Damn Strait I Saw George Last Night!

A couple of years ago, Ryan told me that he had always wanted to see George Strait perform live. Well, fast-forward to this past fall and it was announced that George Strait would be coming to Edmonton and Calgary this year so I decided to try to get tickets for Ryan for Christmas. On the designated Saturday when the tickets were going on sale, I sat at ticketmaster.ca until 10 am arrived, then immediately requested two tickets to the first Edmonton show, and lo and behold (unlike my luck with Oilers tix) I got two seats, on the floor, row 1. I had to read that a couple times because I thought there's no way ~ row 1 on the floor? Sure enough, those are the tix I managed to score. It took everything in my power not to phone Ryan right away and tell him of my good luck. And, yes, Christmas morning he was surprised that he was going to be going to see George in June.

Last night was concert night, and it started at 7:30 at Rexall Place in Edmonton, home of the Oilers. The first act was Miranda Lambertson, a new-comer to the country music scene who's had one hit so far, "Kerosene", which I don't particularly like, and she was okay. Then the second act was Tracy Lawrence, and I only knew about two of his songs, unlike most people there, but he was good. I told Ryan I was too young to know his songs and he laughed. In any event, how can you unfairly judge a country music artist who comes on stage wearing an Oilers jersey? Then came George, and he sang for over an hour and a half straight and came out for an encore. He put on a really good show and I'm glad we went. I did feel a little guilty, though, because for me it wasn't a big deal to go, but I'm sure for a lot of people, it was a life-long dream and it would have been like me watching the Edmonton Oilers win the Stanley Cup in person ~ oh, wait, that may just happen in the next few weeks!

There were lessons learned last night, however:

1. people don't just like George Strait ~ they LOVE George Strait

2. even though the tix said no cameras, I think I was the only person there without one, and because I was in row 1 with an unobstructed view of George, I could have taken really great pictures, but oh well

3. taking your cowboy hat off and holding it up with the head opening part facing the artist is a sign of utmost respect and appreciation

4. having floor tix and two-stepping along the boards IS optional

5. it is acceptable to chant "LET'S GO OILERS" during breaks between artists at a George Strait concert in Edmonton

6. I have no problem telling some girl TWICE to move because she decides to stand in front of us when I have row 1 tickets while the security guard sits 4 feet away looking at his shoes (and, yes, she moved)