Womack Haggard And Strait

We had tickets to the George Strait concert at the beginning of April.  I bought the tickets last fall.  I got in on a pre-sale and was able to purchase our tickets the day before they actually went on sale to the public.  Yay!  I have no idea how I got on this presale list, but thank goodness, otherwise we would have most likely been in the angry crowd of George Strait fans who were left in the dust at 10:02am the day they officially went on sale at 10:00am and sold out two minutes later.

Our seats were not anything to brag about by any means...and that was okay with both of us.  We just wanted to get in on George's Cowboy Rides Away Tour and hear the King of Country live.   So, there we were on the very back row of section 221.  This translates to the very back row of the whole Arena.  Of course, it was a sold out concert so there were lots of people on the very back row of the whole Arena....  (Look at us...all smiles.  Eric said the back row was best because he could stand the whole time if he wanted and no one would yell at him to sit down.  I said we could make out and not bother anyone behind us too, but we didn't.  But, we could have.  But, we didn't.  But, we should have.  But, we didn't.)

Opening for the evening was Lee Ann Womack.  She sang for about half an hour.  She was good, but we were mostly excited about the guys who were up next.  Her most popular song that she sung that evening was "I Hope You Dance."

Next up was Country Legend, Merle Haggard.  I cannot tell a lie... I was SO excited to see and hear Merle Haggard live!  Alas, he was diagnosed with Pneumonia a day or so before the concert and didn't have much of a singing voice.  He even joked that he had two notes that night... a low whisper and a squeak with some volume.  Poor Merle.

He tried to sing some of his greatest songs though.  "Mama Tried" and "Okie From Muskogee" were two of them.  He then fiddled a couple songs before leaving the stage with a standing ovation from his audience.

And, finally the King of Country, George Strait appeared.  Cheers, clapping, and screaming erupted all over the Arena.  King George played for for about two and a half hours!  He sang a lot of his hits and a few new songs.  Three of my most favorite songs of his that he sung that night were "Marina Del Ray",  "Amarillo By Morning", and "Run".

George's last song before leaving the stage was his song that he ALWAYS sings last... After he leaves the stage and everyone cheers him back on... "This Is Where The Cowboy Rides Away".  What an amazing ride Mr. Strait!  You are for sure, hands down, riding away with the title... The KING of COUNTRY music!