LOVE, PAIN, AND THE WHOLE CRAZY THING!!!!!

OK. So I let it happen. I let my CRAZY sis in law Mary talk me into trekking over to Atlanta to see Keith Urban in concert. For those of you who know my wacky sis in law personally, you know that Keith Urban is a package deal when your are friends with her! It doesn't matter if you only know her at church, play in the bunco group, or whatever...eventually you hear KEITH talk! She's been a fan for a long time, and she's nuts for him.
So anyway, back to the story. A few months ago, she found out he was coming to the Phillips Arena in ATL, and sent out a bulletin here on MySpace asking if anyone was interested. I remember showing a slight amount of interest, and POOF! All of a sudden, I was an honorary Keith NUT! She had us tickets, emailed me the seating info and even had a 360 degree camera angle at the Arena! I was a little excited, because the seats were great, and we were bordering front row with the placement of the stage setup! Granted...I don't know a lot of his songs. I certainly have heard them. I just don't listen to the radio a bunch, and therefore I barely know his lyrics.
Well, before I even GOT to the concert last night, I had been given the 411 on all things Keith! Everything from what kind of water he drinks (only drinks Figi), to the fact that he carries a trailer behind his bus that holds his motorcycle ( a Harley that he rides while out on tour). After we parked, we happened upon his tour bus, and stalked them waiting for a glimpse of his golden locks in the 90 degree Atlanta heat. Finally after giving up on that chance, we went to find nourishment to continue the Keith Hunt! We walked about 10 blocks to get to the Hard Rock Cafe and sat down for about an hour to cool off, and rest. (For the record, if you're planning to visit Hard Rock anytime soon...get the "Joe Perry's 'ROCK YOUR WORLD' Quesadilla...they're DIVINE!) I always love my visits to the Hard Rock and this was no different.
After a very good lunch, we walked around ATL and visited Centennial Olympic Park. At first glance, it was huge and majorly crowded, but we went in anyway, and it was really pretty. The Olympic fountain was still there, and it was a perfect day for it to be up and running. There were tons of kids jumping in it everywhere, and it made me wish my kids were with me because they would have had a blast. We then walked back to the Phillips Arena area and stopped in at the CNN building. I had no idea what we were walking into when we got there, but I just wanted to get out of the heat and have some air conditioned relief. We walked in and realized that it was also one big Food Court Mall! Haha! We could've saved ourselves the long walk to Hard Rock and just eaten there, but OH WELL! We walked around in the shops and wasted time, and then Mary had to take one last stalk of the tour bus! We went and watched the top of the bus for another 20 minutes or so to no avail. We did however see a drum line of a local High School band rehearsing to what we later saw on stage was a performance with KEITH! Kinda neat!
Back to the CNN building, we waited in the air conditioned comfort for the Arena to open....and finally THE CONCERT BEGAN. Mary did a great job getting us seats. We were right on the side of the stage, but we were so close to everything, we saw everybody as they were getting ready to go on stage to perform. The Wreckers opened up for him and did a great job. We saw them standing below us waiting for their time to go on, and it was neat to see that side of everything.
Keith put on a great show, and being as that was my first time to see him live, I had nothing to compare it to. Mary said it wasn't his BEST performance but I thought it was great. He gave alot of attention to the fans in the crowd. He sang a lovely song and dedicated it to his wife who was off filming a movie in Australia. He did an awesome encore...and got a new kind of "wave" going....everyone did the wave but had their cell phones all lit up & held up high, and it looked sooooo cool!
So, did I enjoy myself? YES! Would I go again...probably. Will I stalk him like Mary? Nah. Will I ever have to bail Mary out of jail for jumping onto the top of his tour bus....QUITE POSSIBLY!
BUT...THAT'S LOVE, PAIN AND THE WHOLE CRAZY THING!
THANKS MAR! HAD A BLAST!!!!