Back in 2000, there were three young, male country singers that I wanted to see live. Their music impressed me so much that I knew that although I loved other male and female singers, groups and duos, these three would be special to me, and I looked forward to seeing them live in concert. These three singers are Blake Shelton, Joe Nichols, and Chris Cagle. I finally was able to see Joe Nichols in September 2004, and the show was well worth the wait. In March of 2005, I got my first taste of Blake Shelton, and on May 27, 2005, I finally experienced Chris Cagle. Now that I've seen each of these guys doesn't mean I've had my fill, for each show has been one that left me wanting more.
Chris Cagle played at the indoor showroom at Konocti Harbor on the first day of the Memorial Day weekend. The weather was warm, the lake beckoning, and I was ready for some rockin' country, and smoothe ballads, as only Chris could sing them.
The show included my dinner, and I arrived in the showroom around 6:30pm, and got in line for the all-you-can-eat Prime Rib buffet. I found my table, in the fourth row from the stage, just a few feet further back than I had been when I saw Trace Adkins and Billy Currington earlier in the month, so I was definately anticipating some good pictures.
The opening act for Chris was the local band, The California Cowboys. I've seen them several times, and have always enjoyed them.
The Cowboys opened their set with "To Get To You." Most of the songs they played were their own, but they did play a few covers, such as "Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys," and "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground."
One of my favorite parts of the California Cowboys show is where the lead guitarist, Gary, sings a bit of his big Christmas hit. He produced one of the biggest selling Christmas songs ever, "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer." It's doubly funny when it's done in May, and he wishes the audience Merry Christmas.
The California Cowboys will have a new album coming out in June, and they have a song on it that has a dance that they hope will be as popular as "Achy Breaky Heart." The guys say they'll show us the dance. I don't know the name of the song, but I always call it the "Ooh Ooh Aah Aah Song." The dance was them hopping up and down as they sang. This was too funny!
They dedicated the next song to all the soldiers fighting for our freedom. It was called "We Got Us." The final song they sang was from their new album, and it's called "The Party's Over Here." (Well, I am guessing that is the title, because they didn't give the name when they sang it.)
The Cowboys set lasted about 40 minutes. Then, the stage crew came to set up the stage for Chris' show. After about 20 minutes the lights went down and Chris hit the stage, dressed in a black short sleeve t-shirt and jeans and a white hat. He opened the show with "Laredo," then moved into the title cut from his debut album, "Play It Loud."
Chris had fun with the introduction to "My Love Goes On and On" as the music started, and the crowd reacted, and he stopped everything to say, "For those of you who don't know, this the song that started everything."
I love hearing artists singing their hits and a few of their album tracks, but it's also fun when they add some covers. One cover that Chris did that night was "Drift Away," originally by Dobie Gray, and more recently covered by Uncle Kracker. He got to the line, "And when my mind is free, you know a melody can move me," he changed it to talk about "Number 3," meaning Dale Earnhardt. He said he had re-written that part. I didn't write down all the changes, but it was cool, how he changed it.