Kickin' it Old School

Yesterday at work instead of tuning in to my favorite Pandora station all day, that which would be the Glee station, I was in the mood for some old school tunes. I'm not talking old school like The Beatles, James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel or whatever might come to mind, I'm talking old school, what carried me through my Jr. High and High School years. We're talking only 10 - 15 years ago.

I was, and still am, a music freak. I love it. I don't just love it. I know it. I play it. I sing it. I appreciate it. It's a part of me and my family. I know I've mentioned time and time again that my mom is a piano teacher. I grew up going to church every Thursday night for choir and praise team rehearsal for my parents. I was also in the Houston Children's Chorus that left me little to no free time in Jr. High. You see where I'm going with this? It's who I am.

I'm also that type of person that gets hooked quickly to a song or artist, and listen to them until I'm blue in the face.

With that said, you can imagine that I also loved going to concerts. They were, and are still, so much fun.

Actually, just this week my friend Mandy emailed me to see if I wanted to go to see Carrie Underwood with her in a few weeks. It didn't take me two seconds to check my calender then respond with a resounding yes! I had forgotten she was coming to town, and Mandy happened to buy extra tickets, so I'm definitely looking forward to that. Who doesn't love Mrs. Carrie? She's a doll. Adorable. Likeable. And hasn't gone crazy. Plus, her albums are on my list of favorites. I'm so excited!

That got me thinking about some of my favorite concerts I've had the privilege of going to. Let's take a walk down concert row.

In Jr. High, my friend's mom worked for the rodeo, which meant that every year we pretty much got to see anyone that came to Houston. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is huge, so they bring in awesome entertainers.

I've been to too many rodeo concerts to count, but I think my all time favorite was in eighth grade when we saw Shania Twain. She is small, yes, but a feisty little thing. All I'm saying is, homegirl can entertain. She did high kicks, had fireworks, and belted out notes you wouldn't think possible from her petite stature. It was a blast!

If my memory serves me correctly, this is pretty much what she wore and looked like at our concert 12 years ago.

Man! I feel like a woman. ;)


When I got to high school was when boy bands really started taking off again. Well, maybe a little before that, but it was then that I fell madly in love with the Backstreet Boys. I understand that NKOTB were before them, but I was too young to appreciate them in their prime. After a hiatus of no boy bands, Backstreet Boys came along. Before NSYNC. I'm not hating on NSYNC in any way, shape or form, but I preferred my boys over them. I think they were more musically talented. Of course, excluding Justin Timberlake. He is a rock star.

During my sophomore year they came to Houston on tour. I never planned on going because I think the tickets were expensive and well, I had no money. But after school the first day of their tour, my dad called my mom and told her to bring me down to his office because he found two tickets to the concert that night and wanted to surprise me! I was ecstatic! We had seats in the sixth row and I was certain I would faint. Talk about some good entertainers! They didn't stop to even breathe. I'll never forget at the beginning when they flew in over our heads on surfboard looking things. I was walking on cloud nine for weeks after this concert! It is up there on my favorites list.


Hello, Millennium album. We were BFF. Do you remember?

Moving on to quite possibly my very favorite group of all time. Please don't stone me when I tell you that I adore the Dixie Chicks. Yes, yes I do. Do I agree with what they did? Of course not. But did I threaten to burn their CD's? Well, that would be silly. I mean hello, they already had my money. I say let's not hate, just appreciate. Secretly I still with they were around. I miss their charm. Their music. Their harmonies. For the love, their harmonies. Their blend. Their all around awesomeness. I miss it. I still own every CD and pretty often I pop it in like nothing ever happened.

While in high school, I can honestly tell you that Jen and I did not miss seeing them one time when they were in Houston. Not once. Every time they came, we were there. I'm telling you, we were very faithful fans. We probably saw them a total of six or seven times. My favorite concert of theirs was actually when we went for Jen's birthday. Her dad generously bought a few of her friends very good seat and at one point Natalie Maines touched us. We freaked out.

You don't have to agree with me, but they are easily one of the most talented groups that have existed. They write their own music. They sing their own songs. And they play their own instruments. Easily put, they're talented. And can put on a mighty fine show!

Who didn't know every song on every album? This was their Wide Open Spaces album. Pure love.

There are many, many more artists and concerts that didn't make the cut. These are my top three.

Next up, Carrie Underwood. I'm sure I'll have a fun report after that one.

So tell me, what's been your favorite concert you've attended? And to stick with the theme, let's keep it old school here. I think this is so fun!