Recently, I have seen a few things posted here and there about the recent Garth Brooks concert in Nashville. Alas, I didn't go but hearing about it did take me back to days long ago. One sweet friend told me she was going and she got to hear first hand about my experience, poor thing. It was also then that I realized how young she was.
Back to the story- Do you remember a long (long) time ago when Garth was, you know, like Entertainer of the Year or something like that, winning every award in the music industry? That is the time I am talking about. Well, one year Garth decided to come to the great place of Starkville, MS, to the Hump (the colliseum) for a concert. Oooh, my friend and I were so excited. Really pumped. Beside ourselves. We were the crazies who drove up and down Hwy 12, with the windows rolled down, singing, "I've Got Friends in Low Places" at the top of our lungs, almost in tears listening to "The Dance". This was a must-see event.
The problem was tickets. The way tickets were going to be sold was through a lottery. I think they were trying to avoid mass injury with the crowds. This meant whoever wanted a ticket had to go put their name down and sit in the baseball stadium until their name was called, receive whatever as proof and then you could go purchase your allotted 4 tickets. I can't remember all of the details, but for whatever reasons neither Susan nor I could pull that off. It was one of two reasons. Either we were so devoted to our studies that we didn't dare miss class or we were so sure we would be able to bum tickets off of someone else, that we just skipped the whole thing. Praying the whole time.
Well, it just so happened that a particular friend of ours went to the lottery to get tickets for himself, 3 extra. Lo and behold, this person got a great lottery number. He got his 4 tickets. This person's name just happened to be David Pritchard. This was before we were dating and the assumption that if he got two tickets I would get to be the lucky guest. So, Susan and I resorted to the ultimate strategy.
We begged. We groveled. We got two tickets. Then we shopped for cowboy boots. Seriously.
This is where the story gets even better. These 4 tickets weren't together. Two of the them were in the nosebleed section to the right of the stage. Two of the tickets. On the floor. Something like the 20th row. Whoa, dude. No way!!
So, how was this delimma going to be worked out. Of course, this was a serious decision. According to me and my dear friend, both females. Not so much of a serious decision, but an effortless one for my dear friend, David, a male. Of course, he and his buddy would take....the floor seats. Susan and I...the nosebleed. After all, there really wasn't any other way, and he was the one who sacrificed his day to sit for the lottery. Hmmm......
The day of the concert came. Susan and I, decked out in our country duds, cowboy boots and all, were picked up by our friends (although maybe at this point Susan and David's friend may have been seeing each other) and we all rode to the colliseum together.
Where we appropriately, split up and went our separate ways. David and his buddy to enjoy up close and personal. Susan and I to share our buddies hunting binoculars. Yes, we really did.
To sum it up...we had an absolute blast!! It was one of the greatest concerts! Garth - more than an performer, but a true entertainer. We even had fun trying to spot David and his friend.
The rest is history, I guess you could say. Of course, we went out somewhere afterward,(thinking Shoneys for breakfast bar) for the guys to eat and for the girls to give the guys a hard time. It was months before David and I actually started dating. (It took a long time for me to get over the ticket thing- Ha, ha, just kidding) It actually was a great event in our early days as friends.
Garth. Mississippi State. Cowboy boots (which actually got alot of wear). A friend who brought himself out of "low places" on the 20th row (hee, hee) to marry me! :)
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