It's always exciting when Little Texas announces that they have posted new tour dates. That's the stuff that gets my heart pounding like, "Oh please, please, please, be close!". Most of the time, the shows are too far away to even consider traveling to. But several times a year, ok, last year it was 10 times... but who's counting... we are lucky enough to see a show date posted that we are able to just up and go to. This year, we got lucky.
A show was scheduled for St Marys, PA, and it was only six and a half hours away. Now I know what you are thinking, six and a half hours?? Well, considering last year, when we decided our first show was going to be in Lula, Mississippi, which was a nine hour drive, we thought we lucked out with the St Marys show. The absolute best thing about deciding to go to St Marys, was that I had an internet friend, a fellow Little Texas fan, who would be going to the same show and we had never met in person. I must say, that in my experiences, meeting up with other Little Texas fans has been a major joy and really, by spending time talking on the internet with them, it kind of feels like you are going to meet up with family. It's so cool to finally see someone and throw your arms around them and hear their actual voice.
So, this particular show, we had planned in advance. A lot of the shows are outdoors during festival season, free, and general admission which means we can just decide at the last minute to go. But with this one, tickets were ordered and the seats were assigned. Now this gives time for excitement to really build. Having the tickets in hand for weeks, staring me right in the face saying, "your show is coming up!", has a tendency to hype me up even more. The thing is, usually, I loathe assigned seats. I am not like this with other shows I go to but for Little Texas, I am a front row brat. I simply am not a happy camper unless i am in the front up at the stage in my "spot". Now this is a matter of major anxiety for me. I will plan, wonder, worry, and bust my butt at these shows if I have to, just to get up there. Because as a girl who has been to multiple shows, I know there is usually some point where Porter Howell announces, "Y'all can come right up here.", pointing at the front of the stage. You can bet that I do not have to be told twice. No matter where I am, my butt is hauling towards that stage. Well, for this show, our seats ended up being about midway in our section. The view was great and I went knowing that we wouldn't be right in the front. I figured, we would get there, enjoy the show, and just see the guys after and say "howdy". I wasn't stressing because I already had all that in my head. So because the seats were assigned, we didn't have to spend hours waiting and holding a good spot. This left the day free so we could go check out the town and see the sights.
Pre-show: We roll into town around 10am. The drive was good but it was rainy. Not enough to even be considered a hard rain, just a light constant rain. We didn't have a hotel room so our plan was to basically camp out in the Walmart parking lot after driving around seeing what we wanted to see. Now being a nature nut, the one thing that interested me about this area was that they had a huge herd of elk roaming around. From our past trip to Estes Park, Colorado, we knew that we just had to go see if we could see these guys.
We knew in what general direction to look so we set out hoping that we could actually find them. I must point out too that this area of Pennsylvania, well, it is just gorgeous. It's mountains, forest, small towns, just really pretty country. So when we got to the town where we had heard the elk liked to frequent, we were able to find them no problem. Instead of being in some elk viewing area, they were right in the town, in peoples backyards, laying and grazing away. We were able to see a large male with his harem of cows. They were simply majestic. It always shocks me when I see them at how big they are. They are HUGE compared to our local white tail deer.
Also before the show, we checked out this adorable historic chapel that is billed as smallest church in America...
Once our elk adventure was over, we decided to grab some grub at McDonalds so I could use the free internet. Then we thought we ought to go check out the school that was holding the concert so that we would know where to park, go in, and all that jazz. Upon rolling into the parking lot, we spied the Big Purple Bus and of course a shrill Squee escaped through my lips because that meant that the guys were there and possibly at that time of day, doing soundcheck. We found out where we needed to go, got a general idea of what doors we would be going in and decided to go to settle in the Walmart parking lot for a few hours. Once there, Donald, took a nap and i got in the back and played around with my make up and hair. The rain was not helping my hair situation but it all worked out. I changed clothes in the car and got myself together all while Donald napped and when it was a couple hours before show time, we went back to the school.
Show Time: AHHHHHHH!!! I was so excited! I always feel that way before the show but I hadn't been to a show since October so that made the excitement even more bubbly. We go in, sign a guest book and find our seats. This is a sold out show which makes it even better. Like I said, I knew we wasn't front row but I was relieved to find that we were near the aisle so that I could book it to the front if need be without having to move people out of my way or run right over top of them as my dear hubby would put it. So, we are just hanging out and my internet friend shows up and says Hi. She was so sweet. She made me a red rose out of duck tape and i must say, it is the cutest thing! The sweetest thing by far though was that she had two extra tickets and invited us to use them. They were front row!!! YAY!!! Oh the good times were about to be had! With little time to kill before the show actually started, we chatted with her and her family and got to know each other better. I also let them know that if we were allowed at the stage, I would be gone. I didn't want them to think i was abandoning them but that I have a spot I need to get to. Usually I am shy but LT shows make me show my brand of crazy. I warned them and they accepted it. We all got along fantastically and I am so lucky to call these people friends.
The opening act was called Six Pack. They were good. They got bonus points with me by singing "Rocky Top". As a girl that bleeds Tennessee Orange, "Rocky Top" is my anthem. GO VOLS!! I quite enjoyed them but in all honesty, I was really ready to see Little Texas. By the time the intermission was over, I was perched on the edge of my seat feeling really bouncy. My cameras were all ready and I was ready to go!
The guys finally came out and I jumped to my feet of course all the while screaming "WOOOOOOOO". I sat back down though cause no one else stayed standing and I didn't want to be rude and block anyone's view. The first three songs were done and then the invitation to come up to the stage was thrown out. I was the first one up and at the stage in my spot before anyone else had even got up out of their seated position. The guys (what I call the members of Little Texas) just laugh at me. They know I'm crazy. They know I love them. It's all good. I don't care what I look like to others. They were probably scared to come down to the front because of me, a crazy lady, jumping around screaming and just generally having myself a good ol time. People did actually come up front though. Donald stood behind me and my new friends all joined me in the front. I really think people at these shows really enjoy being let up right to the stage. I know I love it.
The show itself was great. The auditorium had awesome sound. Sometimes an outdoor show doesn't show off how good LT actually sounds. Little Texas is one of these rare groups that can actually harmonize and they do it beautifully. They did their normal set and threw in a couple new ones such as "Hot in Texas" (not sure about name?) and "You Can't Get In A Hurry Here", which is one of Donald's personal favorites.
The best and by far brightest highlight for me though was having Porter Howell, give me one of his new guitar picks. In my head, this moment was like those movie moments where time stands still. I actually got teary when he told me to look at it and it had his name on it. I blew him a kiss. I was seriously speechless and beside myself. I think my heart melted into a gooey little puddle. For those that don't know, I have had a puppy dog crush on Porter since i was 12 yrs old, I am 32 now and I still see him like I did when I was 12, out of those innocent childish brown eyes, just smitten. We actually have an inside joke between my friends and Donald about this. I am lucky to have a husband who gets it and has no issues because he knows me and knows it isn't about anything but innocent pure love. I guess most people would assume that it is me wanting and lusting over a famous singer but it's so not like that. It never will be. I love my life too much to let lustful sin enter into my heart. Anyways, this particular blog isn't to explain myself. I digress....
So, other highlights of the night include... group picture time. This is where the guys line up and let us all take pics of them. This particular show was great because, Duane, takes my camera and takes some pics of the crowd and he takes a picture of Porter for me. *sigh* Am I really that obvious in my crush? lol
Another highlight was "What Might Have Been". It is always a highlight for me at the shows because I LOVE hearing the crowd sing. My favorite part of the song though is the harmony at the end. Those guys and that last line just make me swoon!
The show was a good 'un for sure. It was energetic and everyone seemed to love it. I overheard several different people saying how great it was at the end. Now that is something that always makes me smile. I love hanging around observing what people thought of the show. It is very rare that I hear anything negative. Seems like all who take the time to come out to see LT, end up really enjoying them. That makes me happy!! I am one to sing LT praises off the rooftop and it does my heart good to hear others love them too. Since they reunited, I have this fear that they are just gonna be snatched away from me again and just quit. I would be heartbroken again just like all those years ago when upon reading that the band was dissolving, I crumpled up that particular magazine article in tears. Anyways, it was a show that was just beyond excellent but I could just be a little partcial.
After the show: We hung around for the meet and greet after. We got hugs and pictures and chatted a bit. I won't gossip here about personal conversations had with the guys. I am just not like that. BUT I will say that there are times, that the little 12 year old girl in my heart just blurts out the stupidest stuff!! This night was one of those times. I get in front of of Porter, get a hug, and totally spazz out. Wow. Can we say embarrassed?? I really don't know how I don't scare that poor guy. LOL The funniest part was Donald standing there just letting me say stuff that he KNOWS I would never ever ever want to really say out loud. Donald is standing there in shock with his mouth open just listening. He sooooo should have just pulled me away from the table!! Ah well, as of now, my next show isn't until July 4th so I'm sure he won't remember anything I said. LOL One can hope anyways.
Here is a link to see more of this shows pictures that were taken by me and my husband. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=95223&id=1073532052&l=9276e05ccc
Here is my youtube page which has a few more videos of this show:
No comments:
Post a Comment