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| I have been sorely misinformed about ro |
My boss’ husband, Denny, used to work at the Ticket Office for CFD. He’s the one that got me the Sugarland and Alan Jackson tickets the day they came out, he took me straight into the ticket office to buy my Miranda Lambert ticket, and he got himself tickets to the rodeo directly over the chutes. He also likes to lie…sorry, ‘tell stories.’ And he’s really, really good at it. So back in March when he started telling us KISS was going to be the opening rock act a week before it was announced, we didn’t believe him. A little because it was Denny saying it, but mostly because…KISS? Really? Really? This…this is an actual thing that’s happening? And I don’t even have anything against KISS, it’s just such wasted potential. Since it was confirmed that, yeah, actually, these older-than-your-dad-in-kabuki-make-up guys were playing CFD, Courtney and I have been playing a fun game called ‘Who Would We Rather See?’ I won’t write out the list here because I’d have to devote two or three posts solely to the list (written out in a block paragraph rather than an actual list, to save on space) but I will say that we kept coming back to Bruce Springsteen. We both agreed if he came we’d be front row of the Party Zone, high on life.
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| Tell me you wouldn't want to be inches away from that, and then slap yourself for being a dirty, dirty liar. |
So, KISS came, and they rocked a house filled with more men covered in terrible Halloween make up somehow sadder than the guys they were copying.
But the next night was Brooks & Dunn, and we can just pretend that was the real start of the rodeo. Courtney, Josh, Dana, and I got there at eight, right when the opening act was supposed to come on, some people called the Band Perry whom none of us had ever heard of so we weren’t really worried about it.
Now, here’s a map of the part of Cheyenne with Frontier Park:
Do you see where that ‘A’ in the bubble is? That’s where we ended up parking. The stadium is up there at ‘Frontier Park.’ This concert sold out. The Party Zone was packed. Over 20,000 people were in the stadium. We showed up half an hour late. And this is the worst parking spot I got the entire week. Most of the time, I was able to park around the corner of Reed and 6th. CFD officials recommend the Park n Ride, where you put your car in a lot about three or four miles away and get bussed in for a ten dollar fee, and there were a lot of people doing this. But I am telling you, if you ever go to Frontier Days, just get to the residential area you see up there and as long as you’re not parking next to a curb painted yellow, you could leave your car there all week for all anybody cares. Frontier Days has been going on for over a century. These people moved into these houses knowing what was up. ‘What about traffic getting out?’ you say. Practically nonexistent, I am not even lying. Cheyenne is like a diet city – close to the real thing but just light enough to save you a whole lot of hassle.
Because of Denny’s connections our seats were amazing, a pattern you’ll see repeated throughout the week.
And here’s something I discovered as Brooks & Dunn took the stage: I really didn’t have a solid image of what Brooks & Dunn looked like. I knew there was a ginger:
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| You've got to hand it to the man. He's kept the same look for two decades. |
And I didn’t even have him pegged as the right one! I kept thinking he was Brooks, when, in fact, he is Dunn. This is entirely on me, though, as I also have trouble keeping Hall and Oates straight.
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| Okay, whichever one of you isn't wearing a shirt needs to fix that. |
And then the other guy comes out and I’m like, um, who the hell are you? You are not Dunn! (I didn’t figure out I had the names switched until after the concert). What is going on here?!?
I figured it out a few songs in, luckily. See, there’s this other country duo called Big & Rich, and in my mind I had somehow substituted Rich for Brooks. I mean, it’s not such an insane leap when you consider that I only really know a few songs from either of these groups, and they’re both made up of two dudes and an ampersand.
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| Brooks? No. Facial hair? Unfortunate. |
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PICTURES
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| Well, if the cow skull in the middle there is any indication, than maybe you should have had the last rodeo a few years ago. |
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| Kimberly Perry, of the Band Perry, which opened for Brooks & Dunn. They were good, if not middle of the road. The did cover 'What's Up' by Four Non Blondes, which is either sad or funny. Probably both. |
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| The more attractive of the brothers Perry. I think this one's Neil? Clearly I have problems with names and faces. |
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| How hardcore would it be if instead of driving around in a comfortable bus they were just being shipped around in the back of a semi? |
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| Courtney, Josh, Fran, and Denny. Denny will be mortified that his face is on the Interwebs, I'm sure, but he's the one that got us such kickass seats all week, so he'll have to deal. THANKS DENNY! |
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| WHERE AM I? Oh, oh yeah, okay. God, I keep forgetting. |
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| Who gave Howdy Doody a guitar, again? |
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| This is Brooks, okay? Not the other guy. The other guy hangs out with a dude who keeps insisting on wearing an ascot. |
MUSIC
As I said before, I knew two songs word-for-word going in: “My Maria” and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” I was vaguely familiar with “Play Something Country” and “Hillbilly Deluxe,” and going into the concert that was the song I had stuck in my head (“Hillbilly Deluxe! Slick pick-em trucks! Big timing in a small town!” Repeat ad nauseum). And I was pleasantly surprised to find I’d heard “You Can’t Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl,” a song I really liked but forgotten about. With the rest of it I just learned as I went.
The only thing that bugged me was that they made us cheer for an encore for close to five minutes. Come on, guys, I know that this is just the game every band and audience plays at the end of every show: you pretend to be done, we stomp and clap and cheer like we really believe you’ll leave without coming out again, you pretend you’re surprised as hell and come back out and play another or two (it’s the second encore these days that really mean something). I know we still have to go through the motions, and I want to go through the motions because it’s fun. But five minutes? Really? Maybe you were just thirsty or needed the little boys room, but come on. You hadn’t even played ‘Boot Scootin’ Boogie’ yet. We all know you’re coming back out. Let’s get the damned show on the road!
These two are now planning to go on solo careers after this tour is over, which I can only assume means they think they can make twice the money with two albums and two tours, or they absolutely fucking hate each other and need a break before they play Thunderdome: The Home Game. Both are respectable.
Cheyenne Frontier Days: It Begins
Rodeo
Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley
Danny Gokey and Sugarland
Parade!
Josh Turner and Alan Jackson
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