CMA Music Festival...Day 4

So, by now the Nashville heat has melted my brain.  Surprisingly, though, one can still live and function upright with liquid-brain!  Thus, we are up and at 'em again!

Today is going home day...boo hoo.  So our morning started by packing up the hotel room and loading the car.  Then we ventured into the Vanderbilt area and ate some yummy Japanese food.  Just don't order sweet tea!  (It's Japanese sweet.  It shocks your taste buds!)

Say "Cheese"!  We're hot, tired, hungry, and slightly delirious!

We were done.  Done with Broadway.  Done with the street stages.  Done with the heat and the crowds.  However, we were not done with country music.  So we headed super early to the LP Field-area of town in order that we would be first through the gates and get the best seats.  (Our FREE tickets were in a general admission section.)

Tonight's fourth and final lineup was the best!  It was certain to be a party!  On a side note, our section was kind of angled at the corner of the stage.  We had this perfect view from our seats:

Each night we would watch these stairs to see which stars would come and go from the stage.  For the most part, though, the entrance of the stage was on the other side.  We did see equipment being loaded and unloaded all night.

The JaneDear Girls started off the night.  They are really cute, but they seem a little un-easy on stage.  Just keep working it, girls.  You're sharing the same stage as these other big names to come.  You must be doing something right. 

My new super-fav's, The Band Perry came next:

Kimberly Perry looked so cute! (Above photo source).  She and her brothers were killing it on stage.

The Eli Young Band did a quick acoustic performance, then made way for Darius Rucker! That's him on the jumbo screen and in "person" in the blue jeans. He danced around and really put on a show.  You could tell he loved being right there with us in the heat!

 

Everyone was yelling "Hootie" which was appropriate considering during his set he sang "Only Wanna Be With You" from his Blowfish days.  (photo below source)

 

I mean, we were definitely going to be exhausted tonight!  Sweet Tracy Lawrence came out to do an acoustic set while we reved up for this hottie: (photo below source)

Hello, darlin'!  You have quite "The Voice", no pun intended!  We partied with Blake Shelton a bit.  Trace Adkins even made an encore appearance to duet "Hillbilly Bone" with BS.

I know it's hard to tell, but that's the 2 of them really jammin' together in the picture above.  Did you notice in the former shot how Blake is pointing at his brand new, shiny wedding ring?  That's what he did

whilst he had the pleasure of introducing the next act: Mrs. Blake Shelton A.K.A Miranda Lambert!

Oh, be still my heart!  This girl is fiesty and loveable all in the same!  She rocked it out and I can't decide if she's lucky to have Blake or if he is lucky to have her.  (photo below source)

However, consider yourself warned.  Whatever you do, do not -- let me repeat DO NOT -- release beach balls into the crowd during her performance.  During her set about 500 beach balls were thrown around while she was singing. One landed on stage, and she stomped the air out of it with her high heel, saying: "Is it just me or do those beach balls irritate the hell out of y'all?" She then asked everyone to hold onto them while she sang the emotional "The House That Built Me."

She brought her new group The Pistol Annies onstage to sing their new hit, then she finished her gig performing "Gunpowder and Lead".  Wow! 

I would say -- and sometimes looking back I do say -- Miranda Lambert's performance was hard to beat.  However, Taylor Swift certainly wanted to try.  Hello, Taylor Alison Swift!

Taylor (much to the chagrin of some pure-country fanatics) has a cross-genre style.  Her heart and her honesty fit in well with Nashville purists, but she likes to rock it out on stage.  Um, see below if you need proof: (photo below source next 2 images) 

But c'mon, can you really "rock" a stage if you're playing a banjo?

Taylor looked great!  She wore a seemingly hand-beaded multi-toned brown/tan mini dress and her signature black boots.  She was characteristically accessorized and made up with a 13 on her right hand and bright red lipstick.  However, all night, we were craning our necks and crossing our eyes to figure out what was written on her left arm.  Turns out, she wrote "Remember me in ribbons and curls, love your Baby Girl".  Those Sugarland lyrics sum up the unspoken knowledge that at 21 yrs old, Taylor is no longer our little teenaged singing sensation.  She's carving a place in this industry among her adult peers such as Jennifer Nettles, Miranda Lambert, etc.

Each night the concerts concluded with a beatiful fireworks display.  However, these were bitter sweet fireworks that we witnessed tonight.  Not only did they signal the end of this full weekend, they also reminded us that it was now 12:30 and we were looking at a 3+ hour drive.  Yeesh!  My head hit the pillow shortly before 5:00 AM on Monday morning.  Needless to say, I was exhausted, but it was so worth it!

Well, I hope to write soon about next year's CMA Festival.  This is definitely something I will add to my annual list! 

Until then,