Jay had his own solo spot, as I said above.. all three guys got their chance to shine. Gives the other two a chance to take a short rest this way, so that's cool. He sat at the beautiful white Baby Grand and said, "Let's see if you recognize this." He played the beginning of "Great Balls of Fire." After that, he played "Let It Be," and the crowd was loving it. I love hearing the other guys getting a chance to sing lead themselves. Not to say anything against Gary. He's awesome.
Next Jay introduced Joe Don.. he said "One of the best guitar players in the world," and Joe Don is saying "thank you," and Jay continues on, "could not be here tonight, so we got this guy..." :D Joe Don sang one of the guys songs from the Melt album, "Like I Am." This is a song that Joe Don co-wrote on that album. He did it really well, too. From there, he strolled out to the end of the runway and played a familiar guitar riff that nearly every country fan has heard at one time or another. Yep, it was the intro to Garth Brooks' "Friends in Low Places," which he sang WITH the audience. Actually, was mostly sung by the audience, really. That's such a fun song.
Gary returned to the stage and they said they had recently been in Iraq playing for the soldiers and the soldiers asked them to give everyone back home a message... '"They say that they're doing great, and to sing their favorite song, "Bless the Broken Road."'
More confetti rained down, along with some real rain.. well, a mist, but when you're not wearing a waterproof coat, it can build up fast. I ended up leaving on the second encore song, but heard a third song played as I made my way out to the car.
Rascal Flatts played for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. What a night this was! I am so glad things worked out with the camera. I wish I had more pictures, but I'm happy with the ones I do have. I hope that I get to see Rascal Flatts again real soon. Kudos to both Blake Shelton and Keith Anderson, who both performed awesome sets themselves. Support all three of these acts when they come your way.
Oh, one last side note. The night of this show, Rascal Flatts actually won an award in New York at Billboard's "Roadwork '05" Touring Conference. This was the same thing that Kenny Chesney won the top honors at as #1 Tour. Rascal Flatts "Here's To You Tour" is currently ranked as the #2 country tour, and #8 in all genres. The award they won was for "Break-Through Touring Act." This is for an act that in its first decade cracks the Top 25 tour listings for the first time. Congrats to the guys in the band!
Song List:
- Here's To You
- Love You Out Loud
- Praying for Daylight
- Feels Like Today
- Mayberry
- Skin (Sarabeth) *acoustic*
- Great Balls of Fire (Jay solo)
- Let It Be (Jay solo)
- Like I Am (Joe Don solo)
- Friends in Low Places (Joe Don solo)
- Bless the Broken Road
- Everyday Love
- Fast Cars and Freedom
- Movin' On
- These Days
- Here's To You (reprise)
- Encore:
- Pour Some Sugar On Me
- You Give Love a Bad Name
- Born in the U.S.A.