A Dry spell ends
It's been a couple years since I've been able to see Craig Morgan in concert. Whenever he had been out this way, he was playing at venues I don't go to, or venues too far away. So, when I saw he was going to be coming to the Solano County Fair, I asked my friend Dianne if she wanted to go, and we bought our tickets, reserved our hotel, and waited for the concert date to arrive.
Vallejo is about 2 1/2 hours from where we live, so we left in the early afternoon, then after checking into our hotel, and having some dinner, we made our way to the Fairgrounds. Both of us were approved for Meet & Greets before the show, and we picked those up at the gate, and headed to the amphitheater.
After meeting with Craig, getting our picture taken, and having him autograph our CD covers, we made our way to our seats in the 5th row, center. Very nice seats.
The weather was quite a bit cooler than up north, where we live, and neither of us thought to bring a jacket, so as the night moved on, we both were pretty darn cold.
The missing notepad!
I want to make a note that my notepad where I wrote down the song list, and notes didn't make it home with me. I believe I must have left it at the venue, so my review is going to be based on my memory, and I don't have a set list.
Who's that man on the motorcycle?
The show started at 8:00 pm, and a few minutes after that, Craig was introduced, and with a roar of a motorcycle off to the left of the stage, Craig rode his bike up a ramp to the stage to begin his set. Wow! That's not something you see everyday.
I remember the opening song was "Little Bit of Life," which is the title track of his current album. Craig was in fine voice, and dressed in a sky blue shirt, which really pleased me, as it's so much easier to photograph people when they're not dressed in black.
Craig gives a unique photo op
There were groups of fans, mostly girls, that shouted out some song requests from time to time, and I remember one time, they requested "Red Neck Yacht Club," and Craig said, "Oh, I don't do that song anymore." He was kidding, of course. Another time, a bunch of girls went to the stage which is about 5 feet off the ground and stood to take a picture with Craig singing in the background, and Craig turned around and bent over. Too funny!
Craig's fans aren't JUST girls!
Most of the time, when you see crazy fans at a show for a male star, it's usually a female fan. There was one male fan who was very enthusiastic for Craig and his music, and he got recognized by Craig as well, who mentioned that he loves it when guys enjoy the show this much as well as the girls.
New album coming out on October 7th
About halfway into the show, Craig mentioned he was releasing a new album this year, and it would be out on October 7th, I believe. He asked if he could sing a few of the new songs, and the crowd responded enthusiastically.
"Ordinary Angels" is no ordinary song
One of the new songs that I was particularly fond of was called "Ordinary Angels," and Craig said they may make that a single one day.
Craig didn't only do his own songs, though. He brought a couple of those enthusiastic female fans on stage with him when he was talking about being a country boy, and mainly loving country music, but finding some great songs that weren't country as well.
He took the girls to the area in front of the drums and sat down with one of them on either side of him. As they walked to the center of the stage, the one girl pretended to pat Craig's butt, and the other girl pretended to pinch his butt. They were too funny. After sitting them down, he got up and sang a non-country song. I'm trying to think of what it was, but I can't remember the name. I think it may have been a Lionel Richie song, but it wasn't "Lady."
He ripped off the fender and gave it to the fan!
After the song, the girls were ushered back off the stage, and Craig continued the show. But, our young male fan also got special treatment too, as Craig asked him up on the stage, and ripped off one of the fenders to his dirt bike that he rode onto the stage at the beginning of the show, and gave it to the fan. He was so excited about that! Craig then sang "The Joker" as the male fan sat back by the drums. That was very cool.
Some older stuff gets played too
One thing I do remember is that Craig sang song older songs too. At all the shows I've seen before, when he was still with Broken Bow records, he only sang the music from his BBR albums. But, he sang his first single, which is one I always loved, "Something to Write Home About."
When you see Craig Morgan, you can be sure that you're gonna definitely be entertained. If he's coming to your area, be sure to make a point to go check out his show, you won't be disappointed.