So I didn’t know who The Zac Brown Band was, until Chris and Holan were going to their concert. Then one night at the Wine Barn, Holan mentioned it to the group. Dee was totally into going but didn’t want to intrude into Chris and Holan’s concert outing. Besides, they had bought their tickets for weeks and the likely hood of getting another ticket next to them would be near impossible. So I agreed to go with her, if Chris could get the tickets. In a matter of minutes the tickets were purchased and I was on my way to my first country music concert. Little did I know that we were seeing one of country music’s most popular and successful acts.

First, we went to Granite City for dinner. Steve, Dee, Chris and I were to met Holan as she was coming in from work in Kansas City. We were running a little late but Holan got there and put our name on the wait list. We never thought there would be a problem eating at 5:00 on a Thursday night! They said the wait was about 20 minutes which ended up being an hour. After eating Steve drove Holan’s car home and we were off to the concert.

We found our seat but first we passed a long line of people. When we got to the end a gentleman was standing there checking tickets. It was then we realized all the people we had passed were waiting to enter this section also. We felt really bad but it was done so we went to our seats. The opening act was some unknown and didn’t play very long. For the next forty or so minutes we watched all the people milling around. It was very entertaining! We guessed that there were about 10,000 in attendance at the Sporting KC soccer stadium. Oh, and by the way it had turned off cool with a temp of about 56.

The concert started with “Let It Rain,” with a video of rain coming down on the stage accomplished with a video, additional lights and the stage curtains. After a bit the curtains went up and there they were, ready to deliver their songs and many other bands. They did a Stevie Wonder song, “Isn’t She Lovely,” which had a VERY long middle show casing each of the band member’s talents. They also did covers by Van Morrison, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Charlie Daniels and Led Zeppelin.

I was very impressed with Zac Brown’s interaction with the audience, many times leaning over and shaking hands with his fans. At one point, while singing, he walked in the pit. A fan requested “Sic’ Em On A Chicken” and he was more than happy to deliver. The band did a short tribute for 9/11 with two military personal coming onto the stage. As the band prepared for intermission, Zac Brown autographed a guitar and handed it to a young boy in the audience.

For the encore, the stage was black light and the band emerged in ghoulish costumes to perform “Day for the Dead,” then generated a mosh pit up front with a fiery cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”

After more than two hours the night ended with  “Chicken Fried,” which everyone loved.

I have never been to a concert like this before. The two girls behind us were having a marathon talk fest. When they got up, in the middle of a song, I thought “finally peace and quite.”  I wasn’t sure if people came for the music, to socialize or just to say they were there. Kind of interesting.