Shameless

A few weeks ago, I found out that some friends got tickets to see Garth Brooks in Nashville.  Having no idea that he was even doing a concert, I was really bummed that we had missed the opportunity to snag seats to these now sold-out shows.  A couple of weeks later, I mentioned to this friend how jealous I was, and then found out that she had two extra tickets up for grabs!  Score!

So yesterday we headed off to Nashville to see one of our favorite Oklahomans in the flesh!  We had no idea where our seats were, and we didn't have high hopes because our tickets said "Backstage."  After fighting our way through the overwhelming crowd outside the Bridgestone Arena--30,000 people exiting his 7:00 concert while 30,000 more entered for his 10:00 concert--we finally arrived in our section behind the stage.

Our row was "HH," so we started to head up the stairs to the higher levels of the section.  An usher stopped us, took a look at our tickets, and pointed us back down.

"Really?  We're HH.  Isn't that up high?" we questioned.

"Nope! You're right down here on the second row!"

People.  We were on the SECOND ROW.  It may have been "Backstage" but the stage was in the round, and Garth worked the entire thing.  We were seriously ten feet away from him every time he walked the back side of the stage, and had a great view the rest of the time.  I was at the edge of our section with a view into the pit around the stage where the musicians and technicians came and went, so I got a sneak peek of Garth's main gal, Trisha Yearwood, as she snuck in for a surprise performance of "In Another's Eyes" and then "She's In Love with the Boy."

When the fiddle began the first notes of "Callin' Baton Rouge," you would have thought I was some crazy teenager!  It is one of my top three favorite songs of all time, and I never dreamed I'd get to stand 10 feet away, just singing along with Garth.  I'm not usually one to get silly over these things, but I was pretty pumped!

There was only one regret of the night: we assumed that photography would not be allowed, so we didn't bother lugging our camera along.  Actually, they made a special announcement encouraging flash photography!  We were just sick that the one time we were close enough to actually get good pictures at a concert, we didn't even have our camera.  I guess our memories will have to suffice!

And it didn't hurt that I got to enjoy a fun night out alone with my man.  After eight months as parents, it was so fun to stay out late (he played til 12:30 a.m.!) and not worry about rushing home to a sitter.  We might have even done some arm-in-arm swaying to "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House," and "Unanswered Prayers."

Cheesy?  Definitely.

But we didn't put our hands in the back pocket of each other's Wranglers, so I'd say we kept it pretty classy.  :)

(And for the record, we were not wearing Wranglers.  Just in case you were worried.)