2012 Recap: 10 concerts, what only 10?!?

So continuing with my year in review, it's concert time! Now for those of you that don't know, I am a concert junkie. When I was working at Nestle back in Illinois we would average almost 50 shows a year. Now since we've been moving around and ended up in California, this years total is 10. There are many factors as to why we haven't been to as many shows. A lot of it is because country isn't that popular out west so that means less shows. We only have one good country station in our area and when they do book concerts they get really good acts. They do have shows at smaller venues, mostly at a place called The Rodeo Club. We've only been there once and I really liked it, reminded me a lot of Joe's Bar in Chicago in a way.

 The first concert we saw this year was Jimmy Buffett! It was really odd because we got there and expected to see people partying in the parking lot but I guess the HP Pavillion bans tailgating! What?!? So they were tailgating somewhere else and didn't feel like going to find the party. The show was pretty good. We sat on the side of the stage and could see that Jimmy had a teleprompter just in case he forgets lyrics? That was interesting.

The next show we went to was Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker and Thompson Square at the HP Pavilion. This time I got presale tickets throught Lady A's fan club and scored pit tickets! We got there right after doors opened and still got a spot right up front! I thought that was a little odd considering other shows I've been to with a pit that if you weren't there right when doors opened you didn't even have a chance of being near the stage! Thompson Square was up first and I thought they were so cute! I kind of like them but not a huge fan yet. I really like their current single they have out on radio right now called "If I didn't have you". They played about 5 songs. I'm not sure if I care for Shawna's style either, it's a little odd. The skirt she was wearing was interesting......
                                   
Up next was Darius Rucker! I've seen him a few times and every time I've been in awe because he's still Hootie to me! lol! He puts on a great show!

Then it was time for Lady A!!! During the opening of the show the platform that was lifting them up out of the stage stopped working so they had to crawl out onto the stage! The show must go on! It was the first time I've seen Lady A play a sold out crowd, it was amazing!! I've been a fan since the very beginning and I have to say that I am so happy for them!! I hope they continue to make great music and sell out shows like they have been doing!

 And by being right in front of the stage I got some pretty good pics of Charles :)

It was time to finally check out the Shoreline Amphitheater to see Zac Brown Band! It was crazy getting into the free parking lot they had because we left so late. We learned our lesson and will pay for parking from now on unless the free parking isn't in the back lot again with all the dirt. We got there just in time though. Shoreline reminded me a lot of the Tinley Park, IL amphitheater and the one we went to in Indiana. Zac Brown Band was awesome as always. During one part of the show they lifted Zac and the fiddle player up in the air by harnesses so they were playing high up in the air! That was so cool!! I wish I got a picture of it!

 The next day we went to see Train at The Fillmore in San Francisco. It was a general admission show and the place was a small venue for them so we got there really early. None of us thought to bring blankets or anything so we went to a Japanese dollar store and bought some blankets.....they were pretty small blankets but they still kept us warm until doors. I had to check my camera at the door because they weren't allowing cameras, that made me sad :( But once we got inside we got some great spots by the stage, about 2nd row. People are still beyond rude when it comes to standing room only....a whole family squeezed in next to us and proceeded to stand in front of us. Did I see them standing in line? No. That kind of crap pisses me off. Anyways....After a few opening acts it was time for Train! It was their album release week for California 37 so they played a lot of new songs along with some older ones. During "If it's Love", Pat always takes pictures of the crowd holding their cellphones in the air and we made it in one! We are in the far left in the picture above. You can see my blue plaid shirt, Dave is right behind me and Mike and Jadzia are on the right of us. During the show there were a lot of people taking pics with their cellphones so I took some with mine. They didn't turn out that great but at least I got some! And I took a video of Barry Zeto from the San Francisco Giants singing with them!

The last concert I am going to review in this segment is the KRTY 20th birthday bash at Shoreline with Miranda Lambert, Chris Young, Jerrod Neimann, Kristen Kelly, Frankie Ballard, and JT Hodges. Phew that was a lot of people! But we saw them all!! We saw Kristen Kelly, Frankie Ballard, and JT Hodges at a small side stage at the venue. They all played acoustic sets. I'm not really a fan of Kristen Kelly but Frankie Ballard put on a great show! I was really excited to see JT Hodges, really into his music! I got to meet him after the show and got a pic! He was really sweet!

Frankie Ballard

Kristen Kelly

Jt Hodges

Me and JT! 

My parents were also here visiting from Illinois. My dad won a meet and greet with Miranda Lambert and was so excited. My mom is a big Chris Young fan and got to go back and meet Chris through the fan club. I forgot to renew my membership for his FC so I didn't apply for a Meet and Greet. Chris asked my mom why she was so far from home lol. Dave and I had pretty good seats in the middle in the front so I got some great pics!
Jerrod Neimann was up first at the main stage and he always sings some fun songs! I love how the California crowd goes wild when he sings Bakersfield. There's a line in it about San Jose, that's where we live! :)

Chris Young followed him with another great set of music! Love the energy he has put into his shows! Now if you are a Chris Young fan you may have seen this next picture before, yes I took this!

Some lady had a sign down in the pit that said this, he picked it up and showed it to the crowd! This sign was probably based off a time when he threw some guy out of a show and called him an ass clown! I thought it was great!!
Miranda Lambert time!! She opened with Fastest Girl in Town and it was the bomb! She sang a lot of her hits and stuff off Four The Record. It's always great seeing Miranda, one of my favorites, rock the faces off of everyone at a concert! She had the other Pistol Annies with her so they played 5 songs off their new album too! Loved it!

I kind of saw what happened next coming, somebody was in California for the Voice and came out to play a song for us.....Blake Shelton!!! Miranda's Hubby!! And the crowd goes wild!! 

5 shows down, 5 more to review, going to break this blog into two segments. My hands hurt from typing lol!