A month before my 32nd birthday, Rob excused himself from a meeting with his boss and quickly walked to his computer at 9:58am, where he had everything ready to go.... At 10:02am, he had two tickets to the sold-out Nashville Rising Benefit concert with 19 performers including Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Lynryd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw (the organizers), Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry, Toby Keith, Martina McBride, Leann Rimes, Luke Bryan, and a few others. Nashville natives Reese Witherspoon, Dolly Parton and Matthew McConaughey all sent video messages and Sandra Bullock made a hilarious (and surprise) live appearance.The show was perfect for new country music fans like us. Each performer sang two big hits and then minutes later, the next guy was singing a song that Madeline and Charlie bounce to in the car on our way to the grocery store. We started listening to country as a cute hobby -- a "when in Rome" thing. Now, we love it. And how can you not love a song like, "I want to check you for ticks," or "Come and take a ride on my big green tractor" or "God is good, beer is great and people are crazy"? It doesn't take itself too seriously. Lots of it makes me want to dance, like Lady Gaga or Brittany Spears. And some of it is really beautiful.
Carrie Underwood opened the show -- I'm sure I've ever heard such a powerful voice live. She sang her upbeat single Undo It, then Jesus Take the Wheel and segued into a gutsy, soulful rendition of How Great Thou Art. The crowd leapt to it's feet; I had goosebumps head to toe and my eyes stung -- it actually moved me.
And I will never forget the moment when Lynryd Skynyrd played the first four notes of Sweet Home Alabama that everyone knows so well. It was that deafening, wild sound when 16,000 people start screaming at the same time. ZZ Top was hilarious; these old guys rocked out hard core with synchronized dance moves, swigging whiskey and smoking cigars on stage.
The concert raised $3 million dollars for flood victims. Thanks for one of the most fun birthdays on record, darlin'!
3 comments:
FAB-U-LOUS!!!! Sounds like SO much fun!!! Jealous!!!!
What a fun birthday! It's funny because we started to listening to country music also when we moved to Nashville. I love that you can understand all the words and usually they're pretty upbeat. We still like it, but can't find any really good stations like we had there.
How FUN!!!! Love it.
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