For my first big show (pun intended!) of 2012 as the FM 106.1 concert correspondent Trace Adkins delivered! This time my lucky guest for the show was my bestie Dan.  This was Dan’s first country concert experience and he was both amazed and incredibly grateful for the opportunity.  I was delighted to find out that we were also going to be attending the Meet and Greet at Rock Bottom Brewery before the show to both meet and get our picture taken with Trace himself!  I was rendered speechless upon meeting him; he is so tall (I had on 4 inch heels and he was still a foot taller than me!) and his voice is the deepest I have ever heard!

The Meet and Greet started off with two great opportunities; the chance to get your picture taken with Trace and to write down questions he would potentially answer while on stage at Rock Bottom.  Dan and I both submitted questions thinking that so many people would as well and that there would be no way either of our questions would get answered…but they both were! Dan’s silly question was actually the first one answered, “what’s your favorite vegetable?”  Turns out Trace’s favorite vegetable is brussel sprouts.  My question was far more exciting.  Courtesy of my friend Mike that I teach with, I asked, “would you leave the outgoing message on my voicemail?” (because his voice is so distinctive and deep) and he obliged!  He called me up on stage and had me sit there and set up the voicemail recording while he continued to answer questions! I was shocked and ended up sitting there for a few minutes so we also ended up bantering back and forth a bit.  Unfortunately the outgoing message didn’t work because I was so excited that I hit the wrong button on my phone afterwards, but I have plenty of pix to prove it and all the people sitting in the row behind us were quite jealous that they hadn’t thought to ask that question.

Before answering questions at Rock Bottom, Trace told us that he was up late in the studio recording the night before so he felt like his voice was a little tired, but we couldn’t tell, he sounded GREAT! He played “You’re Going to Miss This” and “Just Fishin” for our quaint crowd with accompaniment from two guitars while putting in as much emotion as he would playing for a packed concert hall.  He admitted that even though he has become accustomed to performing large shows, he feels more nervous playing for small crowds like ours.  Honestly this made everyone in the room realize what a great opportunity we had been given and appreciate it even more.

Trace displayed his playful personality throughout the rest of the Meet and Greet as well because there were so many funny questions asked by the fascinated crowd.  He shared his favorite part of being on The Celebrity Apprentice was when it was over and even being a foot away from Donald Trump’s hair he still couldn’t tell where it started, ended or what was going on with it! His sincerity glowed when he was talking about making the video for “Just Fishin” and having his family in the video with him. Everyone left the Meet and Greet elated and ready for the next part of this great experience! Dan and I didn’t think the night could get any better, BUT IT DEFINITELY DID!

Within the hour he was already back on stage at the Riverside and ready to rock for the fans there! The second act of our show revealed how much he appreciates his fans; not only because of how prompt he was, but also because he answered some questions from some of his Twitter followers who had told him that they would be in the audience. During the first part of the Riverside show Trace showcased some of his new work that would be coming out soon, making the crowd ooh and ahh. His show seemed like an experience a fan could get attending a VH1 Storytellers event.  He connected with the crowd and shared the background behind each song before he sang it whether it was funny, embarrassing or sincere.  He revealed his first experience playing at the Grand ‘Ole Opry and how proud they were that he was bringing back some of the “traditional” country music and then laughed about how a week later he came out with “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk!”            

The second half of the show he played his hit records like “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk,” “Just Fishin,” “Ladies Love Country Boys,” and “This Ain’t No Love Song” and exclaimed that he had to because he’d be “pissed” if he went to a George Strait show and didn’t hear some of the classics.  He continued to display his personality throughout the show by dancing WAY more than I thought he would, especially for such a tall man – he’s much more coordinated than I expected! His singing and dancing combination got both the ladies and the men in the audience dancing and running up to the stage for autographs and pictures! Nothing like a country man who ladies love and other men respect!

The way he related to his fans was so genuine that the crowd both fed off and fueled his energy all night! His patriotic nature made us feel proud as well as he talked about singing for the troops overseas, especially the Marines, and made this girl respect him even more…overall it was an outstanding experience and I recommend that everyone who knows any Trace Adkins song at all go to his show and live this experience!