Light The Fuse Tour!

Had an amazing time last night seeing Keith Urban, Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch at Shoreline in Mountain View, CA!! Still on a concert high, it was so good! Dave and I had 7th row seats, the closest we have ever been seeing Mr. Urban! I've lost track of how many times I've seen Keith but I know it's more than 10+ times. A few of his shows top my list of best concerts ever, two of them include when it started down pouring rain and lightening. Those were just magical moments that added to the show that made them special! Anyway.....here's my full review of the show!

Dustin Lynch was up first. It was our first time seeing him and I have to give my honest opinion here. I just thought he was ok.....his live show was pretty good and full of energy though! Maybe he will grow on me but I'm not too sure......Love his songs Cowboys and Angels and Wild In Your Smile!

Then there was Little Big Town!! Always love seeing them perform live!! One of these days I would like to see a full show of theirs and not them opening in the middle slot! I felt like it was too short! Their stage setup was so cool! Loved the artwork and the lighting and of course their voices and performances we phenomenal! Towards the middle of their set they sang a couple cover tunes including Elvira! I got a couple videos of them too, one of them singing Sober and one during Tornado. You can find them here:

Little Big Town- Sober (Live Video)

Little Big Town- Tornado (Live Video)

Time for Keith!!!!!!

 I'm not sure what to say other than what an amazing performer he is! He started off his show a little bit different from what I remember. In the past he always came out on stage with a bang. This time he just walked right out on stage and picked up his guitar! I thought that was pretty cool. Keith can do pretty much anything and still be awesome lol! He played quite a few new songs from his new album Fuse along with a lot of his hit songs! I got a few little videos of him singing new songs like Cop Car and Even The Stars Fall 4 U. The videos aren't the best quality because I was dancing/shaking haha! But thought I would share them anyway......

Keith Urban- Cop Car (Live Video)

Keith Urban- Even The Stars Fall 4 U (Live Video)

                                                      One of my fav pics of the night!

                                     Keith and the fan he brought up to play his guitar with him!!

                                       Keith brought out Little Big Town to sing You Gonna Fly!

And Brought Back out Dustin Lynch!

Confetti shower!!!! Had a purse full by the end of the show and was still finding it in my clothes while changing into my PJ's LOL!

Tonight I wanna Cry

All the lights during Tonight I Wanna Cry! 

There were a few times he came to our side of the stage, which then he got pretty darn close to us. He went up into the back section to sing a couple songs and came back. He brought a guy and his girlfriend on stage because they had a sign saying that the guy wanted to play Keith's guitar. So he and Keith played a little bit of Somebody Like You together and the guy fan was so good playing his guitar!! So cool when Keith does stuff like that!! For the encore, Keith came back out and played a few songs on piano along with Tonight I Wanna Cry. He said he wanted to see everyone with their flashlight app on their phone and it was beautiful to see all the lights in the crowd. Here is a short video of Tonight I Wanna Cry:

Keith Urban- Tonight I Wanna Cry (Live Video)

He ended his show by going up into the crowd again during You Look Good In My Shirt. He always gives a lucky fan a guitar too at the end!! I moved up a little towards the stage at the end in hopes of getting a pic or autograph from Keith but didn't succeed :( But he waved to us on the way out!! What an amazing show and I think it ranks among the top favorite concerts I've ever seen!! Can't wait to see Keith again!! 

Pickin' Wildflowers!! And Chocolate fest!

As many of you know, my mom came to visit me from Illinois last week. I just dropped her off at the airport not too long ago and she is on her way back already! It won't be long until we see each other again. Dave and I are going home next week for his sister's wedding :)

Here is a slight recap of all the fun me and mom had over the course of the week! It started with a concert of course! As soon as she got off the plane and into my car we were off to see Keith Anderson at the Santa Cruz county fair! I had never been to this fair and didn't know what to expect but it was pretty nice! Mom signed us both up for meet and greets for Keith and I got a few of his infamous hugs! What a nice guy!!

After the M&G we sat right in the front of the stage to watch his hour long set that included some of my favorite songs by him like Everytime I Hear Your Name, Podunk and Pickin' Wildflowers. He also played some newer music that I had never heard before and it was pretty good! I guess you can find his new cd on his website if you want to check it out! I can't wait to see him again sometime in the near future ;) 

Thursday I had class so we didn't do much...but Friday I took her to Santa Cruz to see the sea lions :) 

And the Santa Cruz Pier!! 

We went to Betty's Burgers for lunch, so yummy!!! 

After that we went home and then headed to the KRTY songwriters show! (which you can find the blog about that before this one!) 

Saturday the whole gang went to San Francisco for Gharidelli Chocolate fest!! Dave and I went last year and it was so much fun, we had to bring everyone! There was so much chocolate!! My favorite had to be the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cotton Candy! Also sampled some chocolate vodka and chocolate infused wine :) 

Chocolate Malt! 

We all sat by the bay for a little bit to rest our stomachs for more chocolate and little did we know, the world cup sailing race was going on!! Not a very good picture but in the middle you can kind of see the two ships sailing! 

Us sitting by the pier, thanks for the great pic Andrew! 

After getting some more chocolate, we wandered down the pier and found a bayside historical site! It was $5 each and you could go on and see some amazing floating history! My favorite was the big sail ship, it was like a floating history museum and even had the captains wheel uptop where you could take pictures! 

The Ferryboat

The ship I really liked! 

On the tugboat....I couldn't resist..had to pull the lever! lol! 

Captain Dave! 

Captain Jadzia! 

Below there are people in costumes singing old songs

Beautiful day in San Francisco!! Got a great picture of the Golden Gate :) 

Had an amazing time with mom and everyone! 

Songwriters Series at Clos La Chance Winery

KRTY hosted a songwriters event at Clos La Chance Winery last night featuring Mallary Hope, Frankie Ballard and D. Vincent Williams! My mom came to visit from Illinois so she and Dave both were there with me! Mom and I shared a bottle of Merlot before the songwriters hit the stage and it was delicious! Went to this venue before in June and it was still so gorgeous! I love going to songwriters events like these because it's more than just the artist playing the songs, you get to hear stories behind them and it's so much fun! I was blown away by the amount of talent up there on that stage!

D. Vincent Williams is a pretty seasoned songwriter and to my surprise wrote many hits that I didn't know he wrote! He started off with a song that Ty Herndon cut back in the 90's. He also helped penned the hit song sung by James Otto called "Just got started loving you". He said he recently was recently signed by Southern Ground records so looking forward to hearing more of his music! He ended his round with a song that I am very familiar with that was sung by one of my favorite bands, Rascal Flatts! He told the story of how "I'm Movin' On" came together and was originally part of his "I hate Nashville" song.

Was so excited to see Mallary Hope!! She is one of my favorite singer/songwriters and was so happy to hear she was coming back to California to play a few shows near us! She just recently wrote a few new songs and shared them with us. My favorite was probably the first newer one she played called "Tequila and a broken heart"! Another new song she played called "Lose You" sounded phenomenal! I did take videos of both songs but right now I am boycotting youtube since I got a copyright strike on one of my videos....don't want to get my account shut down! I will share on here when I find another way but have shared them on my facebook page for now. Made them public so you can see! 

Mallary Hope singing Lose You- https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151610591922441&l=127430992975536909

Mallary Hope singing Tequila And A Broken Heart- https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151610574632441&l=2155062374887107324

If the links don't work please let me know!! (You might have to copy and paste)

The night before Mallary was to play here in California, one of her close family friends was lost to breast cancer in Georgia. While she sang "She Gets My Life" the radio station passed around buckets for their breast cancer awareness walk. Mallary raised enough to come back in a few weeks to walk in the walk for breast cancer for her friend Courtney. May she rest in peace, cancer sucks :( 

Mallary and the KRTY program director Nate after finding how much they raised for breast cancer awareness!! (Photo Credit: Jenna)

Dave and I with Mallary :) 

Last but not least there's Frankie Ballard!! 

It hasn't been too long since we've seen him last but he always puts on a great show! I think most of the songs he played he also played when we saw him at the Santa Clara county fair. There was one that he played that I didn't even know that he wrote. He got a cut on one of Billy Currington's records called All Day Long! Frankie lent his hand playing guitar along with Mallary and D. Vincent most of the night too which I thought was pretty cool! There were a lot of funny moments thanks to Frankie, he always has a way to make us laugh! There were a lot of stories and jokes going on between the three onstage that I thought was hilarious! Couldn't have asked for a better show at Clos La Chance winery!! 

It's a Helluva Life

We went to the Santa Clara County Fair tonight in San Jose, CA to see Frankie Ballard. It's been quite a while since we've seen him, almost 2 and a half years ago. That was also the last time he had a single on the radio according to him at the show tonight! He took some time with his music and I think it's matured some. His new single out on the radio now, Helluva Life, is an amazing song that many could connect with. I hope this time around his music gets through to the audience of country radio and is a success! He played a lot of newer songs that I've heard before along with his first single released to country radio a couple years ago called Tell Me You Get Lonely. I left before the show ended to find the rest of the group at the hypnotist show and one of my room mates was on stage!! How funny!! Wish I got pictures! Had a great time at the fair!!

Helluva Life

Tell Me You Get Lonely

Also a little shameless plug....I wrote a song today! I haven't written anything in a few months and I'm kinda excited about this song because it's kinda different from others that I've written but it's me in a nutshell! It's called All Over The Place!  I posted it on Soundcloud and there's some other songs on there if you want to check them out!! :) 

https://soundcloud.com/kristin-toon

Could it be? Another concert!! :)

Had so much fun last night seeing Austin Webb, Charlie Worsham and Due West last night at the Rodeo Club in San Jose!! It was our first time seeing all 3 acts and it couldn't have been a better night for it! Austin Webb was up first and he did not disappoint! He came out with his harmonica and played it on his first song that was on the radio called It's All Good. He had very good stage presence and made his way around the stage with his mic. Of course the only two videos I took of him singing was when he was playing his guitar. He has amazing music and a killer voice, def one of the newer ones to watch!! His new single Slip On By should be on your radio soon!

Austin Webb- Slip On By

Austin Webb- Getting Even

We were so excited to see Charlie Worsham next! Have heard many great things about him and love what I heard of his music so far! When he came on stage he instantly connected with the crowd...one of them was me that got a high five from him lol! He shows real talent in his songwriting along with his talents playing guitar and banjo! In true San Jose fashion, when he started singing Could It Be (his current single) everyone sang along! I was told later by one of my KRTY friends, that it was the 3rd time that has happened where people sang it back to him! So cool! Can't wait to get his debut album Rubberband on August 20th!! Also got a set list of his too! :) 

Charlie Worsham- Could It Be

Charlie Worsham- Young To See

Charlie Worsham- California Girls(cover)/Depends

We moved from the front row after Charlie because it was so hot in there! It was nice to sit back and relax while watching a little bit of Due West before we called it a night and went home! 

Can't wait for the next hot country night at the Rodeo Club! 

Sweet Summertime

A little update for ya'll! Didn't really post a blog about seeing Eric Paslay at the end of June in Santa Clara. It was at the Silicon Valley Barbecue Championships! He's written some amazing songs that some of my favorite artists sing like Even If It Breaks Your Heart (Eli Young Band), Barefoot Bluejean Night (Jake Owen) and Angel Eyes (Love and Theft). He's got a new single out right now that Lady Antebellum also recorded called Friday Night. It's kinda nice to hear a song on the radio and already know all the words! lol! Very excited for his new album coming out later this year! Got to meet him too, what a nice guy!

Another country album I'm very excited about coming out is Brett Eldredge's Bring You Back coming out August 6th!! It seems like a little while since I've gotten a new cd that I know I will love all the tracks on! The last one I think that happened with was Florida Georgia Line and before that Jake Owen's! 

I just recently chopped off my hair too. It's a little shorter than I wanted but it'll grow out and hopefully be the length I was looking for. Can't always expect it to look exactly like the picture I showed the hairdresser! lol! 

So far this summer since Nashville that's been what's been going on...I'm taking an Algebra summer class that I absolutely loathe but I've got 2 more weeks left and THAT'S IT!! I hope I pass so you guys don't have to hear/see me whine about it! haha!