Jason Aldean OKC concert 10/28/10

My friend Teresa and I had long ago discussed that Jason Aldean was THE concert we wanted to see! I have a penchant for winning autographed items from my favorite country music artists and Teresa's statement was "I don't care if it's a old sweaty pair of socks if it was Jason Aldean's I get it", that is the level of fan she is! Me, lets put it this way, I have every album of Jason's and even with limited storage on my iPod NONE of his songs are excluded (all are keepers).

Our tickets to Jason’s OKC concert were purchased at the earliest possible date when the fan club opened them up for sale, we didn’t want to miss the chance to see him so close to home. I came across better seats a couple days later so we bought those and sold the original seats easily. We were pumped then, 7 weeks prior to the show and the count down began!

Three weeks before the show I was invited to be a guest of Country Financial to a Jason Aldean VIP Backstage Experience. Almost speechless, I must have read the email 3 or 4 times for it to sink in. Confirming with Teresa that this was OK and would fit in with her schedule produced a screaming yes and I bet I repeated the info 2 or 3 times.

We were still counting down the days to the concert with our other friends who were also attending; the excitement was building at an astronomical rate! Our excitement even more so knowing we would get to meet Jason. My Facebook status was reading just "GIDDY"! I was kidding online that we may need a paper bag for Teresa to breathe into to keep from hyperventilating when she met Jason Aldean. Jay from @tripsandpicks suggested writing her message to Jason on the end of the bag, fortunately it didn't come to that!

By the time Concert Day came around we were all gussied up and ready to go. We arrived early, picked up our VIP packet with tickets, VIP badges and drink tickets and met up with a fellow Twitterer Lori and her daughter Casey and we took each other’s pictures in front of the big blow-up Trips & Picks display.

About 15 minutes before the doors opened for the public they ushered the VIP group in and led us to a meeting room near backstage that was set up with a small stage, Jason Aldean banners. There were tables of hot hors d’oeuvres, water and cola, as well as a wine and beer bar (your drink tickets come in quite handy here). Everyone was so welcoming and the low-lit room gave a very homey feel, my human was very comfortable and freely visited with others in the room some of whom were employees of Country Financial. There was a traveling Trips and Picks banner many fans before us had signed so we added our names and wishes to it for Jason.

My friend Teresa was so nervous about meeting Jason she wouldn’t eat beforehand, of course meeting him with food in her teeth may have effected her decision. When we met Jason he asked our names and thanked us for coming and a Trips and Picks photographer took a picture of us, which we were able to download when we got home. I gave Jason a little packet of items from my hometown and state (pins and magnets, some artists collect the pins), figured he was gifting us so why not gift him.

When Jason finished taking pictures with all of us he sang Big Green Tractor from the little stage and then answered several questions from the audience. It was such a natural and relaxed atmosphere and Jason displayed a fun and playful sense of humor. Questions were asked about the songs on his iPod, his early influences, his hat, when he started playing guitar and if they could have his guitar pick (yes they could, unless you are the second person who asks). One of my favorite answers he gave was to a question of what his favorite song is, he said “songs are like your kids, you love them all for different reasons”. While I wanted to asked a question, and had one partially composed in my head, the fear of completely loosing it into a Freudian Slip nosedive kept me silent! After answering questions from the group Jason left to get ready for the show and we were allowed to remain in the room to finish eating (or begin eating in Teresa’s case) and drinking (using my second drink ticket in my case).

The VIP Backstage Experience was very well planned and organized and everyone was so at ease it was the perfect beginning to what was to prove to be a perfect night!

Time to go find our seats. The tickets we had purchased were even better than imagined... a little higher than the stage but just a stone's throw from the end of it. And a big plus here, only 3 people would ever have to climb over us, priceless!

The first opening act was Thompson Square and while not completely familiar with them they did a great job pumping the crowd up especially with their current single Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not.

Luke Bryan came out next and he continued to raise the temperature of the crowd by singing all of my favorites including his current single Someone Else Calling You Baby, shaking his booty and switching his hat around dependent upon the tempo of the song. The stuccatic beat of Drinkin' Beer and Wastin' Bullets was catchy and still beats in my memory! It's obvious that stage time is play time for Luke and his band.

Then it was time for Jason Aldean...

 
The set was completely enclosed in with light colored curtains, when the music started Jason was in silhouette at the top of the stage then the curtains dropped and Crazy Town cranked us all up! Johnny Cash, I love the little growl in his voice on this one, and Hicktown kept us rocking and Laughed Until We Cried and Why slowed us down only slightly. Is there even such a thing as a Jason Aldean slow song?

Anybody notice the hat Jason is wearing, not the same trademark straw hat is it? This is his first performance in one of the new hats. There will be a line of Jason Aldean hats by Resistol and this is one of the three styles he recently received. Thank you Lori for being observant in the meet & greet and asking Jason about it.

Jason also gave us a little more than a glimpse of the new album, due out next week, by singing his current single My Kinda Party as well as Tattoo on This Town and Dirt Road Anthem (a Colt Ford rap song that Jason changes up a little). He and band seemed to feed off of each others energy and they all really worked the stage area; they are one hard rockin' country band. I like it that way!

I loved what he had to say about Asphalt Cowboy being a favorite of his and wishing he could have singled it because his own grandfather had been a truck driver.


With the title song off of his third album Jason got us all to thinking with Wide Open, while this song was never realeased as a single it is a favorite of mine for it's outlook on life. Of course he sang about all of us country girls with She's Country and all the country boys in Amarillo Sky. He settled down a couple more times with Relentless and The Truth. All too soon he made his exit.

But we were able to call him back for a couple more songs including his #1 Big Green Tractor. After a running jump from the stage to the runway he laid down on the runway with his camera in hand and took his picture with the pit crowd.

Jason's ending maneuver was, in true first baseman fashion, to catch a full can of beer thrown from across the stage, pop the top (foam spewing), knock it back and exit the stage. Drink up Jason you deserve it, what an awesome show we are ready for our next one!!

Us, our throats are sore from singing every word (at the top of our lungs) along with Jason and Luke, our ears are a little stuffy from being rocked out by the speakers but we are just vibrant with post concert bliss!!


Now, come on Tuesday, November 2nd so we can go get Jason Aldean's new album My Kinda Party!!