Ahhhh Arizona.

so this past wednesday i jumped in my car after work and headed to phoenix for a concert. let me remind you that i'm a girl from indiana. i don't really know much about the desert. so in my mind, if i drive through at night, it will cool off a little bit. also remember that i drive a car that has no air (that you fred bedford the worst car salesman/snake i have ever met) so, i put the top down and head into the desert...it's supposed to be a 5.5 hour drive. well, it took me 7.5. reason being? i had to stop every hour and a half to douse my dog with ice cold water to keep her from dying. not only does the desert not cool down at night, the only difference between night a day in the desert is that the sun isn't there. it was 100º through the entire drive. and not 100º with a breeze. it was like someone was sitting in front of me aiming a blow drying in my face...for 7.5 hours. it was horrible. literally at a couple points during the drive, i seriously thought that i would die out there. not good. so anyway, all that aside, the trip had a point.

the rascal flatts concert!



this is holly and i, at the concert. oh, by the way, this was at about 9pm and it was 110º. okay, reread that. 110 DEGREES! at an outdoor concert. holy cow people, it was hot.



okay, at one point in the concert, a part of the stage drops from above, the band gets on, they are lifted up and it carrys them all the way back to where we were sitting (in the lawn seats). they get off the stage and say, "you know why we came all the way back here? cause this is where we sat before we were on stage." and then they did a couple songs out there. it was so great!



rascal flatts is one of my favorites. i love their music. i think my favorite song of all time is "bless the broken road." i love that song. pretty much every single song they have done, is absolutely wonderful. if you saw the movie 'Cars,' they actually are the band who redid the song at the end, "life is a highway." and they did it amazingly well. they managed to redo it, but also make it sound the same. however, the minute i heard it in the movie, i knew it was them. incredible! so, i could keep going...at least listen to their music...go to the itunes music store and test it out to see if you like it. i will even buy you one song...if you're nice to me.

i felt so bad that my dog had to ride back to california in the hot jeep and since the band was playing in the staples center the next night, i kept joking with holly, that i should just go up to the group and say, "look, if you guys could just let the dog ride in the bus, i'll just follow you there, she's very well behaved..." wouldn't that be nice. ah well, she was able to tough it out.

before the ride home, i went to walmart and bought an ice bandana (that cali is sporting), and a few gallons of water that i froze. as they melted (within the first hour and a half, starting at 5 am) i would dump them on the dog to keep her cool. i kept one behind my legs in the car to keep me cool and then packed some around the dog. people seriously must have thought i was insane.



overall, the show was worth every penny and every minute.
i recommend their concerts hands down. plus, the show in phoenix, it was a record breaker. it was the largest crowd they had for a country show in 16 years! isn't that great! i love it...
anyway, go to the show...if i could, i'd buy your ticket!

still recovering from the heat,
katie

also, a couple highlights from the show. one of the artists said, "we're changin the name of the tour. we'll change it to, "to hell with the music, look around at all the fine ass women." i was crackin up.

a guy got up on stage during one of the songs. and i kept looking at him like, 'why hasn't anyone removed him?' then as soon as the song ends, about four or five guys came running from all directions to escort him off stage. it would have been really funny to see him get tackled but that's just me.

the band compared the heat of phoenix to the heat of bagdad. no kidding

one of the band members went from playing the guitar, to the drums to the piano and i was AMAZED at his talents.

the fidler (?) was phenominal. he was walking around playing incredible pieces and i was blown away!

amazing show! probably the best show i've ever been too (sorry dave matthews, counting crows, john mayer, jimmy buffet...)

sorry about the longest post ever.