Meeting Carrie Underwood (& Her Amazing Concert!)

When Nikki & I saw Carrie in Pittsburgh last spring, we did so because her Cleveland tour date had been cancelled.  Months after the really amazing Pittsburgh concert, we found out she had added a 2nd leg to the tour, and Cleveland was added back in.  We knew we had to go.


I am in Carrie's online fan club because fan club members get pre-orders on the tickets, and just as I got floor seats for Pittsburgh, I had the opportunity again for Cleveland.  This time, we were fourth row, center!


I was so worried my transplant wouldn't happen early enough for me to be up to going to this event.  Thankfully, I had it just in time, and this concert marked my 8-week anniversary of the new liver inside of me.  The night was exhausting, but so worth it.


A week ago from Thursday, I got an email at 10 or 11pm saying I won a drawing in the fan club, and I was selected to attend Carrie's Meet & Greet before the concert.  Little did I know that Nikki had been working relentlessly for weeks, calling agents and producers and labels everywhere from Nashville to LA to the venue... all trying to get me to meet Carrie.  She knew how much it would mean to me.  So when I got this email, whether she had anything do with it, we will never know, but I will say that I was so excited I couldn't even sleep.  My heart was breaking though, because it said one per person, non-transferable and I wanted my sister to meet Carrie, too.


Finally when we got there on the chilly Ohio night, we went to the box office and asked for my special Meet & Greet pass.  They gave it to me and directed us to a lady to talk to about getting Nikki let in.  We explained how I had just had a liver transplant and asked if she could accompany me just in case anything happened.  We were directed to a few different people, and finally, Mina, the sweet girl we later found was Carrie's personal assistant, okay'ed is in.  "I'd rather you be with her than without her," she said with a smile.  We waited and waited and finally walked up a staircase into what looked like a balcony room.  There was a set up with a background and couple of decorations, and Carrie, armed with bodyguards, took her place in front of the background.  Somehow the line got turned around, and we were first.


For some reason or another, I was so nervous.  Even though we were only allowed to bring one thing to autograph, Carrie signed both a CD cover and the concert tour book for me.  Then we smiled for a picture, which Mina took.  Then I introduced her to Nikki who had a picture I took at the last concert as well as another tour book for her to sign.  She was so sweet and didn't say much except Hi, How are you, and explaining how she thought she should have a deal with Sharpies because her silver sparkle Sharpies only worked half the time.  She was sweet, but definitely not one to hold up a long conversation.  So we thanked her, and out we went.  Security pretty much drug us out while we were just trying to pick up our bags - it was a little insane.  We went down to the concert, showed the usher our tickets, and pretty much had a few moments of breathlessness when we saw where our seats were.  4th row sounds close, but being there, it sounded even closer.  We sat, anxious for 40-50 minutes until the concert finally began!


Here we are with Carrie, as well as some of the things she signed for us.  The black & white photo she signed was one I personally took last April.  She loved it.  :)

Sons of Sylvia are still opening for Carrie, and we're not fans.  At all.  But they can be cute, so it works.

Next, Billy Currington did a set.  He wasn't on the Pittsburgh tour, so it was good to see him for the first time.  I like a few of his songs, and who can resist his blue eyes??

Then, the arena went black, and the music to "Cowboy Cassanova," started blaring.  Carrie came up on a moving riser and did her thing.  With video and still cameras out, we went to work making memories of our amazing evening.  (And all while joining the thousands there and singing every last word of every song, may I add.  Okay, wait, that was me, not my "too cool" sister!  lol)


Carrie is a beautiful singer and puts on a great show. We've seen her twice now and have no complaints.   Her show is just perfect.  I liked how in this show, she had a couple different outfits/costumes than the first time we saw her.  (Costumes fascinate me - like Dancing with the Stars, who makes all those?  In 1 week?!  Insane!)


Anyways... without further ado...  Enjoy!!

Cowboy Cassanova

Country Roads, Take Me Home

Undo It

Jesus Take the Wheel

How Great Thou Art

Duet with Sons of Sylvia

I Told You So

Mama's Song

Songs Like This

These are just my highlights, for all of my concert videos, go to my YouTube playlist, and for all of my concert photos - from this and last year, go to my Flickr set! :)

A great night

There's nothing I love more than family, or an excuse to get together with my family!

My grandparents are "snowbirds" - they live in Florida from October through May, Ohio from May through October.  It's become tradition to have a big dinner before Nana & Poppop, now just Poppop, returns to Florida.  We invite the whole family and go out to eat, and it's always a fun special time.  Two years ago at this specific dinner, that was the last time I saw my beautiful Nana.  So these dinners are very important to me, and I made sure I got the whole family involved in this year's dinner.  Unfortunately my Uncle Mark and Aunt Cathy were out of town, but the entire rest of the family was there, and it was so special.  Here are the pics.  (And yes, it feels SO good to be recovering and getting out more!!)
















love, love, love :)

Carrie Underwood in Pittsburgh!

So yesterday, I got my sister, buried my floor seat tickets deep in in my bag, packed some snacks and put on capris and a cute summer top (April Fools brought us a nearly 80* day!), and into my car we went.... I told the GPS where to take us - on our 2 hour drive to see Carrie Underwood's PLAY ON tour, of course!  Rumor has it, the tour was coming to Cleveland but was cancelled, so somehow we ended up doing this.  It was such a beautiful day for a nice drive, and a day that both Nikki and I had off from school (a a rarity) and the concert was just really amazing, so fun, and then we had  a nice, sleepy drive home... in bed by 2a maybe?

So, without further ado, here are my videos from the show last night (most from my new Kodak Zi8 HD, a few from my Canon G11) and some of the best pics Nikki and I were able to grab on our own cams.

Well, Sons of Syliva opened for Carrie, and no one wanted them onstage.  It was very terrible, to put it nicely, and I think everyone within our section at least just wanted them offstage.  We'd of course let them back on later when they sang their duet with Carrie.  :)  (Click here for the vid)

Next, Craig Morgan came on, sang his newest single and some older hits like International Harvester (which our friend we met in Disney last year, Shane Minor wrote!)  He sang Little Bit of Life, That's What I Love About Sunday, and a few more.

Then intermission, then CARRIE!

First with Cowboy Cassanova...

Country covers in a pickup truck...

She added How Great Thou Art to the end of Jesus Take the Wheel - it was so pretty!

I thought she had a great show - lots of outfit changes but not so many "costumey" like Taylor Swift had.  (Those got annoying.)  Carrie really knew how to connect with her fans and in between a few surprises, she sang every single hit down to "Last Name," "Before He Cheats," "So Small, and "Jesus Take the Wheel" with a "How Great Thou Art" spin-off.   She looked so pretty, and there she was, literally feet from our faces.  I remember where she was just a few years ago... that's what I think of when I think of American Idol.  These days, none of them can sing, the ones who are sweet and humble get kicked off anyways, the show just isn't what it was.  But Carrie to me is American Idol, what it used to be at least.  She wins everything because she makes her fans happy and has her head on straight.  There were kids there, great-grandmas, college aged guys and girls, families with tiny kiddos... everyone just wanting to hear the girl from Checotah, OK sing.  You know, the one with the pretty face face and good manners.  I think that will get you far in this world.

If you want to see ALL of my Carrie Vids, go to my YouTube Concerts channel - the Carrie Vids are the last, on the bottom.  And a link to all of our pictures in my Flickr gallery is here in my 2010 set, but lots of pics are below! :)

And I wish I could have taped this better, but this is MY Carrie Underwood song, the one that makes me cry every single time.  And we all know why:

Someday when I stop loving you

One foot on the bus 'bout half past nine
I knew that you were leaving this time
I thought about laying down in it's path
Thinking that you might get off for that

I remember that night we laid in bed
Naming all our kids that we hadn't had yet
One for your grandma and one for mine
Said we'd draw straws when it came time

I'll move on baby, just like you
When the desert floods and the grass turns blue
When a sailing ship don't need her moon
It'll break my heart, but I'll get through
Someday when I stop loving you

I bet all I had on a thing called love
I guess in the end, it wasn't enough
And it's hard to watch you leave right now
I'm gonna have to learn to let you go somehow
Somehow

I'll move on baby, just like you
When the desert floods and the grass turns blue
When a sailing ship don't need her moon
It'll break my heart, but I'll get through
Someday when I stop loving you
     Someday when I stop loving you