A word on Rascal Flatts- YES I love them. No, I'm not a TOTAL country girl. Yes, I like country music (I AM from the midwest). But what really turned me onto Rascal Flatts? I went to a concert of theirs in 2001, about 2 years after their band signed a contract with a music company. I was in LA at the time and had just recently heard of Rascal Flatts even though I don't believe they were popular yet in the country music scene. We heard that Rascal Flatts was going to be in town and if I remember correctly, the tickets were reasonably priced so we went to their concert at a little dive bar in Irvine, California. I'm not even kidding you, there were maybe 100 people there. We were about 10 feet from the stage and it was so personal and intimate and they were SO FREAKING TALENTED. I've loved them ever since. And so has the rest of the country who listens to country music as evidenced by their massive popularity, multiple awards, top hits, etc.
When I heard they were coming to Tacoma, I thought it would be awesome to go see them again. I bought 4 tickets- 2 for Tim and I and 2 for our friends who also like Rascal. Turns out those friends couldn't go but a couple of girlfriends came instead. It was an AWESOME concert. Darius Rucker (of Hootie and the Blowfish) who has turned country (weird, I know- but he's actually quite good) opened for Rascal. He also did some Hootie songs-transported me right back to junior high. Rascal was awesome too... it was just so weird. There stage was HUGE, they had all the bells and whistles and there were probably 10,000-15,000 fans in attendance. I wouldn't say I was disappointed because I still love their music and still think they are insanely talented but it was just a completely different experience than the first intimate/personal concert I went to of theirs. I guess that's what happens when musicians' popularity explodes. I'm still glad we went.
And BOY... wow, the compilation of people in the audience was HILARIOUS. It was a combination of people like us, teeny-boppers (yep, I felt ANCIENT around them...) and Washington rednecks that came out of the woodwork. We had quite the time people watching. The best part was at the end when some Washington hicks were hammered, ran into us as we were walking, but continued to vent all about their spouses affairs....all in some Washington twang accent (did not know that existed here). If I didn't know better, I would have thought we were right in the middle of po-dunk Miss-our-ah.
The only bad thing about the concert was that it was down in Tacoma- about an hour drive each way from Seattle. So, we didn't get to bed until around 1:30am. It's making for quite the long friday... but a good ending to a long week. Below are pictures- they were all taken with my iphone so not the best quality but I forgot my camera (shocker, I know).
Picture of the set as we were waiting before the show.
Tim looking like we both felt before the show started- um, sleep, PLEASE?
After Darius' set, waiting for Rascal. Pardon the hair. No effort put into it (should have seen how decked out the teeny-boppers were though... you would have thought that they were going to be in a fashion show the way they looked....I think I cared that much when I was their age so I'm not criticizing, I just think it's funny).
The girls- me, Megan (who is moving to Germany next week to be with her fiance- happy for her but BOO still...going to miss her), and Leah.
Not a great picture but evidence of all the lights/bells and whistles once Rascal was on the stage. We actually had really great seats.
And another picture during Rascals' set. One thing I do love about Rascal is all of their volunteer work- they are known for their work with the make a wish foundation (who I also volunteer for, which is how I know about how much they do for the foundation). They have granted wishes before for kids in the Seattle/Northwest chapter and they granted a wish at this concert too- during one of their songs, they pulled up the wish kid (I would say she was about 10 years old) and had her onstage during the song and let her sing with them. It literally brought tears to my eyes. All in all, it was a great night...great music, great friends...makes the lack of sleep worth it.
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