A Coral Sky Night In Nashville

by Kathy from Wisconsin

It was a coral sky night in Nashville with a crescent moon, and lots of stars there, but none quite as bright as the two at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in downtown Nashville, the city of dreamers.

Martina opened the show with an awesome set including favorites, new songs, and even a few you never get to hear unless you see her live. When she mentioned that she was from Kansas, and that one of the biggest things that Kansas is known for is the movie Wizard of Oz, you just KNEW that you were in for a wonderful rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". She can belt out a song with so much emotion, she takes you to another place in time... I can remember summer nights when that movie would come on only once a year, and you'd anxiously wait to hear Judy Garland say "there's no place like home". She did an absolutely stellar job on that song, and got a standing ovation for it. This was our first time actually seeing her live in concert. We saw her Christmas show about 6 months ago in Milwaukee, but she did all Christmas music there so it was different from her regular show.

She did a great job, and the pairing of her and Alan was a brilliant move for both of them.  

There is a short break between her show and Alan's and even if you've been to as many shows as we have over the past 11 years, you still get that feeling of anticipation waiting for ALAN to take the stage!  He's still got it!   He has kept a special flame burning for almost 15 years now, pretty amazing with today's disposable artist mentality on music row. I'm glad to have been a small part of the Alan Jackson story, as a fan and a believer in his talent!  He's incredible!!

As others have talked about in reviews, the show opens with small clips on the side screens of various awards shows... "and the award goes to".... it is a good build up to the excitement of the curtain rising and seeing ALAN there!!! "Imagine life without 'em, all your radio hero's, Lord I wonder, who's gonna fill their shoes".... Alan is certainly one, without a doubt, who WILL fill those shoes.

Alan was spectacular in Nashville Saturday night!! He opened with "Gone Country" and talked a bit more between songs than we've seen in the past, which was nice!  Alan's got such a sweet, funny personality, it's wonderful when he shows that side of himself.  It started out as a normal show, but part way through it, he decided to throw in a new song, one called "Too Much Of A Good Thing Is A Good Thing"... GREAT song!! He's puts such a plain-spoken truthfulness in his lyrics, that he is just able to totally connect with an audience, something that some artists have trouble with. He can make you feel like you've just slipped on your favorite pair of slippers when you first see him come out on stage, you know you're going to get a brilliant set of favorite songs, plus whatever he feels like throwing in to the set that night. It's the element of surprise blended with the comfort of hearing the standards that makes going to see Alan so much fun!

He blended the slow, heartfelt slower songs, with the fun up-tempo ones in a way that keeps the show moving at a terrific pace, not too fast (well, ok, TOO FAST for MOST of US! LOL!!) But you know what I mean, it's a great song list. How in the world do you do a 90 minute show (or a bit longer as this show was) , and include all the favorites that fans would be disappointed if they weren't included? It has to be a tough job!  

THEN, you get the surprise ... I can remember a few years ago seeing Alan in Las Vegas, and right in the middle of "I'll Go On Loving You"... he changed the words to Spanish, I thought that was the coolest "moment" I had ever seen at one of Alan's concerts... UNTIL Saturday night in Nashville. I thought he might not ever top the show we saw that time in Vegas, but he did it this weekend!

He went into "Summertime Blues," a fun, up-tempo song with pickups and mud fights, the audience was INTO it, then he stops in the middle of the song "I'm gonna try something now... I have three daughters, and they have me listenin' to different... thangs"... (Boy can I EVER relate to that statement! I have two teenage boys myself! LOL) And Alan showed that his experience as a parent is so similar to the rest of us... with children who think it's so totally NOT COOL to like the same things that MOM AND DAD like. I was exactly the same way about country music as a young girl and teenager!  It was my GRANDMA'S music for goodness sakes, how un-cool is it to like that stuff? LOL!! And the rest is history, I have been a country music fan for nearly 15 years... but no one has ever been able to have the effect on me that Alan has. And for that, I am thankful every day!

He told us that his daughter's had DARED him, said he could NOT do it, I got the feeling that you don't DO that to Alan (Tell him he CAN'T do something! LOL!!!) So, he went into "yeah, yeah, hey, hey, shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it".... the audience was roaring, they were laughing and absolutely LOVING his rendition of the OUTKAST song, I really did NOT know it WAS "OUTKAST" until I read today's article in the Tennesseean newspaper.  Shows you how Un-Cool I am! LOL!! And the audience was laughing along WITH him, and totally loving what he was doing on stage!! I guess he showed his girls that he can, indeed, "shake it shake it".... it was a very fun "moment"...  (On a side note, does anyone know if this is the SAME song that has the line "shake it like a salt shaker?" or is that a different one?? I hear that one sometimes at work with all the kids we have working there! LOL!!)

It was too much fun!  A little bit later, Alan stopped everything again, and said "I'm going to get some help on this song".... "I think she's on her way out here to help, you have to look to see her, she's kinda little" ... something like that! It was cute!  He introduced Martina... and they went into the song from Alan's "Who I Am" album called "Let's Get Back To Me And You." I had NEVER heard him do this song live, in all the years we have been going to his shows... and they did a wonderful job together on it!  Especially Martina, since she had never sung this song until that DAY... she was terrific!! The cutest thing was when ALAN first heard her belting out her part, he kind of backed away from her and gave her this LOOK, like she was gonna blow him off the stage!! LOL!! She is a "singer's singer".... she totally gives 110 percent on every song she does, and is just amazing to watch!  The expression on his face was priceless! LOL!! He kidded her a little about being "Little Bitty" ("It's alright to be little bitty!") Then, being a thoughtful gentleman, asked her "it's ok if I say that, isn't it?" like he did not mean to hurt her feelings in any way... he sat down on a stool next to her to finish out the song, and they were FINALLY almost the same height!   They really did sound great together, and it was so much FUN to see them do a duet like that! I had gotten these Nashville tickets a few months ago thinking that **maybe** since it WAS their last show together, ending their 30 city tour, and that since it was at "home"... (Alan joked that he liked playing "where he gets his mail, that's always fun!") ... I had this "feeling" that this show would somehow be special, and it was, from start to finish. One of the BEST shows we have ever been to, and a wonderful memory that we will carry in our hearts always.

Thank you Alan, and Martina, for a night to remember!  The audience REALLY responded to all of the songs, but one of the biggest responses was to "Where I Come From"... when they showed Nashville city scenes, and for those of you who doubt it, Elvis is INDEED still ... with us! LOL!! Just go walk along Broadway, and you'll see him there!   They even showed Elvis on the screens during the song! Funny stuff! In all the years we have been going to Nashville, that town feels like a "second home" now, it's weird how I knew every single place that was featured during "Where I Come From"... as if the town was "local" for me. I think a little part of me stays behind every time we leave that town.

Alan told us when he introduced the band members and said where each one was from, that he had been in Nashville so long that it was home now, his children were all born there, and it had become home for him as well.

Another funny moment was when he was strolling across the stage during the encore of Mercury Blues and signing things for people, he got SO tickled when someone handed him a picture of his KNEE!!! It was so funny! He held it up so we could see what he was laughing at... he was a little bit surprised to see his ripped jeans with a knee poking through... you could almost see the wheels turning in his head "why in the world would anyone take a picture of my KNEE?" LOL!! That was the entire 8 x 10 picture, his ripped jeans and a knee...  It was such a fun night, you get that melancholy feeling when it's over, you all know what I mean... kind of like when George Strait goes into "The Cowboy Walks Away".... You know you'll probably get to see him again, just not sure WHEN, and you feel like you WANT to go again.. that's the magic of ALAN JACKSON, he always leaves you wanting more, the mark of a truly GREAT Entertainer!  

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Kathy

"Life is a song, God's love is the music"...
    Thank you, Alan for sharing the music