MG & The WILD BUNCH
Rocked at Clearfield, PA County Fair
Since it was a five-hour drive from Long Island to Clearfield, we made the drive the night before the show. We stayed at the
Comfort Inn for a mere $127.40/night. Yikes. It was one of very few rooms available for the weekend. I didn’t care. It was a
room, close to the venue, and had an indoor pool.
Since Jen drove the whole way there, I was nice and let her sleep in on Saturday morning while I went for a jog. She was happy I
didn’t wake her up for a change. I got to check out the scenery during my jog, and I even tried to find the fairgrounds where the
show would be.
When I got back to the room, Jen was still passed out. So, I took the opportunity to go swimming. As I was approaching the
room that had the pool, I noticed a problem right away. The water was murky and gross. I believe the East River, in New York
City, has more visibility. So much for my indoor pool. They should take some of the money that they overcharged me and invest
in some chlorine.
No, the murky pool water wasn’t going to deter me from having a good time. I immediately noticed that there was a patio right
off the poolroom, and I headed straight for it. As I was walking to a table I noticed down by the highway a few buses and a tractor-
trailer waiting to turn off the highway. Yepper, the boys were just getting into town. With them doing their own headlining tour for
the summer they added two tractor trailers into their caravan. One of the trailers had the Jim Beam logo slapped all over it. It
looked just like the bus.
I was so excited to see the buses and trailers that I needed to share it with someone. Since Jen was still sleeping, at 11 AM, I didnâ
€™t want to wake her. So, I gave Nikki a call. She immediately wondered if Jen was somehow stuck on the hotel room wall as if
being pulled by a magnet to the Jim Beam Truck. Nikki’s next comment was to tell me to wake Jen’s A** up and that I was
way too generous in letting her sleep passed the time that McDonald’s stops serving breakfast.
After Jen and I both had a chance to catch some sun, we got ready to head out to the fair. Our first stop was to get something to
eat for lunch. Jen really wanted me to mention how she played rollercoaster in her car while entering the parking lot where we got
our lunch from. She scared the you know what out of me, but hey, she enjoyed herself.
On to the fairgrounds. It was a bit difficult to find the place, but we weren’t giving up too easily. Let’s just say we made
it there. We didn’t know this was a dry fair, meaning no alcohol was served anywhere on the fairgrounds. Well except for
maybe the Jim Beam bus, but since we weren’t on it I could really say for sure. It’s a good thing we’re always prepared
for anything. Without giving away any trade secrets, we weren’t dry all day and let me tell you that was half the fun.
The first thing we did when we got there, besides pouring the Jim Beam in the drinks we had gotten with our lunch, was walk
around and check out the fair. During the course of checking out the fair we passed two people that we both recognized. The first
one I recognized. Jen didn’t. We were just quietly walking around with our drinks and enjoying ourselves when I see what
appears to be MG’S keyboard player whose name I don’t know. As soon as he passed us, I turned to Jen and said that the
guy who just passed us looked like the keyboard player. A few minutes later while we are still walking, and I do believe my drink
was just about empty, I’m looking at this man walking towards us. I mostly can’t believe whom I was seeing and I really
didn’t think it was him, but hey they have to do something with their free time right? I was looking straight at him, and I wanted
to say hi. Unfortunately he turned away as my mouth started to open. Apparently Jen had been doing the same thing. So there the
two of us were, walking around this dry fair, with drinks in our hands, we were starting to get a bit silly and we were both staring at
Eddie Montgomery.
I’ve said it before. He’s lost a lot of weight and to see him up close like that, a foot away from me, he looks great. I still
can’t believe it was really him. We were both pretty sure it was him. It was also at about this time that we were coming to the
conclusion that this was a dry fair. We had walked almost the entire thing and hadn’t seen one both that was selling beer or any
mixed drinks at all. We decided to turn around and go ask the guy who looked like Eddie if he knew a place where we could get a
drink. We passed him a few more times, but we never did ask. At one point he was behind us and we were walking very slowly.
We were laughing about how everyone else was so quiet and we were making so much noise and having such fun. We were
obviously having a good time. While we were walking slowly, Eddie caught up with us, and I started saying very loudly something
about don’t you just hate it when people walk so slowly and we let him walk past us. He knew at that point that we knew who
he was, but we still wouldn’t talk to him. He probably thinks that we just wanted to check out his butt. Definitely one of those
moments you just had to be there for.
After we were done haunting Eddie, we needed to get some refills and find a cool place to be for a while. We wound up sitting in
the grandstand where the concert would be that night. As soon as we sat down, I noticed MG’s drummer on the stage. Him and
some other guy were assembling his drums. There was quite a bit of action on the stage at this time. As we sat there cooling off,
slowly all the members of the band kept showing up on stage. Apparently they were getting ready for sound check. With the
exception of Kenny’s concert on the Today Show last year, I had never been to a sound check. I really enjoyed it. Really I did.
As the guys were taking the stage, all I kept thinking now we’ll know if we saw who we thought we saw. The first confirmation
was the keyboard player. It was him I spotted a bit earlier. He was still wearing the same clothes.
As all the band members were checking out their instruments, we noticed a guy walking from the fair to the track and then to the
stage. It was Eddie. We really were haunting him. We got to hear them sing two songs before we got kicked out of the grandstand.
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted and I did manage to get a few pics of them. They were finishing up the last song as we were
leaving the grandstand area and as it turns out they were also done with soundcheck. So, we really didn’t miss much.
At this point, we headed back out to the car so that we could just hang out there and wait for two friends that were to be meeting
us there. It had started to get cloudy now and it wasn’t quite so hot anymore. Actually, there appeared to be some storm
clouds heading straight for us. We both got out our ponchos that we had used while in Knoxville, wanted to be ready just in case.
Then the lightening started. There we were sitting on our camp chairs; with our ponchos and drinks just having a good time while
waiting for the thunderstorm to roll on by. There were people who just getting to the fair as we sat there in the rain. They just
laughed at the site of us sitting there in the rain. One person even called us “die hards�. I wonder if he knew that we drove
five hours just to see MG and that it had been 101 days since the last time we saw them. The storm eventually did roll on by, but
not before a huge downpour that left the fairgrounds soaked and puddled the rest of the night. It was sometimes difficult walking in
the mud. It was very slippery and I almost went right down on my A** a few times, but I somehow managed to stay on my feet.
My feet and sandals were covered in mud by the time we headed back to the hotel. I took a shower with my sandals on so that I
could clean them. They were so gross. I also had to scrub my feet a few times before they would come out clean, yuck.
When I first heard the name of the opening act, I was clueless. Williams and Ree, I had never heard of them before. Well, here in
Long Island/New York City area there is no country radio station. So, if they were a new group, I wouldn’t know. Well as it
turns out they were a very funny comedy act. They both stood there with guitars in hand like they were going to play a song, but
they never played a song. The guitars were just props. There were times when they would play the guitars, but not for a whole
song. I thought they were a riot. I can’t remember any of their jokes. They mostly made fun of each other and Natalie Maines,
of course. They kept referring to her as the fat one. They referred to themselves as the Indian and the white guy, but they werenâ
€™t sure which was which. I got told to sit down by the Indian a couple of times, it was part of the act and I just played right into
it.
Then it was time for MG to take the stage. They put on a great show. Naturally I had grandpa and his wife next to me. I just
couldn’t stay in my seat without having a problem with the people by me. It was mostly a dud crowd from what I saw. Iâ
€™m used everyone standing for MG’s set and couldn’t believe everyone was sitting. I walked up to the stage to take a
picture and never went back to my seat. Yep, Jen was right there with me. At one point towards the end of the show, after a few
other girls joined us up there, security came over and told us to go back to our seat. I just couldn’t. Jen and I just moved all the
way to the end of the stage, we couldn’t really see anything at this point, but it was much better than crawling back into our
seats and having everyone yell at us because we wouldn’t sit. We were only there for about two songs and then it was the
encore and we were allowed back at the front of the stage. At one point, I believe before we were told to go back to our seats, Eddie
came over and shook my hand. That was actually pretty funny. I was wearing different clothes from earlier in the day, but I still
wonder if he remembered us. At the end of the show before Eddie and Troy left the stage, Eddie high-fived most of the people at
the front of the stage, yeah, my hand was right up there for that.
Rocked at Clearfield, PA County Fair
Since it was a five-hour drive from Long Island to Clearfield, we made the drive the night before the show. We stayed at the
Comfort Inn for a mere $127.40/night. Yikes. It was one of very few rooms available for the weekend. I didn’t care. It was a
room, close to the venue, and had an indoor pool.
Since Jen drove the whole way there, I was nice and let her sleep in on Saturday morning while I went for a jog. She was happy I
didn’t wake her up for a change. I got to check out the scenery during my jog, and I even tried to find the fairgrounds where the
show would be.
When I got back to the room, Jen was still passed out. So, I took the opportunity to go swimming. As I was approaching the
room that had the pool, I noticed a problem right away. The water was murky and gross. I believe the East River, in New York
City, has more visibility. So much for my indoor pool. They should take some of the money that they overcharged me and invest
in some chlorine.
No, the murky pool water wasn’t going to deter me from having a good time. I immediately noticed that there was a patio right
off the poolroom, and I headed straight for it. As I was walking to a table I noticed down by the highway a few buses and a tractor-
trailer waiting to turn off the highway. Yepper, the boys were just getting into town. With them doing their own headlining tour for
the summer they added two tractor trailers into their caravan. One of the trailers had the Jim Beam logo slapped all over it. It
looked just like the bus.
I was so excited to see the buses and trailers that I needed to share it with someone. Since Jen was still sleeping, at 11 AM, I didnâ
€™t want to wake her. So, I gave Nikki a call. She immediately wondered if Jen was somehow stuck on the hotel room wall as if
being pulled by a magnet to the Jim Beam Truck. Nikki’s next comment was to tell me to wake Jen’s A** up and that I was
way too generous in letting her sleep passed the time that McDonald’s stops serving breakfast.
After Jen and I both had a chance to catch some sun, we got ready to head out to the fair. Our first stop was to get something to
eat for lunch. Jen really wanted me to mention how she played rollercoaster in her car while entering the parking lot where we got
our lunch from. She scared the you know what out of me, but hey, she enjoyed herself.
On to the fairgrounds. It was a bit difficult to find the place, but we weren’t giving up too easily. Let’s just say we made
it there. We didn’t know this was a dry fair, meaning no alcohol was served anywhere on the fairgrounds. Well except for
maybe the Jim Beam bus, but since we weren’t on it I could really say for sure. It’s a good thing we’re always prepared
for anything. Without giving away any trade secrets, we weren’t dry all day and let me tell you that was half the fun.
The first thing we did when we got there, besides pouring the Jim Beam in the drinks we had gotten with our lunch, was walk
around and check out the fair. During the course of checking out the fair we passed two people that we both recognized. The first
one I recognized. Jen didn’t. We were just quietly walking around with our drinks and enjoying ourselves when I see what
appears to be MG’S keyboard player whose name I don’t know. As soon as he passed us, I turned to Jen and said that the
guy who just passed us looked like the keyboard player. A few minutes later while we are still walking, and I do believe my drink
was just about empty, I’m looking at this man walking towards us. I mostly can’t believe whom I was seeing and I really
didn’t think it was him, but hey they have to do something with their free time right? I was looking straight at him, and I wanted
to say hi. Unfortunately he turned away as my mouth started to open. Apparently Jen had been doing the same thing. So there the
two of us were, walking around this dry fair, with drinks in our hands, we were starting to get a bit silly and we were both staring at
Eddie Montgomery.
I’ve said it before. He’s lost a lot of weight and to see him up close like that, a foot away from me, he looks great. I still
can’t believe it was really him. We were both pretty sure it was him. It was also at about this time that we were coming to the
conclusion that this was a dry fair. We had walked almost the entire thing and hadn’t seen one both that was selling beer or any
mixed drinks at all. We decided to turn around and go ask the guy who looked like Eddie if he knew a place where we could get a
drink. We passed him a few more times, but we never did ask. At one point he was behind us and we were walking very slowly.
We were laughing about how everyone else was so quiet and we were making so much noise and having such fun. We were
obviously having a good time. While we were walking slowly, Eddie caught up with us, and I started saying very loudly something
about don’t you just hate it when people walk so slowly and we let him walk past us. He knew at that point that we knew who
he was, but we still wouldn’t talk to him. He probably thinks that we just wanted to check out his butt. Definitely one of those
moments you just had to be there for.
After we were done haunting Eddie, we needed to get some refills and find a cool place to be for a while. We wound up sitting in
the grandstand where the concert would be that night. As soon as we sat down, I noticed MG’s drummer on the stage. Him and
some other guy were assembling his drums. There was quite a bit of action on the stage at this time. As we sat there cooling off,
slowly all the members of the band kept showing up on stage. Apparently they were getting ready for sound check. With the
exception of Kenny’s concert on the Today Show last year, I had never been to a sound check. I really enjoyed it. Really I did.
As the guys were taking the stage, all I kept thinking now we’ll know if we saw who we thought we saw. The first confirmation
was the keyboard player. It was him I spotted a bit earlier. He was still wearing the same clothes.
As all the band members were checking out their instruments, we noticed a guy walking from the fair to the track and then to the
stage. It was Eddie. We really were haunting him. We got to hear them sing two songs before we got kicked out of the grandstand.
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted and I did manage to get a few pics of them. They were finishing up the last song as we were
leaving the grandstand area and as it turns out they were also done with soundcheck. So, we really didn’t miss much.
At this point, we headed back out to the car so that we could just hang out there and wait for two friends that were to be meeting
us there. It had started to get cloudy now and it wasn’t quite so hot anymore. Actually, there appeared to be some storm
clouds heading straight for us. We both got out our ponchos that we had used while in Knoxville, wanted to be ready just in case.
Then the lightening started. There we were sitting on our camp chairs; with our ponchos and drinks just having a good time while
waiting for the thunderstorm to roll on by. There were people who just getting to the fair as we sat there in the rain. They just
laughed at the site of us sitting there in the rain. One person even called us “die hards�. I wonder if he knew that we drove
five hours just to see MG and that it had been 101 days since the last time we saw them. The storm eventually did roll on by, but
not before a huge downpour that left the fairgrounds soaked and puddled the rest of the night. It was sometimes difficult walking in
the mud. It was very slippery and I almost went right down on my A** a few times, but I somehow managed to stay on my feet.
My feet and sandals were covered in mud by the time we headed back to the hotel. I took a shower with my sandals on so that I
could clean them. They were so gross. I also had to scrub my feet a few times before they would come out clean, yuck.
When I first heard the name of the opening act, I was clueless. Williams and Ree, I had never heard of them before. Well, here in
Long Island/New York City area there is no country radio station. So, if they were a new group, I wouldn’t know. Well as it
turns out they were a very funny comedy act. They both stood there with guitars in hand like they were going to play a song, but
they never played a song. The guitars were just props. There were times when they would play the guitars, but not for a whole
song. I thought they were a riot. I can’t remember any of their jokes. They mostly made fun of each other and Natalie Maines,
of course. They kept referring to her as the fat one. They referred to themselves as the Indian and the white guy, but they werenâ
€™t sure which was which. I got told to sit down by the Indian a couple of times, it was part of the act and I just played right into
it.
Then it was time for MG to take the stage. They put on a great show. Naturally I had grandpa and his wife next to me. I just
couldn’t stay in my seat without having a problem with the people by me. It was mostly a dud crowd from what I saw. Iâ
€™m used everyone standing for MG’s set and couldn’t believe everyone was sitting. I walked up to the stage to take a
picture and never went back to my seat. Yep, Jen was right there with me. At one point towards the end of the show, after a few
other girls joined us up there, security came over and told us to go back to our seat. I just couldn’t. Jen and I just moved all the
way to the end of the stage, we couldn’t really see anything at this point, but it was much better than crawling back into our
seats and having everyone yell at us because we wouldn’t sit. We were only there for about two songs and then it was the
encore and we were allowed back at the front of the stage. At one point, I believe before we were told to go back to our seats, Eddie
came over and shook my hand. That was actually pretty funny. I was wearing different clothes from earlier in the day, but I still
wonder if he remembered us. At the end of the show before Eddie and Troy left the stage, Eddie high-fived most of the people at
the front of the stage, yeah, my hand was right up there for that.
