This concert has become something of an annual pilgrimage for me. For 3 of the last 4 years, I've gone to this concert - headlined by Kenny Chesney. Today, I was joined by great friends Eric Kelson and Carol Foll. We left early, so we could enjoy the scene in the traffic and in the parking lot. It didn't disappoint. There was dancing electronic life-size pirates, guys with hoses spraying down ladies in passing cars, and much-much more. I was pleasantly surprised to get questioned about my washer game, and where it could be purchased. I was glad to oblige. We took back roads, so as to avoid the chaos on Interstate 95. I was told by a friend at work that he saw people surfing on the roofs of cars and throwing back brewskies while partying in the breakdown lane in the midst of the traffic backup there.
We stumbled into an amazing find just before the concert began... the XM radio booth, and a live broadcast. Moments after we arrived, Keith Urban came out of nowhere and did a live interview and a live song. We were probably just 15 years away from this incredible performer.
Inside the concert, Gary Allan kicked things off well. I was pleasantly surprised to know a lot of the words to his songs. Many were from back in college, so that was a nice trip back in time.
He was followed up by LeAnn Rimes. She looked amazing, especially after she put on the Tom Brady jersey. Her voice made the hair on my arm standup, particularly in her heart-felt version of "Probably Wouldn't be This Way." Powerful stuff.
Sammy Hagar was kind of lame. I wish they had replaced him with an actual country artist, but his cover of Toby Keith's "I Love This Bar" kept me going. Maybe next time, Sammy will play Free Bird instead :-)
As the sun began to set, the real heavy hitters hit the stage, the stadium filled up as the crowd of 55,000 people finally decided 8 hours of tailgaiting had been enough.
Keith Urban was amazing. His guitar playing skills left me in awe. For some reason, my buddy Kelson couldn't concentrate on Keith Urban, he was busy staring at the vomit some drunk girl had left behind on the stairs leading to our section. Ya, some people get a little crazy at this concert, and it's fun to watch... although I guess I could have done without the vomit.
Kenny Chesney did not disappoint. He offered up a few surprises again this year. This time, it was his surprise backup singers... Patriots starts Teddy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel and Red Sox Pitcher Tim Wakefield. They helped sing a couple songs and the crowd went nuts. I found out later that Tim Wakefield had pitched a horrible game just hours earlier at Fenway, giving up lots of hits and many runs in a losing effort. So, you could add a couple more "hits" to his scorecard on this day. Heck, I can't blame him... I was so excited about seeing Kenny Chesney, I probably wouldn't have been able to pitch worth a darn that day either.
Chesney's encore featured 2 of my favorite songs, "Anything but Mine" which always moves me deeply and "She Thinks my Tractor's Sexy" - which I've been known to do at karaoke - in a previous life.
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