Little Big Town Rocks!

Little Big Town Rocks!

Yeah they do! I really like Little Big Town. When I first heard their song boondocks I was hooked. Jamie and I have kind of have a special boondocks bond, and I always think of her when I hear that song, but, I digress. I was sitting down at the computer one day listening to Little Big Town (LBT) and I thought “Hey I’m a fan! I wonder if they have a fan page on facebook?” and sure enough they do. I started poking around and I found out they were coming to Vegas the last day of February. I started looking for tickets, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. After a week or two of looking they finally became available and I got 2 of the best available seats.

Fast Forward

I invited a friend to go with me. I was really kind of worried that I had misjudged LBT. The concert was at Sam’s Town, a locals casino. No problem, I’ve seen great shows at Red Rock and most of the movies I’ve seen in the last few years have been either at Red Rock or the Suncoast; both are great locals places. But, both are products of this millennium. Sam’s Town hearkens back to a more “classical” Vegas, with slot machines wedged anywhere they will fit, and the heavy stench of stale cigarette smoke. Also it just happened to be race week, and every hillbilly with two bucks to rub against each other was there sporting their NASCAR jackets, hats, and commemorative Dale Earnhardt T-shirts.

Then we got to the “venue”. It looked like Sam’s Town rolled some portable bleachers into an old ball room and borrowed folding chairs from a nearby church. Of course there was a full bar and I was shocked to pay six bucks for a red bull. The woman who sat next to us brought a bucket of budweisers to set between her feet. Also, as I looked around the room It was clear that I was one of the youngest people in there. I’m guessing the couple who were sitting on the end of the row were in their sixties.

"Yikes!" I thought, "I’m trapped in a crummy ball room with a bunch of old fogies!" I thought I was here to see a great band, but I was seriously starting to worry that I had gotten confused, and I was here for some sort of piano recital.

Then, the opening act. Bless their little hearts, they tried so hard. Twin girls that played a guitar and harmonica. They did well, but the crowd was definitely not into them. You know how it goes. They’re up their singing and jumping around and then one says “Now everybody!” and points the mic at us. Crickets. And the old stand by, clapping in big arcs over your head. of course two people in the front row clap along out of obligation, but you could tell no one was interested. Oh man, I was really starting to feel out of place. And my friend had traveled quite a long ways to be there, and I was showing her a run-down casino, with crappy music.

Well, the opening act finished and then the house lights came back up. Ok, that’s kinda weird to see the roadies setting up the stage like that. The opening act pretty much just occupied one corner of the stage, and isn’t their job to say something like “AND NOW WHAT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR… LIIIITTTTLLLLE BBBIIIIGGGG TOOOOWN!!!!!!” and then LBT is supposed to come out and rock our socks off.

Well like five minutes later, the house lights go out and then LBT comes out.

OMG! It was like we had all been transported somewhere else. They were soo good, and I completely forgot about how worried I was. I don’t know how to describe how good they were. I guess if you did this: imagine the best meal you’ve had - ever. Now imagine you ate it with your ears. It was just like that; they were so good! The soaring harmonies, the rock ’n roll riffs, all my favorite songs; and I looked around. Everyone was singing along, bopping their heads and having a great time (except the old couple. I don’t know what happened to them. Maybe they got left behind at Sam’s Town when the rest of us got transported to Little Big Town Land?).

About 2/3 of the way into the show they let us all come up dance by the stage. And when they weren’t singing a part, or playing guitar they would sign stuff and shake everyone’s hand, and just were plain great to all the fans.

At one point all the lights turned blue and the four of them sat on stools and started playing Lost. I didn’t know that they wrote it about a friend of theirs that had died. They played it with just the two guitars, and at one point it was strictly acappella. I got goose bumps!

Then all the lights went out and a voice comes out of the darkness…”I FEEEL NOOO SHAAME…..” and I swear the roof popped off the building for a few seconds when everyone started cheering. That was the end of the show, but they came back for an encore and played three more songs.

All I can say is it was so good that my voice was a little horse for the rest of the weekend.

One other thing I learned. Fans of Little Big Town are called "townies." Well, I guess I'm the newest member in Town!