CMA Fest Day 3

On Friday, we wanted to get up early enough to be at the Riverfront by 9am to be able to get a good spots for the great shows they were having early morning and late afternoon.

Just as planned we got there and got a decent spot and waited for the first show (Gretchen Wilson) to start at 10. Let me tell you, I must be getting old because chugging back beer at 9am is just not my cup of tea...but there were so many folks out there doing it, which was really dangerous because the temperature was climbing fast and there was NO shade anywhere to be found.

We made it through Gretchen's show (which was great by the way)

I cannot imagine not having a good time with this girl...

Next was The Band Perry, a group that has just recently come out. They did good, but the humidity didn't do any favors for the poor lead singers hair :-(

At this point, I would beg, borrow or trade some shade or air conditioning for just about anything. It's not just hot, it's sticky and miserable. We got lunch, but I couldn't even eat it. I did, however, take it a couple of bottles of water to try and even up what I was sweating out. Good news was everyone else there looked just like us. I'll spare you guys the pictures :-)

Patty Loveless was next, but I spent her performance laying on the ground trying to fan myself and cool down. I really wanted to hold out for Chris Young, who was next. Thank goodness he did not disappoint....

Chris, joined by the HUNDREDS of screaming girls around us.....

We had to leave after that and seek some air conditioning and a shower, so we went back to the hotel for some downtime. After cooling off and getting refreshed, we were ready to go back to LP Field for some more night time concerts!

I see the lineup and I am pretty excited...mostly for Josh Turner (who is one of my favorites) and Keith Urban! Here is how it played out:

Julianne Hough opens...

My man Josh Turner

Miranda Lambert


Keith Urban

A pretty intense tribute with Keith Urban, Little Big Town and Sara Buxton for TN flood victims

At this point, everything was stopped for a wedding...yup, a wedding. Seems two members of the stage crew fell in love and they got married before our eyes...

Taking their vows....

You could tell something was up because there was a completely stop to the show before Reba. They said there was technical difficulties, but it took forever for them to start the show back. We could not figure out what happened except she had one very short video before she came on stage. Anyway, she only sang 4 songs because of how long it took, which was frustrating.

And Kid Rock to close the show....

He performed well after they cut off the TV cameras until 1am. I was surprised, but he really put on a great show! Best of the day goes to Josh or Keith still though :-)

On Saturday, we were going to an autograph session with Gretchen Wilson and no other plans otherwise. Check out the next post to see where the day led us to!