AMAZING Evening...

So, here's the back story first:

Monday, I was driving out to get Scotty from preschool. I was listening to my standard radio station, Angel95 FM. It's a local Christian radio station, and I don't get to listen often, unless I am alone in the car, because usually I have some kind of kid music on...all you parents out there KNOW what I'm talking about!

So, anyway...I hear the announcer mention something about "...if you've got Thursday night free, so check your calendar and call us for a free pair of tickets..." And he mentioned the "What Life Would Be Like" tour with Jason Gray, Rush of Fools and Big Daddy Weave.

Well now...I'd been listening to Big Daddy Weave since we lived in Va Beach (on KLOVE radio), so I recognized the name...the other two? Well, quite sure I'd heard ONE song from Rush of Fools, but nothing from Jason Gray. But still...free concert, right? In Salina....oh...that's an hour away....but still...FREE.

So I proceeded to take my cell phone out (yeah, yeah, I KNOW...I shouldn't be calling while driving...wait, it gets worse!)...but it's in my right pocket, which is blocked by the seatbelt. I still manage to wiggle it out, flip it open...gosh, WHAT was the NUMBER he said to dial? Was it 587-5959? No....maybe it was 935-9595....well, I tried another number, fully expecting NOT to get through, thinking the phone lines will be clogged with lots of people calling to win these tickets. Seriously...at least a minute had gone by before I'd even DIALED. But the phone rang....and the DJ picked up.

I said, "Hi, I'm calling about the Big Daddy Weave tickets. Did you give them away?"
He replied, "Yes, we did...to YOU!"

I was shocked...I really thought someone else would have won them; there were so many things going against me. The DJ told me the tickets would be available at the concert under my name. TWO tickets. So who to ask? Now, instinct might tell YOU "ask your husband"...but he doesn't like that kind of music and would not likely sit through an entire concert, free or not (and yes, this is how he feels). So...who next? First thought in my mind was my friend Jodi. She and I don't get to spend a lot of time together, but we make the most of the time we do. So I called her, knowing she was in school (she teaches middle school chorus in JC), leaving a message on her voice mail. She called later and said she'd LOVE to come.

Fast-forward to last night. I picked Jodi up in JC (on the way to Salina) and we stopped in Abilene to eat at the Brookville Hotel - FANTASTIC food there...it's a family-style fried chicken dinner, no menu. You get what they bring, but they bring a lot of food. I was STUFFED (and still brought home 2 pieces of chicken, because you get an entire HALF chicken!). After we left the Brookville, we headed to Salina, to the Stiefel Theater. I have NO idea where this theater is, except for the directions I got from Google. It's about 6:50 and the concert starts in 10 minutes. Based on what I had seen on the internet, we'll probably be stuck in a cruddy seat. Ah well, we had a good meal and good company, and did I mention the tickets were FREE? Parked at a free lot...very first spot is OPEN...that's a blessing! I grab the directions, thinking we'd be walking several blocks. When we step on the sidewalk, the theater is right there, in front of us!

We got our tix, they were general admission. Again, the thought of bad seats passed through my mind. But nope...this theater is small, and there are NO really bad seats. We chose the balcony. Sat in the last row of the lower balcony and waited.

The first act up was Jason Gray. Wow. That's all I can say. This tall, lanky guy comes up and just WOWS us. Jason has a speech impediment...a stutter. I didn't catch it at first. Then when he introduced his 2nd song, it was there. And how appropriate, because his song was called Blessed Be. As in the Beatitudes. The first line of the song - Losers....all the lovely losers.... - he talks about himself. The song just struck a chord.





Rush of Fools and Big Daddy Weave were really good too...but Jason's songs were just so good. Jodi and I ended up buying all three of his CD's...and listening to one on the way home - an acoustic one...and there is a HILARIOUS song on it called Curiosity Killed the Cat....I'll have to see if there's a video for that one.


All in all, it truly was an amazing show. I was surprised at the small turnout - the theater was not full. We ended up moving down to the front row of the balcony after Jason's performance, when several others left to go down to the main level. And I am upset at myself for forgetting my camera. I could have gotten some fantastic pictures.