I had a fabulous night out with my Aunt Michele. I can’t think of a better way to start off the week than to enjoy a Sunday evening with Kenny Rogers – Christmas and the Hits. This was my first time seeing Kenny Rogers live, and I’m so very grateful for the opportunity. He put on a wonderful show which included performances by Billy Dean, a gospel choir, and six talented young local children.
Kenny Rogers hit the stage and explained that he’s been doing this show for 30 years now and feels he’s got a good handle on it. When he did shows with only Christmas songs he received requests for hits. When he did shows with only hits he received requests for Christmas songs. So he brilliantly decided to combine them and give us two shows in one. He informed us that the night would start out with the hits that he selected to sing, then a short intermission and end the night with Christmas songs. So our night of hits started with “We’ve Got Tonight” and “It’s A Beautiful Night”. At this point Kenny couldn’t help but comment on the lady in about the 8th row who had the biggest pair of binoculars he’d ever seen. It loosened up the audience a bit and we rolled from there. Next he sang “Ruby Don’t Take Your Love To Town” which he extended the microphone toward the crowd so we could sing along, but we weren’t really pumped up yet I guess because he said that was the worst he’d ever experienced. (I must agree we were pretty bad) Then we enjoyed “Through The Years”, “You Decorated My Life”, “She Believes In Me”, “Coward Of The County”, “Daytime Friends” and “Buy Me A Rose”.
After that great line-up Kenny Rogers introduced Billy Dean who came out and sang “We Just Disagree” and “Billy The Kid”, two songs that I really love. What a special treat having Billy Dean with Kenny Rogers! We only got those couple songs from Billy Dean but Kenny Rogers assured us he’d be back out later to sing some more. So back to Kenny Rogers who gave us “The Gambler”, “Lucille”, “Lady” and “Islands In The Stream”. We did volunteer ourselves as an audience to sing “Lucille” and Kenny did say that we did much better on that one. Absolutely amazing! With all of the hits Kenny Rogers has we could have been there all night just listening to hits. But as promised we were going to hear some Christmas songs too. Before exiting the stage for a short intermission, Kenny Rogers did toss out about 6 tambourines into the audience. What an awesome keep-sake for several lucky fans.
Now for the second half – Christmas songs. Billy Dean started us off with the help of six young local children who did a tremendous job. I felt so warm and proud of those kids I can only imagine their parents must have been bursting with pride. We got to experience “Comfort And Joy”, “Let The Bells Ring Out For Christmas”, “Rockin Around The Christmas Tree”, “Jingle Bells”, “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, “Let It Snow” and one of my all time favorite Billy Dean songs “Let Them Be Little”. Billy Dean and the children did a great job entertaining us. This is the time that we experienced artificial snowflakes falling from the ceiling as Kenny Rogers came out and sang “The Christmas Song” and “Merry Christmas” with Billy Dean. The remainder of the show we enjoyed Kenny Rogers as he sang “White Christmas”and “Just Not Christmas If I Cant Spend It With You”. Next he did “Mary Did You Know” with Wynona Judd singing on video. It was as if she were there with us. For the final songs Kenny Rogers was joined on stage by a wonderful choir as they sang “Away In A Manger”, “Oh Holy Night”, “Silent Night” and “We Three Kings”. For the grand finale, Billy Dean and the children came back out on stage and along with Kenny Rogers and the Choir they sang “Joy To The World” and “Till The Season Comes Round Again”.
It was a spectacular night. Kenny Rogers and Billy Dean were amazing, and the children and the choir were awesome. What a wonderful combination. This was definitely a memorable evening full of fun, laughter, and tears. (happy tears – you know, the good kind) Thanks FM106.1 for another great memory.
