by A.J. Wood

Concert Review – George Strait

George Strait in ConcertOnce again Michelle & I made the drive from Dallas to San Antonio so we could see George Strait at the new SBC center. Yesterday was our one year anniversary as a couple and the tickets were a ’surprise’ for Michelle. The drive took a little longer as the rain & traffic were really heavy this time around, but fortunately we didn’t see any accidents on the way down. As we made and early morning start, we arrived in town about 2:30pm.

First was a quick pit stop at Cost Plus, Michelle’s preferred health center (consider them the HEB of nutrition products). After that we stopped by Michelle’s parents house and chatted with the family for about an hour. We were surprised to see Jessica’s new baby Nathan at a full 16lbs. He’s only a few months old. Then it was off to see some of Michelle’s friends, Debbie, Ramond, Azalea & Krystal.

We did catch an accident on the way out. A news van from KSAT Channel 12 plowed into an exit ramp median head on. From the looks of things it didn’t appear anyone was hurt and the sand barrels that were in front of the divider probably absorbed a lot of the impact. Michelle & I doubled back to get a better picture only to see the van drive away before the police arrived on the scene. Don’t think KSAT 12 would be happy about that.

We headed out for the SBC center about 5:30pm. WOW. Give it up to San Antonio for putting some moola into their venues. The place had that new car smell. I’m told the SBC Center is small compared to the Alamodome and I have to admit the seating did feel a little cramped. However, we could see everything from where we sat and the acoustics were great.

Opening the show was Jo Dee Messina. I was familiar with her singles “I’m All Right,” & “Bye Bye,” but I had never seen her perform live. I have to say her set was impressive. Not only did she have an amazing voice, but she related to the crowd really well. She talked about growing up & building her career while she slipped in songs including some amazing covers like “Don’t Stop Believin” by Journey & “Think” by Aretha Franklin. The versatility of her band was outstanding and towards the end of her set Jo Dee surprised me with some musicianship of her own. She banged out some licks on a standup drum kit complete with black light and Day-Glo pink sticks. She even threw in a guitar solo and jam which was cool. All-in-all she probably could have held her own tour and I was happy that I had a chance to see her perform.

There was a brief interlude while the stage was setup for the main performance. Chevy had their version of New Kids On The Block come out and hype up the crowd. There was a lot of “Let Me Hear You SCREAM!” followed by various breakdance moves. They did their job well, probably due to the fact that they wrapped some front row tickets in the T-shirts they were launching all over the arena.

Let me just say that after having been to a few country performances the overall atmosphere is radically different from any hard rock show I’ve been too. While I would describe Ozzfest audiences as an act of controlled aggression, the energy at a country performance is no less intense. While there wasn’t any mosh pit or slam dancing, the crowd was on their feet for the entire performance and the screams & clapping were just as deafening. I’d say the main difference at a country concert is EVERYBODY sings each song the entire show. Like a church revival, if you don’t know the words, you’ll know them before you leave the event.

Now I couldn’t name a song by George Strait if you asked me to. And the only time I had seem him was in that movie “Dusty”. I liked the movie, but I wasn’t sure how much of that would reflect on a real performance. Well, I wasn’t disappointed. The songs were mid tempo in pace and the stage was set in a square which allowed George to mosey (cause that’s what country folk do) from one side of the arena to another. There were a lot of thank you’s and it felt like we were all at a big barbecue just BSing with George and his band. The set seemed short, but George came back out for a quick 2 song encore.

Well, another weekend just flew by. I’m turnin’ on the tube for some football, but I’ll be editing the pictures from last night and posting them later today.

UPDATE – OK, I just uploaded last night’s pictures.

in Arts/Media 1 comments
 by A.J. Wood

Late Night In San Antonio

Well, my baby & I rolled in from San Antonio about 4am this morning. It was a good night, even with the rain and stupid drivers on the road. Yesterday, we made a quick day trip from Dallas to SA to see Toby Keith live at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. (on a side note, I almost wish for commercial companies to go bankrupt when I see their names on public venues).

The drive down wasn’t uneventful as we saw two accidents on the road coming out of Dallas. A small fender-bender on south I-35 delayed us momentarily with gawker traffic, but I felt bad for the poor souls on north I-35 where two semis had jackknifed. Traffic was backed up for at least 5 miles. We made pretty good time and killed about an hour at Borders bookstore before heading to the amphitheater.

WOW. I have to say that this is one of the nicest outdoor venues I have been to. Not only was it very clean (damn, even the bathrooms), but there’s special box seating setup with tables. Michelle & I had seats in section 205 and they couldn’t have been better. There was some worry about rain, but even with the weather being overcast folks were given a mild break until the end of the night.

First up on the card was Paul Thorn. He strolled out onto the stage, just him and an acoustic guitar. He won the crowd over immediately with some quips about who he was and how he got on tour with Toby Keith. His songs were even better. With titles like “Joanie The Jehovah Witness Stripper” and “I Have To Get Viagra (Before It Falls)”, Paul had the audience laughing and ready to participate when he sang his tribute to the one-night stand “Two Dogs In Heat”. I enjoyed his performance, it was a pleasant surprise and his musicianship & vocals were solid. After Paul’s set Michelle & I scooted over to the concession booth to grab ourselves a CD. It was a quickly formed line of people, but we managed to shake the man’s hand, compliment him for the entertainment and I snagged a picture of Paul & Michelle.

Next up was Rascal Flatts (Amazing website btw). The band gave an energetic performance, but I wasn’t drawn in like I was with Paul Thorn’s set. The highlight of their show was the breakout solo by the fiddle player (who I understand is not an actual band member, but a road guy). Still they got the crowd going in anticipation of the main act.

I should point out that I don’t own any Toby Keith CDs. Michelle’s more familiar with country music artists than I am so I was unaware of the controversy that surrounded Toby’s single “Courtesy of the Red White & Blue (Angry American)”. I find it silly that such a big deal would be made over the lines “And you’ll be sorry that you messed with/The U.S. of A./’Cause we’ll put a boot in your ass/It’s the American way”. Anyways, Toby Keith’s performance was outstanding! The band was tight, complete with a horn section (something I’m not used to seeing with a country music act) and Michelle screamed & hollered as Toby sang all her favorite songs (none of which I knew).

All-in-all it was a great evening. Michelle’s still sleeping it off, but I’ve edited the pics from last night and posted them in the Photo Album for you. (Now for some football).

in Editorial 0 comments
 by A.J. Wood

Crazy Love

Decided to visit The Improv this evening as there’s always a 2-for-1 special on Wednesday nights. Tonight’s performance was a comedy skit entitled “Crazy Love”. The stage is set in a psychiatrist’s office where a particular patient rambles on about his relationship with his wife. There were a couple of songs, a quick standup bit and a monologue rounded out the piece.

Michelle & I were hysterical through the performance and there were some very funny moments including a song entitled “Stalking Your Lover”. This is the last weekend, so get a seat at The Improv if you happen to be here in Dallas.

in Editorial 0 comments
 by A.J. Wood

Need more sleep…

I’m fixin’ to need a full week’s sleep after this weekend is over.

Michelle came up Thursday like we planned, but we didn’t leave Dallas until 9pm which put us back in SA after 1:30am. We crashed pretty hard (and I could have slept until Noon), but we pulled ourselves together at 9am to go get the U-Haul truck. The pickup went well and we spent the rest of the afternoon loading the truck.

We finished loading stuff from a storage unit Michelle had at about 3:30pm, but then we had to get the rest of her furniture from her parent’s house. There was a momentary pause while we waited for her father to get home so he could help us load Michelle’s GINORMOUS bedroom cabinets (Thanks Pops!).

After wrapping up at the house we got on the road and grabbed some dinner just outside of San Antonio. It was almost 9:30pm before we started heading north again so needless to say we didn’t arrive here until close to 3am. (The truck was VERY slow)

Add-in the hour or so that we spent getting settled kittens once we were here and I think we crashed somewhere after 4:30am. Michelle’s still sleepin’ it off, me I’m plannin’ our attack today as we still have a truck full of stuff to unload… Aack!

in Editorial 0 comments
 by A.J. Wood

Make it stop…

…this pounding in my head won’t go away. I’m not gonna say it’s a migraine `cause I’d be unable to sit here yappin’ away about the pain. I’m probably just dehydrated, been on the computer all day. Spent my six hours online completing my Defensive Driver course – yeah! Glad that’s over with, glad that I won’t be getting any more speeding tickets racing down to San Antonio now that Michelle will be here.

Speaking of which, we’re only two days away before the our Dallas adventures begin. The weekend should be intense, as Michelle’s drivin’ up here Thursday so we can turn around and drive back to San Antonio that same night. This prevents us having an extra car while we move, but she’s sure to be tired after 8 hours on the road.

We’ll spend Friday finishing any packing and getting the truck loaded. With a little luck we hope to get started back to Dallas Friday evening, but I’m thinkin’ it will be an early Saturday start. Round out the weekend with some unpacking (and hopefully time to watch some NFL games) and we’ll both be passed out when Monday comes around.

in Editorial 0 comments