98.5 KVOO 5 Man Jam - 4/28/15

You all know I love country music, small intimate venues, acoustic performances, seeing up-and-coming artists and doing it all for free.  So, naturally, I was dead set on going to 98.5 KVOO’s 5 Man Jam!  This was an acoustic performance by 5 artists all brought together by the radio station.  The best part -- it was free!  All you have to do is go get tickets from a specific business or win them on the radio.  This time it included Montgomery Gentry, The Swon Brothers, Brothers Osborne, Logan Mize and Ashley Monroe.

Since you could just go pick up tickets I decided to get a set and so did Renee.  I asked my friend Amanda to join us.  She said she hadn’t been to a concert in many years and was very excited to go.

When I go to these type concerts where it is general admission and I may not know all the songs, I prefer to be right up front.  The experience is heightened by the fact that you are so close and the artist can draw you in.  If you sit or stand in the back, it is still nice but you can get distracted and just don’t feel a part of the performance as much.  I know some prefer that, but not me.  I need to be right up front!

The catch to that need to be in front means you have to go and stand in line for several hours to get the spot you want.  I don’t mind at all!  Amanda and I arrived at River Spirit Casino around 4:00 even though the doors didn’t open until 6:00.  We were first in line!  We got to know the people around us over the next 2 hours.  This is where having buddies can pay off.  If you are friendly with the people by you, they help save your spot if you have to go to the bathroom and they don’t trample you when it’s time to go in.  We even joked that the 3 guys right behind me were going to be my offensive line if I needed it.  They were some big ole’ country boys!

We got inside and claimed our spots right up front and a little to the right.  Was hoping to be in front of The Swon Brothers and Montgomery Gentry and we did that perfectly.  Now we had to wait another hour for the show to start.  If you are keeping tabs, we stood for 3 hours waiting for a 2 hour show.  And it was worth every minute!

Johnny Dee from KVOO was the DJ playing the music inside.  I’m normally not a fan of DJs.  They cut songs off half way through and mix them with weird songs they don’t belong with and do too much crowd hyping.  Just shut up and play the music we can sing and dance to while we are waiting.  He didn’t do a lot of that.  Great job Johnny Dee!

The first artist to come out was Ashley Monroe.  She was adorable.  Although the first thing we thought was she needed to eat a cheeseburger or two!  Even Eddie Montgomery mentioned later in the show that she needed to eat something.  Hilarious!  She did have on these to-die-for thigh high boots that I really loved.  

The only thing that I knew about Ashley Monroe was her duet with Blake Shelton “Lonely Tonight”.  She had a really great country music voice that reminded me of some of the classic women of country.  She sang a song called “Weed Instead of Roses” that had lyrics in it like “let’s put up the teddy bears and get out the whips and chains” and “give me weed instead of roses and let’s see where it goes” which caused us to say multiple times…did she really just sing that?  I don’t think that one will get played on the radio.  But she did have a great voice and her song “Like a Rose” was beautiful.

They put Ashley as the host for the evening so she had to introduce the others as they came out for the first time.  I don’t know if it was just nerves, the fact that she was the only woman on the stage with a big group of dudes or that she wore a really short skirt and had to try to be lady like and not flash anyone while sitting on a bar stool, but she seemed very uncomfortable and not so happy to be there when it wasn’t her turn to sing. 

After Ashley sang her first song she introduced Logan Mize – another artist I was not familiar with.  He had a great voice, some fun songs and told great stories about them.  He even got the crowd to sing along to “Can’t Get Away from a Good Time”.  

During the times when the others were singing he seemed to be calming his nerves with a double Maker’s Mark on ice.  He even made mention early on that it was really good and would love whoever made it to make him another.  He looked like he was going to throw up at any moment.  We were even making a plan of how to dodge it if he did since we were directly in front of him.  LOL  But every time he got up to sing his whole demeanor changed and he seemed very comfortable.

Next to come out was Brothers Osborne.  I had heard “Rum” on the radio and liked it but I wasn’t too familiar with them either.  They are an interesting pair.  John Osborne looks like a mountain man with his full bushy beard and feather in his hat and TJ Osborne had a little more rough around the edges, bad boy look to him.  They sure seem the type of boys who know how to have a good time.

 

When they started their first song and TJ started singing, Renee turned to me and said “Where did that voice come from?”  I was instantly hooked.  I loved their songs, their voices and John’s guitar playing.  They had a little more blues sound to them and it made them unique.  I really think they will be big.  There is no one out there that sounds like them.  They definitely gained a fan in me that night and I’m pretty sure I will be dancing around to “Stay a Little Longer” all summer long.

Next up was our home state boys The Swon Brothers.  I was extremely excited to see them again.  I had been to a Girls Night Out given by another radio station where they played an acoustic set and we got to meet them.  They are just so fun!  I love the way they play off each other in who’s the better brother.  It really gives them personality.  

  

Colton Swon does a great job of playing up the crowd while Zach Swon just sits back and makes you fall in love with his voice.  They sang “Pretty Beautiful,” “Pray for You,” and my personal favorite “Later On.”  They sounded great and seemed to have a great time up there.  One day I would love to hear them do “Seven Bridges Road” in concert like they did on The Voice. They sure do make us Okies proud!

A little side note about The Swon Brothers’ guitar player, Seth Costner.  He was backing up the boys but let me tell you, he is very talented and deserves to be up front.  He played with them the last time I saw them and there was just something about him and his voice.  I downloaded his first EP and have not been able to stop listening since.  He is in the middle of recording a new EP and I will be the first one to buy it!  I’ve even got Amanda hooked on his music now.  Check him out on YouTube.  There are some great videos of him playing his music live.  This one’s my favorite:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTPO31-HVQo.

Now for the veterans of the bunch – Montgomery Gentry.  Renee and her husband Erik are HUGE Montgomery Gentry fans and have been front row for several of their performances including at Cain’s Ballroom.  I had never seen them but have always been a fan of their music.  It was actually Renee who convinced me to go get in line early to get up front.  She had said they were amazing to watch but I didn’t realize just how good they were!

 

It was extremely obvious that they have been around for a while.  They really knew how to hype up the crowd and Eddie Montgomery is quite the character.  I don’t know how he gets away with his dance moves but it just works.  And his boots were amazing! 

Troy Gentry sat down, played his guitar, sang and let Eddie work the crowd.  Eddie kept inviting everyone on the bus for an after party.  Now that would be a fun time for sure!  They played all the favorites and got the whole crowd singing “Hell Yeah” – my favorite of theirs.  At the end they came back out for an encore and invited all the other artists to play with them on “Gone”.  True entertainers and great singers for sure.  I ended up with their set list and gave it to our new friends from the line who screamed like a girl when I handed it to them. I made me happy to see them so excited to have it.

This really was a great show.  I think when someone plays an acoustic performance it doesn’t let them hide behind the smoke, lights and loud music.  They have to be genuine and real and if you can’t really sing it’s going to show.  All of these artists were true talent and I really love and appreciate that.  Thank you KVOO for putting together such a great group and please do it again.  I’ll be there, front row, dancing and singing right along.

Pentatonix - 3/28/15

If you don’t know who Pentatonix is, you need to look them up!  They are an amazing a cappella group made up of 5 members – Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstie Maldonado, Avi Kaplan and Kevin Olusola.  They won the show The Sing Off in 2011 and I have been a fan ever since.  They cover a lot of great pop songs but they are starting to venture out into some original songs for their next album.

Last year Renee and I made a last minute decision to go see them at Cain’s Ballroom and were just amazed at their talent.  So this year when they announced they were coming back and playing Brady Theater we were determined to go.  We bought our tickets on pre-sale and decided to take our boys – Cole and Owen.

Now, a little about the boys - my son, Cole (9 years old), knows who they are but only just because I play their music in the car sometimes.  Owen (age 6), on the other hand, is a HUGE fan.  He watches their videos obsessively and knows all the songs.  Renee even has a video of him beatboxing like Kevin.  So Renee decided to make this a surprise for Owen and we kept it a secret for months.

So Saturday comes and we go to dinner.  Owen still doesn't know what we are doing.  Then we got to Brady Theater and he is still clueless.  They were running a Twitter contest for signed posters, so we tweeted the boy’s seat numbers in hopes that we would win the posters.  About 5 minutes before the show some guys came up to us with posters and asked if they were Owen and Cole.  They held the posters out and Owen’s face was priceless!  He was so excited!  He actually held this face for at least a minute or so! 

They took the boy’s picture and actually tweeted it after the show.  We were so excited for them!  Everyone around us was clapping and so happy for the boys.  A few minutes later the show started.

I was a little worried as it started because everyone stayed seated.  Now, I prefer to stand at concerts because I want to dance around.  But it didn't take long before everyone was up out of their seats and dancing and singing along.

I am just in awe of what these guys can do with their voices.  You never miss the instruments.  As a matter of fact, if you didn't know, you would think there were instruments involved.  Avi Kaplan can make your chest vibrate with his bass and Kevin Olusola can beatbox like no one else!  He not only beatboxes but he also plays the cello….while beatboxing!  He did a couple songs off his EP The Renegade and it was beautiful.  The 3 lead singers are equally amazing and can sing anything!  Cole’s favorite was Mitch because he can hit the high notes.

 

I talked about connection with the audience in my last blog and how it was lacking with Maroon 5.  It was definitely not lacking with this group!  They talked to us several times, gave us a little history lesson of their rise to fame along with pictures on the big screen behind them, brought a lady up on stage for a serenade/lap dance (Cover your eyes kids!), and even broke us up into sections so we could sing with them on their song “On My Way Home.”

At one point they even walked through the audience.  As they passed a group of 4 teenage girls, one of them had a delayed reaction.  They passed by them and then we heard this crazy loud scream reminiscent of the way the girls used to scream for The Beatles.  It was so great!

I love how they view themselves as just a group of choir nerds who get to do what they love for a living.  I wasn't a choir nerd myself – I can’t carry a tune in a bucket – but I wish I had half of the talent they have.

So after the show was over Renee and I decided to hang out outside to see if we could get autographs and pictures with the group.  We had heard they were great with their fans.  Renee’s husband, Erik, took the boys home for us.  He had no idea Cole would get sick and throw up all over his car on the way home.  Thank you Erik for being such a great sport! 

We stood outside for about 45 minutes or so and one by one they came out.  We were a little worried we wouldn't get up to see them through the crowd but we all worked together.  I had a marker and one girl needed to use it.  So we traded.  When she was done she let us up to the front to get our pictures.  I like it when fans can bond and help each other out instead of fight.

They were all so kind and stayed so that everyone got autographs and pictures.  Kevin hugged Renee for what seemed like 5 minutes!  We let them know that our boys were the ones that got the posters.  They were all very genuine people and happy that we were there to see them.  No egos whatsoever!

We even got a chance to talk to Jake, their social media director.  He was a hoot!  He was the one who gave the boys their posters.  We talked to him about our love for contests.  He said he won a trip to see Carrie Underwood 2 different times – one was a meet and greet.  We definitely bonded!  He gets us!

Pentatonix played the Brady Theater this time but I have a feeling it won’t be long before they are playing the BOK Center.  These guys are uber talented and deserve every bit of success they are getting!  Go check them out!

Maroon 5 - 3/21/15

I am probably going to get some eye rolls, boos and complaints about this blog but here goes anyway.  First let me say that I really love Maroon 5’s music and I love watching Adam Levine on The Voice.  Renee found out Maroon 5 was going to be in Kansas City at the Sprint Center so we decided to have a couple’s weekend and go see the concert with our hubbies.

2 years ago, almost exactly to the day, we saw Maroon 5 at BOK Center in Tulsa - again with our hubbies.  Let’s just say that dinner was fantastic and so was the wine.  The wine was so fantastic that I really don’t remember most of the concert from that night.  I do remember that we had seats off to the side of the stage and there were giant screens behind the band that we missed a lot of because of where we sat.  So we needed a do over and the closest they were coming was KC.  Let’s go!

My kids weren't very happy with me that I was going to see Maroon 5 without them but it was nice to have an adult weekend away.  We went to dinner at a nice seafood restaurant just down the street from the Sprint Center called Bristol.  This time we took it easy on the wine.

The first opening act was Rozzi Crane.  We looked her up and apparently she is the first artist signed to Adam Levine’s label.  That girl had some pipes!  It seemed extremely effortless for her to hit the big notes.  However, her movements were quite odd.  I would say she was a little like Lourde at times but then she would break out in these little dances almost like Debbie Gibson.  She was just strange to watch.  She did a cover of Heart’s “Barracuda” and killed it!  I have mixed feelings about her.  But I will give her one thing – the girl can sing!

The next opener was the reggae band Magic!  They sing the song “Rude.”  I loved them.  They had so much energy and were fun to watch.  I am totally going to buy their album to listen to on days I just want to sit back and chill.  Renee loved their style – matching suits with no socks and loafers.  They did a cover of The Police’s “Message in a Bottle” and I was belting it out!  Side note: I absolutely love The Police and Sting is a bucket list concert for me!

On to Maroon 5.  OK, so here’s where I will get the eye rolls.  It was good.  Yes, I said just “good”.  The band played well and Adam sang well.  They played all the radio songs.  There wasn't a single song you didn't know, which always makes for a fun time.  But there just wasn't that extra something that makes you go “Man, that was great!” 

Before you boycott me, let me explain.  If you read my blog “What makes a great concert” you will know that, for me, the biggest thing that makes a great concert is connection of the band to the fans.  That was missing from Maroon 5.  I am very sad to say this because I am a big fan of theirs.   

This was more of just a performance rather than an experience.  I prefer to feel like I got something out of the concert that I wouldn't have gotten just watching them perform on TV.  I’m not saying they need to do a lot of talking, but as a fan, we want the artist to make us feel like they care you are there.  That comes in the form of waving to people, making eye contact with the people on the front row, talking to us, etc.  I will say that Adam paid attention to the people on the side and back seats several times, which was great, and he did acknowledge early on that it’s the fans that keep them able to do what they do.  But in general, there was a disconnect between the fans and the band.

The first 25 minutes of the show they never stopped in between songs.  They just blended them all together.  Now, you would think that’s a great thing.  Cram in all the songs you can.  We came to hear them sing, right?  Well, yes and no.  Here’s where I think the disconnect started.  We, as fans, were never given the chance to really cheer for them because they never stopped the music.   It’s honestly better, in my opinion, for the performer to be a little vain and stand there and let us cheer.  It makes us connect with them better.  When the next song starts immediately, that connection part is missing and it becomes just them up there singing.

There also weren't those big screens behind the band they had at the last tour.  They had the normal 2 side screens for the higher seats but nothing on the stage.  Instead they had a fancy light set up.  Sorry, I prefer screens.  I want to feel like I am up close and personal with the band no matter where I’m sitting.

  

We didn't have great seats but they were decent.  Lower level about 3/4 of the way back.  There was a runway that came out to make a V at the end and it looked like a big arrow.  The tip of the arrow was right in front of us.  When we got there, we saw the runway and were pretty excited.  Adam Levine should be coming down our way and we should feel close!  Well, not exactly.  Through the entire concert he would walk down the runway about 2/3 and then turn around and go back.  He didn't even come to the V part until the encore.  That was very disappointing.  Why make a runway that long if you aren't going to use it? 

And on the encore note, they played for exactly one hour and left.  They came back for the encore and did 4 songs.  I really feel like a band that big can play for longer than 1.5 hours.  It just seemed so short.

So, overall the concert was good.  Am I still a fan?  Absolutely!  Would I go see them again?  If I won tickets.  :-)

Brett Eldredge - 3/5/15

Brett Eldredge..…WOW!  He has it all going for him - the looks, the voice, the stage presence.  Man can he put on a show!

I had seen him do an Unplugged concert thanks to K95.5FM along with Josh Turner, Jerrod Neimann, Easton Corbin and Dustin Lynch back in December and really liked him the most out of the 5.  So when they announced his show at Cain’s Ballroom I set my sights on going….and meeting him.

I know that our country radio stations like to do meet and greets with the artists that play Cain’s.  That is how I met Parmalee in January.  So, naturally, I kept my eyes and ears out for contests.  Unfortunately when they did the first round of meet and greet contests I was still ineligible because of my Parmalee win.  I saw Sunny Leigh from 98.5 KVOO at a women’s expo and asked if she was going to do more meet and greets.  She said they would during the week of the show.  OK!  I’m on it!

A little wrench got thrown into my plan to see him.  Jenny McCarthy’s Dirty, Sexy, Funny show was coming to Tulsa at The Joint in the Hard Rock Casino the same night.  Oh man!  I wanted to see them both.  Well, I decided to try to win tickets for Jenny and if I did then I guess I was meant to go see her and I would skip Brett.  And guess what?  I won tickets for Jenny’s show from 103.3 The Eagle.  So, there’s my answer.  Right?  Well, not exactly. 

The week of the show came and I talked with my BFF Renee about trying to win for Brett.  We were still undecided.  I mean, we already had tickets for a show that night.  But I really wanted to see Brett’s show!  Ok, I’ll try to win.  The morning of the show I called in to KVOO and played “Showbiz Smack Down” with Sunny Leigh for the meet and greet tickets.  I’m pretty good at pop culture but I’ll admit that this time I beat her because her co-host, Rowdy, had tweeted out several stories that morning and 2 of them he asked about in the game.  Thanks Rowdy!

I was pretty excited!  I really like Jenny McCarthy and especially her husband Donnie Wahlberg from NKOTB but this time she got trumped by Brett Eldredge.  Unfortunately I couldn’t transfer my tickets so I didn’t even get to give them away for someone else to go.

Later that night Renee and I headed to Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ next door to Cain’s Ballroom for the Pre-Voo party where they had a local singer Jesse Joice and his band play for us while we had dinner and waited for Brett.  I found out he is from my hometown of Bixby, OK.  Go Spartans!  They did a great job.

Brett came out and Rowdy and Sunny interviewed him a little bit.  Then we all lined up for our pictures.  We said hi and he said he liked my hair color.  I’m officially never changing it!  LOL  We got our picture and got in line to get to the stage as soon as they opened the door.  Cain’s is standing room only so you fight for your spot and we were determined to get front row!

We got our spot in the front row!  However, I was standing right in front of a speaker.  I think my ears are still ringing.  But it was totally worth it!  We made friends with those around us so we could help each other throughout the night if need be.  Gotta have allies to help hold your spot if you need to go get a drink or use the restroom!  Renee became the official beer runner for our little group which made it nice.  We only had to hold one spot while she was gone.

Ryan Kinder opened the show.  He killed it!  He sounded a little like Matchbox 20 to me.  He was really good on the guitar.  Where we were standing it was hard to hear the words over the instruments.  That same thing happened with the opening act the last time we were at Cain’s too.  His piano player was in front of us.  He was really animated and a lot of fun to watch.

The place was sold out so when Brett came on stage the crowd erupted!  I have been to a few concerts at Cain’s and this was by far the loudest crowd I have heard there.  He came out and owned that stage from the very first song. 

He did all his radio songs including my favorite “Beat of the Music”.  At one point early in the show he dropped a panel in front of the piano to reveal bottles of whiskey then poured himself a drink and sang a little bit of  “Fly Me to the Moon” as he raised his glass to toast the audience.  During “Mean to Me” he found a girl in the front row to sing to and even brought 2 little boys on stage and gave them guitars to play while he sang a song.  It was adorable.

He covered Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” and John Mayer’s “Gravity”.  His encore was a long medley of songs including Brooks and Dunn’s “Red Dirt Road”, Garth Brooks’ “Callin’ Baton Rouge”, The Police’s “Roxanne” and John Mayer’s “Your Body is a Wonderland”.  He has a lot of range and could really sing any genre of music.

After he finished his last song his band continued to play and he came up to the crowd and started signing all kinds of things - shirts, hats, boots, tickets – you put it up there and he was going to sign it.  He was also grabbing phones and getting selfies.  He seems to be a pro at that.  Case in point…the selfie he took with my phone.  I also was able to get my ticket signed.  Being in the front row definitely had its disadvantages at this point.  We were getting pushed up against the stage quite hard.  At one point we just had to stick our booties out and push back so we  cut in half by the stage.

All in all, I’m really glad we made the decision to go see him in concert!  We had the best time!  Sorry, Jenny.  I think he is going to be really big and I plan to see him every time he comes back to Tulsa!