nixtress's Diaryland Diary

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Kenny Chesney: Poets and Pirates concert rehash

I managed, last night, to remember everything needed for the concert, except one thing: sunblock. You know where this is going, right?
Yes, I'm a lobster today but only in strategic areas. I was wearing a fairly low cut shirt (lowcut for ME!) and my chest is redredred. My arms are pink, my face is more than pink and my scalp is strawberry colored---the norm for me when I get a sunburn. My scalp!
I have this lovely little line on my temple, through the sunburn there because the temple of my glasses protected a tiny line there.
And bizarrely enough, my thigh got a splotchy sunburn THROUGH my jeans. So weird!
On to the important stuff: the concert!!
It was awesome. We left early enough that we avoided traffic almost completely. Found an affordable parking lot within close walking distance of the Browns Stadium. We had to take an elevator down a level and literally got stuck inside!! Thank God for the only man in the elevator with us because he was the one who managed to pry open the doors.
We told one of the parking attendants and he didn't even get out of his chair! Wasn't worried a lick. I pitied the next group to use it!!
Made it into the stadium early so we wandered the concourse a bit, people-watching and then decided to split a chili cheese fry. Yum! So not what I normally eat and so delicious!
I took a few random pictures here and there and then we meandered up to our seats. They were in the nosebleed section but situated in a space that kept us pretty close to the stage. We settled in right as this little local Cleveland band began it's thing. Apparently, at the Hard Rock Cafe Friday night, they'd had a contest called Kenny's Next Big Star and this particular band had won. I'm bad because I didn't even catch the name of the band! They were okay though and I'm sure thrilled to be on a stage like that.
Next up was Gary Allan. I haven't heard a lot of his music but he played the remake he did of Vertical Horizon's "Best I Ever Had" and it was good. He's got a very...contemplative sound to his music and I enjoyed listening.
There was a short break after his set and they broke stage for LeAnn Rimes. She was very energetic, hopping all over the stage in what must have been 4 inch heels. I'd have broken my neck! Good music, good energy. Humorous note: after each round of handshaking with the crowd while singing, it looked like she used hand sanitizer!
Another short break after her set while constructing the backdrop for Sammy Hagar. We decided to go find something to eat just as he began his set. Not a huge Hagar fan and besides, we could hear everything just fine!
We got back to our seats after just a couple of his songs. He performed a mix of his songs from the 80's, some I remembered and some not. His whole stage set up was themed around the Cabo Wabo idea and he had girls in bikinis bringing him drinks throughout the whole his whole set.
Honestly, some of it was entertaining but I was glad when he was done.
There was a longer break between Sammy Hagar and Keith Urban as they broke down a considerable amount of the stage and re-arranged things. By this time, there were lots of inebriated people around us and we enjoyed more people-watching. There was a gal who sat a couple rows down from us, determined to booty shake regardless of the style or tempo of music. Pretty funny! Another guy down the row from us couldn't seem to keep his shirt on, and really...he should have. I have an inordinate amount of pictures of plumber's crack---not helped at all by the current trend of low-rider jeans!! We only saw one fight and that was between women. Lots of people trading off bad seats for better ones, but not TOO much better. Security was pretty strict in the lower level and on the field.
Keith Urban was probably my favorite performer of the night. He had a great set up, great energy and I just love his music. He sang all of my favorite songs as well as a few I didn't know and MAN, can the boy play a guitar! I was impressed. There was a part where he was just playing with his guitar, playing pieces of different songs (ACDC, Metallica, you name it, he played it)---just really cool. Someone said they'd seen Nicole Kidman in the sidestage area but I never saw her. As I said, probably my favorite part of the night.
Kenny Chesney came on, all lights and sounds and energy. He's a very good performer but didn't come across as very sincere to me. I know, it's a concert, but still. It felt...insincere to me, I don't know how else to explain it. Even Sammy Hagar seemed more true!
I have to say that his opening was pretty awesome. The pirate theme was carried over and this pirate skull splayed across the backdrop, talking in this Jack Sparrow-ish way...pretty cool. He had Jennifer Nettles (of Sugarland) on and she sang "Stay". It was kind of odd---I'm guessing they must be dating because who really just comes to Cleveland for the heck of it? She came back on a short while later and sang part of another song with him. Towards the end, he signed a guitar and picked a little girl from the stage area to come up and receive it. Signed a few hats, signs, etc and then as the band played, he walked off. Lights came up almost immediately, no encore, that's all she wrote.
Crowds were ...well, crowdy but we made it back to the parking lot, sat until it thinned out a bit and were home by 1:30am-ish. Not too bad!
Overall, I loved it. Loved the music, the opportunity to people-watch, to be away from MyTown, to be with my friend and just be me for awhile.
A good way to usher in my Memorial Day weekend!
N.

12:05 p.m. - 2008-05-25

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