The plan for Friday was to sleep in a bit because parking would no longer be an issue for us at LP Field. The night before we lucked into buying a parking pass from a couple that arranged to take a shuttle instead. Not only were we guaranteed a parking spot for the remaining days, but we actually saved some money!
We made into downtown Nashville and hoofed it over to Jack's Bar-B-Que for lunch. I couldn't resist eating at a place with flying pigs in the logo. In addition, it's well known for the best BBQ in Nashville. No complaints here, and we even ate there another day!
Riverfront Stage
We moseyed around the streets of the festival as we headed to the Riverfront Stage. After the previous day, we came prepared with a couple towels and a boat load of sunscreen, and found a nice patch of grass on the side tiers near the food vendors instead of the port-o-potties on the other side. As we waited for our "Main Event", we took in some good music by Dan + Shay, Collin Raye, and Chase Rice (you'll learn more about him tomorrow).
Our "Main Event"... wait, maybe it was MY "Main Event" started when Kristian Bush, AKA one half of Sugarland. If you don't know who Sugarland is, then you must not be a longtime blog follower of mine. You also might not know that I'm not a fan of standing in mob of people all bunched up near the front of the stage, but the CMA Fest took people like me into mind with their planning.
Each of the big stages had a fenced off walkway that ran directly in front of the stage. All you needed was a magical 4-day CMA Fest badge like Theresa and I sported around our necks. Part way through Kristian's set I headed down from our perch to watch the rest of the show from the front row. I thoroughly enjoyed his new music and sit here smiling just thinking about it.
Up next was Kellie Pickler. I can't say I'm terribly familiar with her songs, but after seeing her on many a talk show I could only imagine how much fun one of her shows would be. I love when artists are personable and acknowledge the fans. Kellie may as well been playing for a group of her closest friends.
There was one more act after Kellie finished, but at least 50% of the overflowing crowd decided to leave just like we did. Thank goodness there wasn't a fire we were trying to escape. We would have all perished or be swimming in the Cumberland River. I can't even imagine how much random perspiration got absorbed into my clothing as we inched our way towards one of 2 exits while sliding past our rowdy, drunken "friends". It was a bit of a nightmare we would not soon forget!
LP Field
We had a bit of time to kill after escaping the madness at the Riverfront Stage. In search of Miranda Lambert's store, we came across a Hooters. It's like Hooters was following us around... not good enough for one to be located right next to our hotel. As much as we joked about eating there for the first time ever, we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it. We did find Miranda's store, but there was a line out the door to get in and they had cut it off because the store closed at 5pm. Seriously?!?! [insert eyeroll]
With our bellies full of Mexican food and sufficiently hydrated, we criss-crossed back through downtown and across the river for the Big Show. First up was Travis Tritt. In an attempt to enjoy the concert without distraction we climbed our way to the top corner of the upper deck where the seats had been empty the night before. Possibly because we would come to know these seats as the bird poop seats.
People showed up to take the bird poop seats this night, so Theresa and I made the trek back to our ticketed seats. We were fortunate that our drunken friends were fans of most of the acts this night. But our Canadian friends went even more off the deep end. The girls became known in our section as "2 for $20". They tried to cut a deal with the beer vendor the night before.... oh my!
This is Eric Church. Once upon a time I was supposed to see him in Bloomington, IL. After that day I couldn't bring myself to make the effort to see his solo tour, but I was looking forward to his performance this night. To no surprise, just like Jason Aldean that played later this evening... neither one attempted to make a connection with the audience. I give him a shoulder shrug.
I regretted not buying tickets to The Band Perry when then played Bradley University a year or so ago. This was my moment to rock out with them. And holy smokes did they ever put on a show. I love when country artists play pop/rap songs and they did just that with a cover of Timber. The upper deck was literally shaking!!! It was so much fun!
Jason Aldean - yeah, I begrudgingly watched his set.
The night picked up again when Miranda Lambert hit the stage. Some people may say she didn't directly thank the fans either, but she showed her appreciation through interacting with us, performing her ass off, and surprising us with a Carrie Underwood duet.
I have no explanation as to why I don't have a photo of Blake Shelton. Possibly because over the last few years with his participation on The Voice he would reach into my living room on a weekly basis. I dont' know, I suppose I could take a pic of his Pizza Hut commercial and post that. As expected, Blake sounded good, but his set seemed too short.
With this being our first CMA Fest, Theresa and I learned a lesson at almost every turn. This evening we would learn that if one stays through the end of the last song of the night, then said person is guaranteed at least an hour stand-still in the parking lot. Props to Theresa for getting our car turned around, so we wouldn't become blinded by the SUV with it's brights shining into our windshield. This photo of some stir-crazy gals was taken at least 45 minutes in and you can see Theresa's hair glowing on the right, thanks to the bright headlights. The random phrase of the night coming out of a slap-happy Jane, "Is that a potato?"
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