A Hella Sweet Weekend

Friday
Katie W. picked me up at the office a little after 1:00 and we hit the road. I-20 though Florence to Hwy 76/502 down to Hwy 22 on into N. Myrtle Beach and the House of Blues! We got there just before 4:00 and people were already in line for the Keith Urban (KU) concert - door were set to open at 7:30! We slipped into the restuarant and had a bite to eat (planning for pass the line - because if you eat at the HOB the day of a show you can pass the general admission line). We shared all 4 things we ordered - Pan seared herb cornbread, a shrimp po-boy with sweet potato fries, a chicken ceasar pizza (yum!), and white chocolate bread pudding.

As we listed to people in the restaurant we figured that if we wanted to have a chance of getting a decent spot in the concert hall we should go ahead and get in line. Even the "pass the line" line was getting lengthly - so we stood n the hot sun for about 2 hours before being herded into the hall just like a bunch of cows.

The air conditioning was a wonderful thing!! Katie and I got one of the very last sweet spots in the hall. It was excellent! We were up on an elevated level of the floor and had a direct line of sight over everyone's head. I would say we were about 20 feet from the stage. There was maybe 1 guy to every 7 girls and Katie proposed a challenge, "Be the first one to locate an African-American that does not work here." Before the opening band went on I opened a tab at the bar - it was only about 10 feet from where we were standing - oh yeah -- easy access!

Little Big Town (LBT) was the opening band. Three acoustic guitars and 4 singers. Two males, two females. They were pretty good. Tight harmony. They played for maybe 30 minutes. By the end of their set- no one had won the challenge.

The break between LBT and KU was quite short - probably only 15 minutes. During that break I headed to get another drink - BAD IDEA. It took me 10 of those 15 minutes. People were very rude too.

Keith Urban took the stage and the decible level sky-rocketed! Screaming girls are VERY loud! But it is understandable - the sexy singing Aussie with Prince Charming hair was gracing us with his presence. They opened with "Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me" <sound clip> and proceded to play through dozens of songs including a tribute to Johnny Cash and a cover of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin." The main set closed with "Somebody Like You," <sound clip> and the encore was an accoustic - "You're Not Alone Tonight." <sound clip> He told stories - let us know a new album was in the works - and shook his hair like no other! It was an amazing concert! Katie and I drove to the 'rents house to stay the night... Neither of us won the challenge. ***TO GET THE SOUND CLIPS - RIGHT CLICK THE WORDS AND CHOOSE SAVE TARGET AS***

A hair slinging pic!

An overall damn good pic.

Saturday...
Katie and I both slept until a little after 10:30 and after watching some TV with mom, we joined Mom and Dad for lunch at Cain's BBQ. Not great - not bad. After lunch Katie headed back to Cola and Mom, Dad & I sacked out in the living room while the Gamecocks lost a baseball game on TV. We watched "Kill Bill" that evening.

Sunday...
Rise and Shine - 7:15am - Big Pee Dee River bound. Mom, Dad, and I went fishing and had a spectacular day I must say! We caught some of the smallest we have ever seen (the size of my thumb) and the largest we have seen in a good while (pushing 2.5 lbs). It wasn't only one big one either - each of us ended up with one. If we would have started keeing them at the beginning of the day we would have ended up with at least 12 keepers - easy! We got back to the house around 2:30 - Justin was there. A big ole' beef brisket was started befor ewe headed out that morning and after throwing together some sides - we chowed down. Quite tasty!! :)

After a quick nap while the Nextel Cup drivers sped around the Michigan International Speedway - Justin and I headed for N. Myrtle Beach. The House of Blues was my desination again. The Get Up Kids, Thrice, and Dashboard Confessional were on the Sunday night menu, and Justin and I were probably the oldest people there that were not chaperones. Nevertheless, it was a good show and I MUCH enjoyed Dashboard. Justin trained me well - I knew all but about 3 of the songs. It was a good time, and fortunately - my bar tab got a little higher because of our excellent placement near the back bar. Our view wasn't as good as what I had at KU, but by the end of the night I was sitting on a bar stool - and when 2,000 people are in a place that has 200 bar stools, that is a good thing. The closing song was "Hands Down." <sound clip> and it was quie spectacular!

The show was over a little after 11 and Justin & I decided to make the long trek back all the way to Columbia. It was not fun. I got in the bed shortly after 2am.

Today & Looking Forward...
Somehow we made it in the office just after 9 this morning and although I have not been very productive - at least I have been around and I did get a few things taken care of. Weather is going way south right now - much raing and ugliness outside - poor Gohan. I know he hates being in the rain. Justin and I very majorly need to go home and clean the house - it is a mess. Then I am going to turn in early.

Edwin McCain's new album - Scream & Whisper - comes out tomorrow. I am SO there!

Have a great one!
Byee!
Gobble Gobble!