZBB did country covers of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” and of Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion!” They then played my favorite Zac Brown compilation of “Free.” There’s just something about that song that makes me want to grab onto a person that I love and makes me feel like we can get through anything.

The hits just kept coming and fans couldn’t help but dance and sing along to “Toes,” “Who Knows,” “Whiskey’s Gone,” and “Colder Weather.”  For some unexplainable reason I always tear up and get a little emotional during “Colder Weather” and my emotions didn’t stop when they made all of us proud with “America the Beautiful” the day after July 4th.  This roller coaster of emotions continued from national pride to local pride when the guitarist stepped out to the front of the stage wearing a Green Bay Packers shirt.

The Zac Brown Band party continued for 2 straight hours and even then they weren’t able to play all their hits.  Honestly ZBB would have needed at least another hour to cover them all which would have taken their show to way past midnight!  They ended their jam session with “Chicken Fried” and wouldn’t allow anyone to leave early! I am telling you, the entire show people were dancing and singing for two hours without a break and the temperature just kept rising! What an incredible experience and I am so thankful I got to share it with Paul! We are definitely going again the next time ZBB comes to town for my show number four!

What a show!  This time I gave my friend Ariane the concert event dream of her life (it’s okay she earned it, we’ve been friends since middle school) and got her out of the house for a night!  These three groups know how to treat their fans right.  First off we met all three groups before the music even started! We didn’t have to miss any other artist’s set because of a meet and greet for another group! Yay! And like I said all three groups were gracious enough to meet us before their show! How awesome is that?!?

The concert started off with Thompson Square singing their hit “I’ve Got You” and I was excited from the start; I love that song! They followed that up with their new songs “Getaway Car” and “Glass” which is dedicated to hungry kids around the world through their support for the Child Fund International organization.  There is nothing like a group using their fame for good to make you feel all mushy on the inside. Also very exciting for the Milwaukee crowd was that Kiefer was wearing a Harley Davidson t-shirt throughout the entire show – way to represent! T2 ended their set with my favorite “Are You Going to Kiss Me or Not?” and you could feel the love and tension between the two of them on stage, I just wanted them to kiss!!! I also love that song because I used to sing it to myself when my honey and I would go out on “dates” and all I wanted was for him to kiss me and in the end - it took four months! Great things are worth the wait though!

Taking on the middle set of the amazing show was Darius Rucker who in my opinion could have had his own tour with the type of show he put together! He told the crowd that this was the last night of their tour and it seemed this being the last night allowed him to give 110%! It was unbelievable! Not a soul in the Marcus Amphitheater was seated during his entire set! He started with some of his solo career country songs “Love Will Do That” and “Alright” to get us all going.  Then to warm the crowd to him even more he explained that his son had to break it to him that he has a new favorite NFL team – the Green Bay Packers! The crowd got even crazier!  He played so many great songs old and new; “It Won’t Be Like This For Long,” “I Only Want to Be With You” from Hootie and the Blowfish” and then “Joker” from Steve Miller Band! Darius was such a crowd pleaser that no one wanted his set to end! And we still had Lady A coming up!

As a fan it was quite apparent that these three groups developed a strong friendship on the road, they were all so grateful to one another and were all very playful throughout each other’s sets.  When Darius had to end his set he chose to cover Prince’s “Purple Rain” as a tribute to the children of the 80’s.  As a joke Charles from Lady A surprised Darius and came out on stage dressed as Prince and sang the rest of “Purple Rain” with him!  Then the crew set up a bar on stage and even Hilary came out with her dog! All I can do is guess, but I am pretty sure Milwaukee got the best show of their tour because they were giving it everything they had left and everything they had learned out on tour.

We still have the Lady Antebellum show after Darius! I wasn’t sure if they could top that excitement because he was incredible, but they did an amazing job keeping fans up on their feet the entire show too!  Lady A came out loud and strong with “We Own the Night,” “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” and “Our Kind of Love!”  They had to come out strong because the energy of the crowd was so high after Darius and the 30 minute dance party that was going on between the two acts.  To slow it down a little they dimmed the lights, making the room seem very personal, and sang “Dancing Away with My Heart.”

Lady A has so many hits that there are just too many to mention all the songs they sang, but I am positive they pleased every person in that audience by singing his or her favorite. Charles, Hilary and Dave showed their gratitude and excitement for the fans, their crew and their families throughout the entire show, recognizing that they would not have been able to achieve their dreams night after night without the support of all three.

The comradery between groups continued as Darius then decided to play a joke on them by hanging a “Gamecocks” flag from South Carolina on the large, red piano they used for “Just a Kiss.” At one point the silliness reached new heights with everyone on the crew hitting hundreds of Ping-Pong balls at Charles, Hilary and Dave as they were performing and uncontrollably laughing at the same time!
The show ended with Thompson Square coming out and joining Lady A for “Midnight Rider” and then Darius joining everyone for the Doobie Brother’s “Black Water!”  The entire show was mind-blowing! These three groups could not have worked harder to please their fans and I just hoped everyone in the audience enjoyed it as much as I did!

I love sharing my concert experiences with friends and family who truly appreciate it! For Eden’s Edge, Eli Young Band, Little Big Town and Rascal Flatts I asked my cousin Erin to join me and she confirmed with whole-hearted excitement. The fact that she got to meet Rascal Flatts was the cherry on top of that sundae!

The highly anticipated evening started out great! Because we had our meet and greet passes for Rascal Flatts we entered the Marcus Amphitheater by the red seating area and got to go down by the stage immediately!  This was by far the closest I have been to one of the stages since I started this concert reviewing adventure in February.  Because we were a little early for the meet and greet we were allowed to sit right by the stage until security was ready to take us to Rascal Flatts.  We were so excited (look how close we are in some of the pictures)!  And then Eden’s Edge came out! We thought for sure we were going to get to see them from the front row! Eden’s Edge started their show with a bit of “We Are Young” by Fun which immediately got every person in the room singing along. They sounded great!  I was thrilled that we were going to be able to watch some of their set because I find myself singing their hit “Amen” all the time in my head (especially when one of my students has an “ah hah” moment) and of course belting it out loud when it comes on in the car…but we didn’t get to watch them unfortunately.  We were ushered out to where the tour buses were parked in order to wait for Rascal Flatts.

Of course being the positive person that I am I looked on the bright side and convinced myself that if we were meeting the boys from Rascal Flatts this early that we were definitely going to be able to make it to see the entire Eli Young Band show, right? …Not so much…I’ll explain in a bit.

While we were waiting outside we got some fun pictures with the tour buses and I got a quick pic with Karen from Little Big Town! Awesome moment for me, especially since we didn’t have the chance to meet and greet with Little Big Town like we had hoped! She was so sweet to stop and take the picture with me while the band was being rushed from the tour bus into the amphitheater.  Let me tell you, that made waiting outside a little better!

Then we waited some more underneath the amphitheater.  Then we were walked back inside the amphitheater and up 4 flights of stairs to what seemed to be the top floor (all very odd).  We waited in this room for at least 20 minutes…it was hot…people were not happy…some people forgo their chance to meet the Rascal Flatts boys because they were tired of waiting…and because Eli Young Band started! So disappointed! I missed most of Eli Young Band because we were waiting for the Rascal Flatts meet and greet for 40 minutes.

Being in the amphitheater though we got to hear and feel most of the Eli Young Band set; yes feel, the music is so powerful in the amphitheater that you can feel it through the floor! So even though I was disappointed I didn’t get to see them perform “Even if it Breaks Your Heart,” I did get to hear it and feel it through the floor and walls.  I have no idea how many fans were actually in their seats when Eli Young Band was performing, but when they were done with that song I heard a mass of cheers!

Back to the meet and greet! When we got to meet the boys from RF it was such a whirlwind! We were rushed in and I don’t even think I introduced myself…hmmm. For all of my previous events I’m always like, “Hi! I’m Jen!” with a smile and a bit of a laugh because of course they are going to remember who I am! I know Erin’s favorite part of the meet and greet with Rascal Flatts was her brief exchange with Jay. After she introduced herself he said, "Erin, how on earth are you wearing a sweater?" she replied, "well, I just had a baby so wanted to hide anything for the picture." he said, "well honey, you don't even look like you just had a baby!" and I said. "That’s because I'm wearing the sweater!" :)   In the whirlwind that was meeting Rascal Flatts, I don’t even know if a single one of the 5 of us in our picture are looking at the camera; I know Erin and I weren’t ready when the picture was snapped! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the picture turns out!

Then back to Eli Young Band…we left the meet and greet and entered back into our original spot down in the front of the Red section to see the end of EYB’s set.  They were finishing up a song and then ended with “Crazy Girl!” Sweet! We didn’t miss this one! Mike Eli began describing the song with genuine appreciation for the crowd and the fans who continually called radio stations around the country requesting “Crazy Girl” by “that one band,” for making it the hit that it has become and helping to launch them into a great tour.  Everyone in the room sang along as they sang it for us (even the big, beefy security guards were singing and I’ve definitely never seen that before). It was a great moment, made me sad I missed the rest of their show, but I was grateful that we were able to experience that song.

Onto Little Big Town! They came out guns blazing with “Little White Church!” Love that song! It totally reminds me of every serious relationship I have been in since high school! I love it that even the men in the crowd were singing along with Kimberly and Karen as if they had it sung to them before by an angry woman! I wish I would’ve snapped a picture of the gentleman wearing the tour shirt that reads “I may be cheap, but I ain’t free” because he was rocking out and dancing just as much as I was!

After getting the crowd fired up they went into some of their slower songs and it made me realize how amazingly spectacular LBT harmonizes and how well they all work together as a band.  Each individual in the group makes the next sound stronger.  No worries they didn’t stay slow for long, they pumped everyone up again with Pontoon! Perfect summer song for Wisconsin fans to relate to, especially for the fabulous weather.  All of their voices amazed me as well.  Actually every group throughout the entire concert did have such wonderful and powerful voices, but especially Little Big Town.  They sounded exactly like they do on the radio – no need for weird studio voice changes or effects here! They are awesome! LBT also revealed that for fun they like to take pop songs and see if they can change them into country songs and they shared their version of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” with us! They took the crowd back to their songs with “Boondocks” and gave every fan a sense of pride about where they grew up as well.

To make the night even better we got to see the fireworks from the Marcus amphitheater! I was so excited for the concert experience tonight that I totally forgot about fireworks! They were so perfectly timed with the Marcus shows that it was as if they were both celebrating Little Big Town’s amazing set and amping the crowd for Rascal Flatts!

Rascal Flatts kicked off their part of the country extravaganza with their new chart topper “Banjo” and there wasn’t a fan seated in the amphitheater! Everyone was dancing and singing along from the start! I loved the stage effects that they started off with too; there was a sort-of cage of lights surrounding each of the 3 guys that had sound sensors in them and when they each sang their part the lights surrounding them would light up!  Rascal Flatts was definitely out to make their fans happy tonight! I have heard them in interviews before and they have mentioned that sometimes fans leave their shows a little upset because they don’t always get to hear their favorite Rascal Flatts song.  To accommodate the fans they put together a request segment of the show in which audience members could request their favorites and the boys sang the main verse and the chorus of each of those songs! So thoughtful! Another great part of their stage set up was the personal pictures of the band members that would scroll by during the slower more personal songs; the pictures really allowed their fans to connect with them on a more personal level. 

My favorite part of the whole concert (this was Erin’s favorite part too) was the grand finale when they sang “We’re An American Band” by Grand Funk Railroad!  Rascal Flatts decided to end the show by sharing the stage with all the bands on their tour!  The boys from Rascal Flatts started the song and when they started the chorus Little Big Town came out and sang the chorus with them, then LBT took over for the second verse.  During the third verse Eli Young Band came out and sang it and eventually Eden’s Edge joined as well.  All four groups rocked the stage and ended the song together all the while in the background were pictures of their rehearsals for this very event being shown!

I am still amazed each time I see another country act by how truly talented these artists truly are.  I don’t think there is any other genre in music right how that is bursting with this level of true talent.  I am sure I will continue to be amazed as this adventure continues! 

For the game and concert combination experience I enlisted my friend Cait. Talk about a hectic night! We scrambled to get to the Meet and Greet with Justin Moore because I forgot the tickets at home and when we were almost to the Bradley Center we had to head back to my house to get the tickets for the Milwaukee Mustangs game. Ahhh! When we went to pick up our meet and greet passes at Will Call we were told that there were no meet and greet passes and that we had to get orange wristbands at the entrance point for the Meet and Greet. We ran to where we thought the Meet and Greet was (we may have been misinformed about where the meet and greet was), but we were on the wrong side of the building! So of course we RAN back to east side of the BC (you know, where we originally were) and the woman with the wrist bands had left! We ran after her… caught up to her … and to our dismay, she said she had RUN OUT OF WRIST BANDS! What? I am the official concert reviewer!  I have to meet Justin Moore!  Thankfully she walked us back through the entrance and to the Meet and Greet line and thankfully we were allowed to meet Justin anyway!
 
In line there were a few familiar faces from both the Chris Young meet and greet in April and from the Trace Adkins private show at Rock Bottom in March. Unlike my previous meet and greets, when Justin came out there were ladies in the line that immediately started SCREAMING! I can’t believe no one had screamed before! His fans were beyond excited to meet him! Cait and I waited patiently and giggled a little as ladies were flirting as they met him in front of us and requested more and more pictures so their experience wouldn’t end.  Justin was incredibly polite and cordial, however because we were toward the end of the line our experience was much more brief than we had hoped.
After the meet and greet we headed toward our seats and watched the second half of the Milwaukee Mustangs game. Cait was delighted that while we were in our seats a t-shirt landed on us and she got some clapping sticks while at the game.  We also had the lucky experience to meet the young man who was celebrated at halftime on the field for his bravery while surviving a life-threatening illness; he happened to be sitting in front of us and made us laugh for the entire second half of the game! Unfortunately the Mustangs lost, but that meant we could all get excited for the concert to start!

Justin kicked off his show with some of his newer songs “You Won’t Take My Guns,” “How I Got to Be This Way,” and “My Redneck Side” to pump up the crowd after the Mustangs loss.  He then excited the crowd and dedicated “My Redneck Side” to us by revealing that he likes to play in Milwaukee and will always return to play here because there are “lots of rednecks in Milwaukee!”  The crowd went wild and continued to holler and cheer after that! The fans on the floor wouldn’t stop chanting “Hank It” after he revealed his love for the Milwaukee brand of redneck. The excitement from the crowd was so contagious that the dancers for the Milwaukee Mustangs couldn’t help but join Justin on stage and dance with him!

There were also a few touching moments throughout the amped show.  He obviously sang his hit “If Heaven Wasn’t so Far Away;” but during his performance he brought a little girl on the stage who graciously hugged him for dear life as he continued to belt it out.  His performance of his newest single “Til My Last Day” also revealed his softer side as he sang to the ladies in the crowd.

Justin’s ability to control the mood of the crowd was obvious as he switched back to some high energy tunes. He eventually satisfied the crowd’s appetite for “Hank It” and kept the ravenous crowd going with some of his hits like “Bait a Hook,” “Small Town USA,” and “Backwoods.”

The mutual appreciation between Justin and the Bradley Center crowd was apparent as he complimented his audience by calling us “fans of real country music” here in Milwaukee which will always keep him coming back. And his fans reciprocated the appreciation and the desire for his return by singing and dancing all concert long! I know the fans that celebrated his show and I all hope he keeps his word and returns to perform in Milwaukee soon.