Where do I begin? What a great week it was. Everyone had such a great time. All the shows and fan club parties were lots of fun.
Well, it all started Monday night. We had the first ever nuthouse (members of ChesneyCrew.com) party. It was held at the
Wildhorse Saloon in downtown Nashville. It was great finally getting to meet so many different people from all parts of the country
that we had met at different websites relating to Kenny Chesney. That man has no idea of how many friendships he’s
responsible, in some ways, for creating. It was fun getting to hang out in person without our keyboards.
The next morning, there was a breakfast at the Cracker Barrel in Goodlettesville, just down the road from where Kenny’s Fan
Club Party was being held. That was fun. We all brought pictures from our most recent concerts to share. Plus, it was like
Christmas. We all had gifts for each other. Actually, the nuthouse party was the same way the night before. I have to tell you
Dana, that I love the map, but it hasn’t helped much. I already got lost earlier today. I think I’ll just go with the idea that I
thought was behind you giving me the map, that I would go see Kenny somewhere besides the Northeast.
From the breakfast we all traveled to the Fan Club Party. That was a nice ride down that steep hill with all those curves. Just to
sit in that long line of people waiting to get in. The locals all thought we were nuts. They should only know the truth. As my
husband, Steve, and I were trying to get to the end of the line, driving past everyone who was already on the line, I had people
telling me that Tim Hensley was in the vehicle just ahead of me. I thought cool; I can go get my autograph right now.
Unfortunately by the time we finally turned around and got in that line, he was gone. I thought maybe there was a back entrance.
As it turns out, about an hour later I find out that he was now about 10 cars behind us, instead of in front of us. So, I was finally
heading towards his car with Sherrie, but then the line started to move inside the grounds of Smiley Hollow. Oh well, I had all day
to get his autograph, or so I thought.
So, we went from the line on the street to the line waiting to get inside the building. Then finally the moment we had all been
waiting for, the acoustic set by Kenny and his band. Well, at least most of the band was there. Jim Garriett was the only one
missing. This fan really missed Jim not being there, but it was a good show anyway. Actually it was an excellent show. They
performed all the songs on the new album with the exceptions of Dreams and One Step Up, and they played a bunch of older songs,
too. There was no plan of what songs they would perform. They decided at the end of each song what song they would do. It was
pretty funny watching them trying to decide what song to do next. Tim didn’t always seem to be on the same page. Kenny
would have to reach over towards him and make sure he knew what song they were doing next. It was pretty funny.
After listening to an excellent acoustic set, it was time to wait to meet Kenny. There were a lot of things to do while we waited.
The fan club was showing all the different CMT specials ever made on Kenny Chesney. There was food to eat. There were some
games outside. We mostly just hung out and talked with other fan club members. This was going to be my third meeting with
Kenny. The first was in March at the CT show, and the second was in April at the Trenton, NJ show. I couldn’t wait to tell
him about my journey into to Manhattan to see him live on the Conan O’Brien show. The one that he was home sick for. I had
a picture blown up that I took of him at the Trenton show for him to sign. When he looked at it, he laughed. He took me by
surprise when he did that, and then I forgot what I wanted to say. Oh well, he missed out on a good story. The photographer was
having a slight problem with the camera. Panic was starting to set in, and I guess I was showing it. At this point, my friends who
were standing off on the side starting yelling for me to smile, and I responded to them. Well, thanks to those friends, Kenny now
knows my name. He said goodbye to me using my name. That was pretty cool.
Then I stood just off to the side while my husband met Kenny for the first time. Boy did they have a lot to talk about. I wasnâ
€™t close enough to hear, but they were having quite an exchange. It turns out; he took Kenny by surprise. He asked him if he
would ever play on Long Island. So, they had a nice conversation about that.
It was a long day for everyone involved with the party, Kenny, Cheryl, and the fan club members. It was very hot.
Unfortunately, some fan club members think that their membership comes with certain benefits. They thought they had the right to
do what ever they wanted to him, like try to kiss him, grab him, etc. It’s fans like this that make it bad for the rest. I can’t
believe some of the stories that I’ve heard about what some women tried to do to him. I feel so bad for him. He only wants to
be treated with respect. Despite those fans that don’t know how to behave, I believe the party was a success. Although, I
never did get Tim’s autograph. I’ll be working on that this weekend in PA. Wish me lots of luck. I did manage, however, to
get Clayton’s autograph. That was also a picture that I had taken at the Trenton show. He laughed at the picture too. I guess
it’s good that I’m amusing.
Now on to Wednesday. After spending my morning at Ty Herndon’s fan club party, we spent the rest of the day downtown
in the city of Nashville. There were lots of things going on there that day. At the Gaylord Entertainment Center, they were getting
ready for the evening’s Flameworthy Awards. CMT was doing live shows out in front of the entertainment center, the MWL
show hosted by Katie Cook and Greg Martin. A bunch of us were there for Trick Pony’s sound check. An hour before they
were to start the pre-award show, they let everyone inside the performance area. We had gotten pretty close to the stage. Jaxxs
was right up front, leaning on the stage for the whole show. The rest of us were a few rows behind her. Janet, Sue and Judy
managed to squirm there way up to about the second row. It was very hot that day.
Unfortunately, about 40 minutes before the show was to start, I got very sick. I came very close to passing out. Luckily I got out
of the crowd before that happened. I needed to get out of the heat and eat some food. My husband and I still managed to see the
whole show, but not from the same spot. We enjoyed it just the same. While they were filming the show, they would cut to Lance
interviewing the arriving artist’s on the red carpet. The first person they showed was Kenny. Naturally, we were all screaming
for him. The red carpet was just around the corner from where we were. He could definitely hear us.
When the MWL pre-award show was over, we were looking for our friends that we got separated from when I had gotten sick.
While trying to find them, some man comes up to my husband and me and asks if we were going to the Flameworthy show. I
looked at him very strangely. There I was dressed in overall shorts, sandals, and a tank top, which I had been wearing since 6 AM
that morning. I was really dressed for such an event. He offered us free tickets, and Steven grabbed them. The New Yorker in him
came right out. Just as soon as Steve had those tickets in his hand, my cell phone rang. It was Kristin. I was telling her about the
free tickets. She started to scream. I told her she had to talk Steve into giving up his ticket so that her and I could go together to see
Kenny perform live and hopefully win two awards. While trying to find her in the crowd, I started promising him anything so that
she could go.
So there we are Kristin and Ally, at the Flameworthy awards. We were in the balcony section, almost at the other end of the
stage. Not that I’m complaining, the tickets were for free. It was great just being there. The show started, went to the first
commercial break, and then started again. At this point, an usher walks in and asks a group of people if they wanted to get closer to
the stage. Now, the usher wasn’t talking to us, but Kristin said let’s go and we did. Well, we wound up in the 100’s
section and a lot closer to the stage. Not bad for getting free tickets to a show that I didn’t want to go to because I wasn’t
dressed for it.
Well, Kenny and his band performed right after we had gotten situated in our new seats. Let me tell you, he and the band were on
for this performance. Kenny was so pumped. They put on one great show. It was great that CMT wasn’t afraid to show him
live. There was no screen for this live TV performance like CBS had done for the ACM Awards in May. It was great being there to
see him win both of those awards. He deserved them, and he really appreciates them, knowing that his fans voted for him. I believe
that I’m one of the few people who found him funny with his joke about Miss Tennessee. There were people gasping in the
audience. All I did was laugh.
On to Thursday’s RGL label show. We got to our seats at the Adelphia Coliseum just as the opening ceremony was just
starting. Sonya Issacs sang the anthem. Me with my trusty binoculars saw Kenny on one of the stages, towards the back. I knew
that Brooks and Dunn were the show openers, and I didn’t know who would be next. When I saw him there, we got up right
away and headed to the photo line. It was then that we found out that he would be the fifth performer for the evening. Since we
were up, we got on Brooks and Dunn’s photo line. The photo line is pretty cool. Anyone who is interested in a certain act gets
on this line to wait to walk in front of the stage to take a picture, but you have to keep moving. They don’t permit you to just
stand there.
Well, the event staff was not quite prepared for Kenny’s performance. Unfortunately, I think I was the only one who left the
front of the stage. They couldn’t get most of the crowd down there to leave. Everyone just stayed. Naturally, Kenny ate up all
the attention. It was never that crazy after his performance or even before. That was the only time it was like that all week. No
other act created such a frenzy.
The rest of Fan Fair was fun. I really had a good time, but I was suffering through the usual withdrawals after seeing Kenny. Even
though I was going through withdrawals, it was great running into people all week that I knew. It seemed no matter where I went; I
would bump into a fellow Kenny fan. There were so many good performers there all week. The shows at the Riverfront stages
were lots of fun to watch. I really enjoyed the show that Andy Griggs and Tracy Byrd hosted. The show at the Riverfront on
Sunday had a lot of unknown or little known acts. The two that I liked the best that day were James Otto and Darryl Worley. No
one else really wowed me at the Riverfront. You have to remember that I was going through withdrawals. I had seen Kenny
perform three days in the row in the middle of the week.
Sadly, it all ended on Sunday evening. The friends that I had spent the whole entire week with left right after the Rascal Flatts
performance. This was my third fan fair and by far the best for me. I’m definitely looking forward to going again next June.