Sundays in the South: Concert Edition

It's finally Sunday again...my favorite day.  Time for some rest and relaxation!  I told you that last night I was going to the Lady Antebellum concert and I wanted to share a couple of pics and tell you a bit about it.  When I went to get my pic from my phone, I discovered LOTS of concert pics and thought I'd turn today's whole post (well, almost...there some unrelated questions for you at the end) into a concert edition!  There is nothing my husband and I love more than going to a good concert!  Since we live in the South (and not in one of the huge cities like Atlanta or Charlotte) our venue mostly gets country musicians, and Mr. Madden (okay, so I've started writing his name like this after reading Fifty) is not a huge country fan.  Luckily, I have a couple of sweet teaching friends who are BIG country music fans to go with me!

Here we are last night at the Lady A concert!  I love these girls! You'll be seeing and/or hearing from them on my blog more, I'm sure!  We teach 2nd grade at the same school and there are days when I couldn't survive without these girls! :)  Alright, so back to Lady A....the opening act was Thompson Square, who were great, and Lady A was amazing, as always (though, I must admit I think I love their music more on the radio...a little too slow for my concert taste).  But the BEST PERFORMANCE of the night went to Darius Rucker!!!!  Can I say how much I love him?  I've loved him since his Hootie and the Blowfish days.  He sang his country stuff, his Hootie stuff, a little Prince and a little Hank Williams.  I would go see him again at the drop of a hat, hopefully headlining the show!  I was in college when Hootie was really getting big, and those songs always take me back to those days.  I'm sure I love him even more since he's from SOUTH CAROLINA and Hootie formed in college (yep, at THE University of South Carolina!)  Loved his garnet and black guitar and shout out to our baseball team who will begin trying to win their THIRD National Title in a row tonight (y'all are watching and pulling for the Cocks, right?!) #fearthefish  (Those of you not from the South, you have to visit to realize how BIG college football is down here...H-U-G-E!)  Speaking of college football, the highlight of our night (well, Susannah and I since we're Gamecock girls...we're still working on our {die hard} Clemson friend, Kristen) was that we stalked saw Nathan Pepper (former USC football player) at the concert!  Of course, we totally embarrassed him {along with his wife and his friends} by getting our picture with him {and starting a trend for the night for him...sooo sorry, Nate (I can call him that now since we're good friends and all.)}
Over the past year, I've been to numerous concerts (with these girls or with Mr. Madden) and thought I'd share some pics.  Unfortunately, I don't usually take my "big girl" camera into the concerts and the iphone camera just stinks!
Some of the concerts I've attended this past year include...

Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker
Zac Brown Band (the BEST country concert performance)
Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan
Nickelback (twice...great show and my husband Mr. Madden really likes them)
Kenny Chesney and Uncle Kracker
Cyndi Lauper (my 80s dream finally came true!!! :))
Prince (wow...I hope I can still dance like that when I'm his age.  Okay, let's face it, I can't dance like that now, especially in those fabulous heels!)
Miranda Lambert
and....(I'm going to save my favorite one until the end).  Here are random pics from all of these!
(I just spoiled you a little with those "big girl camera" pics...sorry about all the iphone pics below.)
Oh, yes, Cyndi Lauper still worked it! lol
Nickelback...the most interactive with the audience of anyone.
 Me and my girls again, waiting for Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean!
The one country concert Mr. Madden wanted to attend and it was so worth it!  Maybe no pyro like a rock concert, but there were people flying through the air! :)
Kristen and I at the Miranda concert!  L.O.V.E. Miranda.
And this is me and my sweet {non-country music loving} friend, Jenny, at my #1 concert of the past year (okay, probably ever!!)  It was sooooooo H-O-T (think 100 degrees outside in Charlotte), or maybe it was because of......
ADAM LEVINE!!!  That's right...we went to the Train and Maroon 5 concert.  *sigh* Now, that I've inserted that picture, I can't even write anything else about this show, I'm too distracted. *sigh*
I'm not sure the upcoming year can top THAT, but we do have some really great concerts coming up still!  In July, Mr. Madden and I are crossing one off that's been on our bucket list for quite a while...
AEROSMITH!
And then in November, we're (or possibly, I, since Mr. Madden is now trying to wiggle his way out) is crossing off my other 80s {flashback, to 5th grade talent show} icon, 
 MADONNA!!
What are the best concerts you've ever been to? {Pretty sure that New Kids on the Block Concert when I was 15 still tops that list somewhere..hehehe!) 
Who is on your "must see" if they come to town list? {My list right now includes 

1. Maroon 5 (obviously), 
2. Bon Jovi (stays on this list), 
3. Katy Perry (laugh, if you want, I LOVE her!), 
and my #1 want-to-see-I-stalk-his-tour-list-all-the-time is 
5. Flo Rida (Mr. Madden refuses to go with me because I'm pretty sure he knows I would embarrass him greatly... can't.stop.moving.when.his.music.comes.on!)

Now, I really think I need to improve my concert pics.  I just don't always want to carry around my Canon Rebel (it's so big and bulky!), but the iphone is just not cutting it.  I've been drooling over looking at that little Nikon camera forever, and want to know if any of you have it?  I don't expect it to take the same exact quality of pictures as my "big girl" camera, but I would expect it to come pretty close at its price!  Anyone used it before?  I would love feedback on it!  I'm pretty sure Mr. Madden knows it's on my "want" list (my birthday is coming up!) 


Also, I was wondering how you all {my blog experts}, read your blogs on the go?  Do you have a great app that you love?  I've tried several this week and think Streamified is the best one I've found yet.  If you have an iphone, check it out - you can follow your google reader, facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest....all in chronological order.  Loving it so far, but just wondered if there's something out there that you love! 


Off to Target, another Sunday tradition, to wonder around aimlessly drool over that little Nikon.  Then home to watch the {road course} race (Go 24!) and then baseball with my Gamecocks....just another Sunday in the South!  :)
 

13 comments

  1. LOVE LOVE LOVE this post!! I'm a big country fan. I'm still so mad I missed the Brothers Under the Sun tour. My dad actually works at Ticketmaster, so I have him to blame for my love of concerts! He started it when he took me to 3 BSB and Nsync concerts within a year in middle school. HaHa!! Thankfully my music tastes have improved :)

    Thanks for sharing all your picks!!

    Katie
    Dirty Hands and Lesson Plans

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  2. [wow I'm glad I can pay attention and spell pictures right... haha teacher brain is obviously turned OFF lol]

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  3. Thanks for sharing! I agree that Adam Levine is just scrumptious ;) I used to listen to a lot of country many years ago, but mostly have the radio tuned to our local Christian station. Some friends invited us to an Eric Church concert at the Mid-State fair in July. I hadn't heard his music before so I pulled up some previews on iTunes and woah, he's super duper country. Hubby said its time to pull out the cowboy boots (tough since we don't own any, haha) .

    Enjoy your Sunday in the south.

    Jessica
    Teach on a Limb

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  4. I love your blog! I saw Lady A a couple of weeks ago and they were great.
    People that I want to see (that I'm not yet seeing this year)
    1. Carrie Underwood
    2. Miranda Lambert
    3. Zac Brown Band
    4. Eric Church (saw him twice last year- he was great).

    I wish I was seeing Kenny Chesney tonight (he's playing in Charlotte) but I couldn't get off work for tomorrow and didn't want to drive 2 1/2 hours home after the concert.

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  5. Ok a few things. 1. If u need someone to see Madonna with there! I watched more Thant fair share of Madonna-thons on MTV in the. 90s! 2. I use the feeddler app on both iPhone and iPad. I write with live writer at he and haven't found a great blogging app yet. And 3. I live just 45 mins from Charlotte!! I think I need to get an NC and SC blogger met up in the works. I'm jealous of all those other state meet ups!!
    Keep rocking. Not a country fan but I've been to everything from meatloaf to Marilyn Manson! My dream is stone temple pilots!
    Rachel

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  6. Katie - I totally need a relative who works for Ticketmaster...jealous!!
    Mrs. G - Scrumptious...yes, that sums it up! You should definitely get you some boots!
    Swimming - I should have put Carrie on my list. I would LOVE to see her and was totally bummed last night when I found out my country buddies do not want to see her if she comes to town - WHAT?!
    Rachel - We should totally organize a SC blogger meet up in the future...how much fun would that be? I just downloaded the {pro}Feedler App and it may be my new favorite!

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  7. I love your concert list! Bon Jovi would be a definite must for me. I saw Zac Brown Band in concert this past February & it was the best concert I have ever seen hands down. They were AMAZING! And they flew through the air at that concert too lol. Sounds like you had a blast!!
    Lisa
    Learning Is Something to Treasure

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  8. Hey Amanda! I have awarded you the "One Lovely Blog Award." Go to my blog to get it!
    Jodi
    Southern Sweetie in Second

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  9. Girl! Once again another FUN night with you two! We need to go ahead and find another one to go to soon...oh that's right you have two HUGE concert events coming up:) JEALOUS!

    Love ya...your Clemson friend:)

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  10. Amanda,
    I just awarded you the One Lovely Blog award. Stop by my blog to receive it.

    Christa
    sweetlifeofsecond

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  11. Noooothing that I love more than a country concert in the summer. I went to the Brothers of the Sun tour last weekend!

    Meg
    Third Grade in the First State

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  12. One of my most favorite things to do is to watch live music. My daughters and I are going to Coldplay tomorrow night. Super excited! They put on a fantastic show BTW... I started my summer off with the Dave Matthews Band. I've seen them every single time they've ever been to Houston (I've traveled quite a bit too). I never miss them. I'd have to say that my top 5 this summer would be 1)Dave Matthews Band 2) Radiohead 3) Coldplay 4)Gotye and 5)Jason Mraz. But I'll go to just about any show...just about ;)

    rene'
    A Passion For Primary

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  13. Any Luke Bryan fans out there? Just snagged some front row tickets when he comes here this fall...really like his music, but haven't followed him much, hoping he puts on a good show!

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