Rascal Flatts

The doors opened at 6:00, and even though our tickets said "Lawn Seating" they had seat numbers, so we figured we would be fine. Cindy and I took our time travelling from Fayetteville to Dallas, stopping for a few pit stops along the way. Outlet mall in Allen, TX...coffee with a mutual friend at Starbucks by Crate and Barrel...dinner at Cheesecake Factory. We thought, doors open at 6:00, Rascal Flatts will go on about 8:00, since there's only two of us, we can make our way to the front of the lawn, no problem. We were wrong!

At first we thought traffic was just rush hour...then realized it was for the concert. The hwy 75/hwy 30 junction took us 45 minutes to navigate...inching along. We left Cheesecake Factory around 6:45...and didn't park our car until after 8:00. By the time we got through the insane crowd into the arena it was close to 8:30. We found ourselves in a throng of about 15,000 people packed onto blankets on the lawn, waiting for the opening band to start. Blake Shelton...the opener, got going around then...and Rascal Flatts started their show around 9:45.

We were dazed at how many people crammed into that arena. Even more amazed at how young the girls looked...and how much younger their boyfriends were. This young generation seems to be Jessica Simpson look-alikes with their "Daisy Duke" clothes and blonde hair. I remember that time in my life being all about people noticing me...but I don't remember it being anything like what we saw Saturday night.

The show itself was good...we soaked up the atmosphere...we were so excited about seeing Rascal Flatts, so just being there was fun...but both Cindy and I thought they could have given a better performance. Band members seemed to be overwhelmed by their "largest crowd ever," and they let the audience sing most of the songs themselves.

After the concert, Cindy and I drove about 2 miles to her friend Jill's loft apartment. We sat talking with her until about 1:00 in the morning, on the roof of her building overlooking the lights of downtown Dallas. Then, Sunday morning we woke up and hit the road...stopping at Starbucks on our way out of town.

I don't do this sort of thing often enough. Over the past few years, I've become less and less spontaneous. This weekend made me feel younger than I am...which was fun for my 25th birthday. The weekend ended with phone calls from friends and family...many songs of "Happy Birthday..." I felt loved and content...it was a nice way to bring in my 25th year. Sort of like fast cars and freedom...