Browsing Tag

Cole Swindell

Dierks Bentley WTH Tour VIP

Dierks Bentley What the Hell Tour VIP

July 2017

Dierks has a very good VIP program.

Entering the VIP: You sign in, get some merchandise (Sunglasses, pin and cloth to wipe down glasses) and he did a 6 song acoustic set and some finger snacks. The VIP area is very intimate and Dierks absolutely played more songs than I have ever seen another artist do to date in a similar setting.

He was super fun, he took requests from the crowd on what we wanted to hear as well.

Suggestions for his staff: One suggestion would be to offer a limited # of VIP tickets for purchase to compliment the fan club meet and greet contest. I know a few friends of mine would love to meet Dierks but, have not been lucky enough to win yet and with Dierks’ s ever growing popularity it will be harder.

I have to hand it to Coastal Creek for the VIP area there was a large built in AC blower this time as it was over 95 degrees that night and otherwise the tent would have brutal. I know there is not much they can do about the weather and I tried to stick it out in the pit for as long as I could but, after about 12 songs into Dierks set I had to step off to the side where it was cooler and get some more water.

Also wanted to shout out Jon Pardi and Cole Swindell who opened for Dierks. Both are phenomenal talents as well. It was my first time hearing Jon perform and Cole is absolutely amazing. I would think we will see Cole headlining his own tour very soon.

For more photos from the show please follow my social media pages @lightscmemories

Final Verdict: Definitely recommend.

Until Next Time,

Xoxo

Heather

July 22, 2017

Entertainment Blog

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

July 12, 2016

Entertainment Blog

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_n After 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.

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

July 11, 2016

Entertainment Blog

CMT Awards Pink Carpet, Grand Ole Opry & City of Hope

CMT Awards Pink Carpet, Grand Ole Opry & City of Hope Softball Game

#cmafest

#cmtawards

#grandoleopry

This year for CMA Fest I wanted to go all in and really enjoy everything that the city of Nashville had to offer leading up to the Festival Kick off. I decided to fly in on Tuesday and get things started. For the pre-festival nights we found a hotel outside the city as most of the downtown hotels were extremely high in price.

Stayed at the http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bnagi-the-inn-at-opryland-a-gaylord-hotel/ . Pros were that they did have a bus that would take you to/from downtown for a fee and they had a shuttle over to the Grand Ole Opry for the shows which was nice. Con’s our room smelled absolutely awful, it was an ok hotel not sure I would ever stay there again truthfully.

First stop was the City of Hope Softball game. This is a really fun event every year but, it is sweltering at the ball park so you want to drink a lot and stay hydrated. You really get to see the fun personalities and competitive spirit of the celebrities and all for a great cause. City of Hope does a lot of tremendous work. They raised over $200,000 for cancer research and there was a wide range of celebrities that showed up to play including: Bret Michaels, Vince Gill, Barry Zito, Lauren Alaina, Craig Wayne Boyd, Danielle Bradbery, Bobby Bo Heather Bret nes, Bucky Covington, Jessie James Decker, Charles Esten, Nick Fradiani, Mickey Guyton, Jonathan Jackson, Chris Lane, LOCASH, Scotty McCreery, A Thousand Horses, Tristan McIntosh, David Nail, Cassadee Pope, RaeLynn, Jamie Lynn Spears, Mark Wills and Brett Young. Trisha Yearwood sang the national anthem. The event Emcee’s were Bill Cody and Lorianne Crooks. Here is a video of Trisha Yearwood singing the national anthem:

After the game we headed over to one of my favorite restaurants in Nashville: http://www.demosrestaurants.com/food the food is amazing, I go every year once or twice just for the Brown Butter Garlic Spaghetti, it’s to die for! The staff is very friendly, they do a great job of getting people seated, drinks are great and food is like I said AMAZING! 13339682_10153821441053978_1881419334411035495_n

To wrap up the evening we went to the http://www.opry.com/ for the late show. I had never been in my past travels to Nashville and I will say I really enjoyed it! We didn’t get the tickets until a few weeks before so we were pretty high up but, the acoustics were incredible. The late show had Darius Rucker, Chris Janson, Charles Esten (50^th performance at the Opry), Lindsay Eli, Bill Anderson, Jeannie Seeley (50^th Anniversary) and Carrie Underwood. Each performer was absolutely amazing. I will absolutely go back on a future trip to Nashville and do the tour etc.

13339498_10153826491443978_8497415221145988436_n Wednesday was a day I was really looking forward to. My friends and I were selected for the Pink Carpet arrivals for the CMT Awards. That might just be one of the most fun events I have ever participated in. I will say there was a lot of standing around waiting for hours until it was time to get into position. The one drawback was after they had us all set then they let the general public over and they were not following the rules, guidelines which was disappointing. If you ever do it don’t try to take photos of you and multiple friends. At first I thought that would make it easier for the celebrities to take one pic and get us all in but, it wasn’t effective. Truthfully in many ways it would have been better to be across the street where the general public was standing because most of the celebrities ran over there after g 13346498_10153826834373978_3733456804263070977_n etting out of their cars. However it was too much fun standing there and seeing who was stepping out of the limos as they pulled up right in front of us. Luke Bryan, Thomas Rhett, Cole Swindell etc. all got out right in front of us. It was so nice to see Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman arrive and they might just be the sweetest couple ever. We were able to get selfie’s with S 13407034_10153825327593978_5248686619447114485_n am Hunt, Frankie Ballard, Maren Morris, Billy Ray Cyrus & Easton Corbin.

The one thing you will hear me saying through the CMA posts is there is a very clear line between the musicians/celebrities that never forgot that it was the fans that helped to get them to where they are today and the ones that somehow forgot that and acted like they were above fan interaction. I will say that overall Country artists are some of the best when it comes to that and a good 90% were awesome about it all weekend. I will provide examples in the next few blogs on the actual festival with examples of what I am describing on that point.

After we were released w 13417547_10153824243943978_2073048795064581087_n e headed into the CMT Awards. This was another fun event that we planned a bit last minute and it was really exciting to be in the room and watch the awards show live, all the interactions the stars had with each other on commercial breaks etc. I really had a great time.

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Over the next few days I will post blogs on the actual 4 day CMA Fest! Stay tuned for more!

For all the photos of the Red Carpet arrivals you can view it at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1010333205710059.1073741833.935628749847172&type=1&l=83e2964bf0

What was I wearing on the Pink Carpet? http://www.bebe.com/

Until next time,

Xoxoxo

Heather

June 23, 2016