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!