Post by gsjunkie on Jan 15, 2008 22:37:37 GMT -5
I went to see King George this past Saturday night. What a show!! He's the best. I was lucky enough to be on the 2nd row thanks to my brother for getting such great seats. I got to shake George's hand at the end of the concert. I was very tempted not to ever wash that hand again! Sarah Johns and Little Big Town opened the show.
Here's a review that was in our local paper.
Review : Polite Strait gives 2 hours of hits to smaller but enthusiastic crowd
BY WERNER TRIESCHMANN
Posted on Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The sign outside Alltel Arena on Saturday night, minutes before the concert started, said, “George Strait Tonight ! Tickets available !”
Ol’ George was off his game. He sold out Alltel shows in 2004 and 2006. But you should in no way feel bad for the beloved Texas country star. The attendance for Strait’s 2008 show was 15, 840 and the only seats not occupied were up in Alltel’s nosebleed section. In all aspects, Arkansas showed, yet again, a phenomenal amount of love for Strait, who, along with his Ace in the Hole Band, returned the favor with two hours of no-nonsense entertainment.
Those who haven’t seen Strait live before surely must wonder, as the concert progresses, whether the performer (who wore blue jeans, blue shirt, brown belt and black hat ) really will do nothing more than walk to each corner of the square-shaped stage and sing. That is exactly what he did.
Video screens above Strait occasionally flash images, such as bull riders during “Amarillo by Morning,” but mostly the camera crew captured images of the band, who stood stock still. Anybody who caught, for instance, the energetic and lively Keith Urban concert must figure the Strait fans are half-crazy for going wild for something that’s so decidedly non-flashy. And there is the fact that Strait, who has a few songs that flirt with being novelty numbers, is a stoic son-of-a-gun. He is polite, he acknowledges the love given by the crowd, but nobody would confuse him with being effusive.
But all you had to do was to check out the crowd and listen to Strait’s earnest take on his enormous catalog of hits — “How ’Bout Them Cowgirls,” “ It Just Comes Natural, ” “Write This Down,” “ I Can Still Make Cheyenne, ” “The Fireman” and on and on — to understand.
No act in country or rock appeals to the range of ages that Strait, who will turn 56 in May, does. When a camera finally turned around to the Alltel audience, it caught a woman who could not have been less than 70 dancing and singing along to “Write This Down.” There were a number of kids in the audience, too.
A Strait concert is sort of like going to your favorite bar where the jukebox has been replaced by a live band. If the crowd reaction was any indication, you can bet on Strait singing to another happy 15, 000 fans in 2010.
Opening act Sarah Johns, who looks a little bit like Gretchen Wilson, released her debut record, Big Love in a Small Town, in August. Live, she shows off a voice that’s not enormous but certainly serves her collection of tangy — and, frankly, sexy — songs well. You have to wonder how much of the Alltel crowd blushed when she sang about “fishing in the dark.”
If all is right in the world, in the next couple of years Little Big Town, the middle act on the three-act bill, will have enough hits to be a headliner. The group’s 50-minute set was way too short. The harmonies of the two-guys-and- two-girls group must be heard live to be believed. The highlight came when the band covered Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” and then went right into its own terrific “Good as Gone.” Eventually the four had to go, but hopefully not for long.
Here's a review that was in our local paper.
Review : Polite Strait gives 2 hours of hits to smaller but enthusiastic crowd
BY WERNER TRIESCHMANN
Posted on Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The sign outside Alltel Arena on Saturday night, minutes before the concert started, said, “George Strait Tonight ! Tickets available !”
Ol’ George was off his game. He sold out Alltel shows in 2004 and 2006. But you should in no way feel bad for the beloved Texas country star. The attendance for Strait’s 2008 show was 15, 840 and the only seats not occupied were up in Alltel’s nosebleed section. In all aspects, Arkansas showed, yet again, a phenomenal amount of love for Strait, who, along with his Ace in the Hole Band, returned the favor with two hours of no-nonsense entertainment.
Those who haven’t seen Strait live before surely must wonder, as the concert progresses, whether the performer (who wore blue jeans, blue shirt, brown belt and black hat ) really will do nothing more than walk to each corner of the square-shaped stage and sing. That is exactly what he did.
Video screens above Strait occasionally flash images, such as bull riders during “Amarillo by Morning,” but mostly the camera crew captured images of the band, who stood stock still. Anybody who caught, for instance, the energetic and lively Keith Urban concert must figure the Strait fans are half-crazy for going wild for something that’s so decidedly non-flashy. And there is the fact that Strait, who has a few songs that flirt with being novelty numbers, is a stoic son-of-a-gun. He is polite, he acknowledges the love given by the crowd, but nobody would confuse him with being effusive.
But all you had to do was to check out the crowd and listen to Strait’s earnest take on his enormous catalog of hits — “How ’Bout Them Cowgirls,” “ It Just Comes Natural, ” “Write This Down,” “ I Can Still Make Cheyenne, ” “The Fireman” and on and on — to understand.
No act in country or rock appeals to the range of ages that Strait, who will turn 56 in May, does. When a camera finally turned around to the Alltel audience, it caught a woman who could not have been less than 70 dancing and singing along to “Write This Down.” There were a number of kids in the audience, too.
A Strait concert is sort of like going to your favorite bar where the jukebox has been replaced by a live band. If the crowd reaction was any indication, you can bet on Strait singing to another happy 15, 000 fans in 2010.
Opening act Sarah Johns, who looks a little bit like Gretchen Wilson, released her debut record, Big Love in a Small Town, in August. Live, she shows off a voice that’s not enormous but certainly serves her collection of tangy — and, frankly, sexy — songs well. You have to wonder how much of the Alltel crowd blushed when she sang about “fishing in the dark.”
If all is right in the world, in the next couple of years Little Big Town, the middle act on the three-act bill, will have enough hits to be a headliner. The group’s 50-minute set was way too short. The harmonies of the two-guys-and- two-girls group must be heard live to be believed. The highlight came when the band covered Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” and then went right into its own terrific “Good as Gone.” Eventually the four had to go, but hopefully not for long.
;D 
Despite that, thanks for the link. 
At least the link works!