Concerts and Jesus

I shared before my love for music and the sharing of that love that was between Aunt Lisa and I for all types of music, but especially country genre. I mean if she and I had a list of what we loved most, after Jesus Christ and family, I am quite positive that both of us would have country music as a close third. Aside from just the music, we LOVED country music concerts. So much so that for my birthday and/or Christmas the last several years, I got concert tickets so that she and I could go.

I remember my first concert, at the time, I was in the second grade. She and my mama signed me out of school and we traveled down to Jacksonville, Fl to see Kenny Chesney, Dierks Bentley, and Keith Urban. I felt on top of the world; I mean, a concert of those three was every girls dream at the time. I still remember the tshirt I got; a pale yellow Kenny Chesney shirt with a picture of him at the beach on the front and a list of his tour dates on the back.

After that memorable first one, we saw icons like Rascal Flatts with Kellie Pickler; Jason Aldean (about 5 times, he was/is my fave) with Lauren Alaina; Toby Keith with Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert (before either of them became big); Tim McGraw with Jason Aldean; Lady Antebellum; Eric Church with Brantley Gilbert; and finally, Luke Bryan (also about 5 times, he was her favorite). Needless to say, it was out favorite pastime. There are certain lessons/rules/memorable sayings that we had that I will always hold dear to my heart.

1. Months before the concert, it was imperative to download any song by the artist we didn't already have and listen to it along with all of the other songs by them so that we knew ALL of the words to EVERY one.
2. Because we went well prepared, we took it upon ourselves to always point out the "dummies" who wouldn't sing or worse, would sing even when they clearly did not know the words. (that was probably her worst pet peeve)
3. If you're going to spend money on a ticket, why not spend a little extra and "do it big"? By that, I mean if you are going to a concert, "nose bleeds" seats are not an option. Buy them ahead and sit close enough so that you can actually enjoy Luke's dance moves or Jason's trademark head nod.
4. Time is of the essence; it is important to arrive in plenty of time. You just never know what can happen between arrival time and time of the concert. The opening act is not something to take lightly. Never know what kind of hit star they may become, everyone has to start somewhere.
5. NEVER do you leave the FIRST time that the headliner goes off the stage, they always come back and you never know what they will sing or do in the encore. More often than not, it is the best part of the show.
6. Finally, make friends with those around you. Drunk or not, you never know what can happen. Rarely have I attended a concert and left without considering the people next to me "acquaintances", may have been drunk ones, but acquaintances none the less.

Said all of that to say, of all the concerts we went too, never did we attend Luke Bryan's Farm Tour together. Which was rather a shame considering he comes within five miles of my house every single year. I was always the stickler for not wanting to go. This year, with me being in Macon and him also coming here to play, I meant that I was going, and since her passing, I somehow felt like I owed it to her to go because bless her heart, she contemplated going literally every year only for me to talk her out of it. Due to drama with friends, I arrived late which I could see her rolling her eyes with disappointment because she taught me better. Got there and I soon realized why I had never wanted to go. A field with everyone and their mama drunk off of their butts. No seats to separate people, no security at every row to keep things in line, and no designated smoking areas or trash cans every where you looked. Just a field with a bunch of drunk rednecks. Awful. 

Beyond that, for me, it was more awful because that was the first concert I attended without her. Lonely had instantly reached a whole new level. I felt so lost, for the one person I wanted to be there with me, I realized would never be able to attend another one with me. I am so thankful that we did share that love for country music and country concerts because now that I have the first one under my belt, I hope that the concerts I choose to attend in the future will be the places in which I feel her presence with me the most and instead of feeling lonely, I will feel a beautiful, singing angel next to me.

Thank God for Jesus. Thank God for family. Thank God for memories. Thank God for country music. Thank God for concerts.