Yesterday was such an awesome day. I have most of the photos on Flickr…I was going to upload them into the post, but they are having alignment issues and do not want to cooperate. We left the hotel around 10:30am, and headed to downtown Nashville hoping to find a decent parking space close to the venue where the concert was going to be held. We ended up parking just down the road, about 2 minutes from the stage. We decided to walk the streets and grab a quick lunch before the show started at 1:30pm.

Along the way, we overheard a woman ask a man walking in the opposite direction if he had seen Steve Martin pass by. James and I immediately looked at each other, both of us thinking we had to see if it was really him. We walked a few feet to the street corner, and up the side street walked Steve Martin and his dog! We followed behind him for a few blocks before reaching Panera Bread, where we had lunch. I really wanted to speak to him, but didn’t want to be rude or impose on his attempt to not be seen (he was wearing a suit, hat pulled down low, and sunglasses, but on close observation, you could totally tell it was him!).

After lunch, we got in line to get into the park for the concert. They had fenced off the entire area, and after standing in line for close to an hour, they finally opened the gates at 1:30pm on the dot. It was grass seating, so everyone was running to claim the closest spot to the stage. James and I picked a comfy spot about 20-30 feet from the stage. It was so crazy to be that close to the performers for only $20 a ticket. Where we sat would easy cost $50 or more if it were in a closed venue.

A local band opened the concert, and around 2:30pm, Dierks Bentley and a string of motorcycles came riding in and parked alongside the stage. We were very close to that area as well! Wynonna Judd was the first celebrity to perform, followed by Michelle Branch, Eric Church, Darius Rucker, and Dierks Bentley. There were a couple of other people mixed in, but I can’t remember there names at the moment.

After Darius’ performance, someone yelled that he was signing autographs down by the staircase. I jumped up to see, and dropped my phone on the concrete step I was sitting on (it was mostly grass, but there were concrete stairs every so often to help walk up the steep slope). The battery and battery cover flew off the back. I grabbed it up and put it back together while running towards Darius Rucker to get him to sign my ticket. As soon as I walked up, he started to walk away. The lady beside me was snapping pictures left and right, but I couldn’t not get my phone to turn back on for anything! (And I am STILL kicking myself for not taking my digital camera!!) Just as he stepped back onto the tour bus, the home screen popped up as if nothing had happened…I was behind aggravated with my phone at that point!!

After Dierks’ performance, he came down and signed autographs, and I did manage to get him to sign my ticket. On our way out, we saw Brad Arnold (lead singer of 3 Doors Down, who performed a couple of songs with Dierks Bentley) having his picture taken with a fan. I ran down his way with James’ ticket stub (since mine had already been signed), and he too started to walk away as I approached. I called out his name, but he kept walking. His wife, who was standing by his side, looked at me and smiled, then turned and walked away with Brad….How rude!

Sunday was definitely a wonderful end of our trip to Nashville. The concert was for a great cause, and they raised over $200,000 for the children’s hospital in Nashville. I really think Nashville is my favorite big city of all I have visited, as it has plenty to do without having as much traffic and people as the other nearby big city (Atlanta).

Last night, James and I went to the Nickelback concert in Charlotte, NC. It took about 5 1/2 hours to get there, and so we checked into a hotel and took a nap once we made it there. We got back up around 3pm, got ready, and headed out to find something to eat. Apparently, James’ navigation wasn’t programmed for Charlotte, because it wouldn’t display nearby restaurants for us. We decided just to head toward the venue and hopefully we’d see something to eat on the way. The first thing we came to was a McDonald’s, so that’s what we had.

After we ate, we swung by Target to get an umbrella because it had been raining off and on, and I left mine in my car at home. Then we headed to the amphitheater. Parking only took about 15 minutes, and getting in didn’t take long either. I got a Nickelback concert t-shirt, then we went to find our seats. They were not bad…I had to zoom in to get good photos (which will be on my Flickr later today), but we weren’t in the nosebleed section!

The first band to play was Saving Abel. I only know 2 of their songs, and luckily they played the 2 I know. Next was Papa Roach, and I got the best photos of them that I took all night. Their lead singer, Jacolby, would stand up on a block at the front of the stage, so I could see him better. After them came Hinder, who were awesome. It seemed to take forever for Nickelback to come out, but when they did….WOW! They put on a VERY good live show. Chad Kroeger is so awesome, and really worked the crowd. The concert was by far the best I’ve attended (which may not be saying much, since it was only my 5th concert ever!).