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CMA 2016 Fest Day 3 (Saturday):

CMA 2016 Fest Day 3 (Saturday):

#cmafest

#bigmachinebooth

Day 3 we took our time getting up.  Mother Nature really turned up the temps for the last 2 days and was expected to hit close to 100.  I don’t really mind the heat but staying hydrated is a must.  We spent the morning walking around Nashville shopping in some of the boutique stores and then went over to Fan Fair X and shopped at the booths over there.  I really loved this one t-shirt I found Spread Love It’s the Nashville Way.  http://www.project615.org/shop-online/spread-love-nashville

After we unloaded all our shopping fun at the hotel we headed over to listen to some music on some of the other stages including the River Front.  It was a nice relaxing day, enjoying the beautiful weather and fantastic music.

I was very excited for the night’s performers.  The only disappointment of the day was when we saw a country singer/reality TV star, one I had always liked and hoped to meet one day.  There was maybe 20 or so people that were there and someone asked may be get a picture.  The response I thought was one of the rudest I had ever seen “Nah” and left.  Now I will say the lack of desire to get a photo that day could have been due to the news of Christina Grimmie being shot and killed the night before which would absolutely be understandable.  However there is a way to connect with fans, if this individual had said sorry not today or something I think it would have been better received.  I was truly disappointed in this but, it goes to show not everyone is how they appear to be on TV when the camera is on.   Some artists get way too big for their britches, they forget it’s the fans that helped to make their careers flourish and it’s those same fans that devote their time, money and more to see them.

On the opposite spectrum we also saw Cole Swindell that day and he stopped, was gracious and took pics with the handful of people that were around at that time.

The lineup at the stadium for Saturday night was:

National Anthem:  Marshall Tucker Band

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Chris Young with special guest Cassadee Pope

Cole Swindell

Florida Georgia Line

Steven Tyler with special guest Martina McBride

Blake Shelton with special guest The Oak Ridge Boys

 

One thing many people don’t know is all the performers don’t get paid for playing at CMA Fest because the proceeds go to the CMA Foundation (Music Education Matters).

 

The lineup again really gave us another fantastic night of performances.  Chris Young and Cassadee Pope sang their duet “Think of Me” and Chris sang the rest of his chart toppers.  Cole Swindell delivered yet another goosebump moment, there is something so special when they put the camera on his face and you see that twinkle in his eye because he is blown away by the moment he is living.  Florida Georgia Line also delivered another upbeat performance.  Steven Tyler came out and crushed it!  He sang one duet with Martina McBride, a few of his songs of his soon to be released country album, a cover to Janis Joplin’s “Piece of my Heart” and a few Aerosmith hits.   There seemed to be mixed reviews the next day but, I personally thought he did a fantastic job and has done a stellar job on his new country album.  Blake also sang some of his biggest hits and welcome The Oak Ridge Boys on stage to sing “Doing it to Country Songs”.

 

For day three attire, you needed light, airy clothing for this day/night.   I went with clothes from:  http://shop.nordstrom.com/

For carrying just the necessities around CMA Fest I always go to my Coach Cross body or wristlets:  http://coach.com

For additional videos please visit my YouTube channel:   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLzUFhYU32shIwac71Fd81w

 

Pictures please go to my IG or Facebook pages:  @lightscmemories

 

Until next time,

 

Xoxoxo

Heather

Entertainment Blog

CMA 2016 Fest Day 2 (Friday):

CMA 2016 Fest Day 2 (Friday):

#cmafest

#bigmachinebooth

Cole Swindell

I was very excited to wake up for Day 2 at CMA Fest.  I started my morning at the Cole Swindell Down Home Fan Club party.  This is one thing I didn’t do the first year at CMA Fest was plan ahead to go the fan club parties.  The party was a lot of fun, small, intimate, acoustic and was great to see Cole in that setting.  Last year at CMA fest Cole gave me goosebumps during his performance and truly made me into a fan that day.  He has that special something and is truly one of the artists that gets it, he has stayed humble and is great to his fans.  He played for about an hour or so, then took photos with everyone.  We received a signed poster, shirt, and koozie as well.

 

13428583_10153829551608978_8590708588669971237_nAfter this we headed over to Fan Fair X to get into the hopeful line for one of my favorites Mr. Steven Tyler.  Yesterday when we were there we were told they would not allow anyone to start in the hopeful line until 2 hours ahead of the signing so we were not happy to get over there to find out they actually started the hopeful line right when the doors opened for a 3:00 signing.  Communication with your customers should always be important to the staff representing you and honest communication should be paramount.  I had won the overflow contest for Jamie Lyn Spears meet and greet passes so we headed over to do that.

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After we walked over to the area where Steven was signing and were fortunate enough to be given two tickets.  Steven Tyler is one of the absolute best at meet and greets.  He is a legend, he’s been in the business for well over 30 years and many of the newcomers could learn a lot by watching him engage with his fans.  Steven took time with every single person he met, he spoke to you and looked you directly in the eye, asked your name, you could have a short conversation, his photographer took the photo, gave you an autograph and a hug and kiss.  It’s nearly impossible to walk away from an interaction with Steven and not feel special and appreciated.  He stayed for well over the allotted time of 2 hours which was not at all surprising. 13445558_10153828811143978_4172109016094299840_n

The best part of CMA Fest is you truly never know who you will run into.  We were walking back to our hotel and look up and there is Charles Esten!  He was so sweet and took a photo with us and we congratulated him on Nashville being picked up by the CMT network!

The line up at the stadium Friday was:

National Anthem:  Frankie Ballard

Clint Black

Chris Stapleton

Sam Hunt

Eric Church

Hank Williams Jr

Carrie Underwood

The performances again were all really good.  Frankie did a great rendition on the electric guitar of the National Anthem and Clint Black played a handful of his hits.  Chris Janson also made a surprise appearance to sing his hit Buy Me a Boat.  Chris is another one of those special performers that is absolutely loving and is appreciative of the opportunity to live his dream.  Chris Stapleton is one amazing songwriter and singer.  Sam Hunt, I had never seen perform live before but, will definitely be looking for tour to come to my city in the near future.  Eric Church just commands the stage, he’s an amazing performer and I always look forward to his performances.  Carrie Underwood was absolutely fantastic.  She took the stage with a different presence than last year, it was great to see her dressed down and full of sassy attitude.  I have always liked her since American Idol but, walked away being truly impressed after her performance to close out Day 2.

For day two attire I went with clothes from:  https://factory.jcrew.com/

For carrying just the necessities around CMA Fest I always go to my Coach Cross body or wristlets:  http://coach.com

Additional videos can be found on my youtube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLzUFhYU32shIwac71Fd81w

For additional photos from CMA Fest check out my IG and Facebook pages @lightscmemories.

Until next time,

 

Xoxoxo

Heather