I've visited Nashville three times, and this year I decided to make sure I got to see the Grand Ole Opry show at the Ryman Auditorium.
Announcer Eddie Stubbs was the host and he would introduce the acts from a podium, and then exit and let the artist have the stage.
The first artist of the night was Little Jimmy Dickens. I'm not familiar with all of his songs, so I may have some of the song titles incorrect. If so, please email me and I will fix the article to show the correct titles.
Little Jimmy made his trademark short jokes, saying he was "Little Jimmy Dickens, or Willie Nelson after taxes." He started his part of the show with "Take an Old Cold Tater and Wait." His second song was "Another Bridge to Burn," followed by "Mountain Dew," which had the crowd clapping and singing along.
Next to perform was Rodney Atkins, who started his set with "I've Been Watchin' You." He mentioned his new album was going to be released on July 18th, and then sang "Come On In, Boy." His last song was his current single, "If You're Going Through Hell."
Porter Wagoner was next, and he sang "Haven't You Heard," "Satisfied Mind," "Carroll County Accident," "Love's Company," and ended with his big hit, "Green, Green Grass of Home." I was disappointed that he didn't show his trademark "Hi" inside his jacket.
Pinmonkey was next, and they lead off their set with their first big single, "Barbed Wire and Roses," followed by their current single, "That Train Don't Run By Here No More," followed by the bluegrassy "Stay With Us."
Mel McDaniel came out with a cane and he tapped it along with the music, starting his set with "Blue Suede Blues," then moving on to one of my favorite songs, "Louisiana Saturday Night." Everyone seemed to be doing three songs a piece, and as Mel sang "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On," the crew seemed to be taking instruments on and off for the next act. Mel continued singing, however, with his version of "Help Me Make It Through The Night," and then ending with the upbeat "Stand Up."
David Lee Murphy was next, and he started with a song he had written for Chris LeDoux, "Scatter the Ashes." He followed that up with his recent No. 1 for Kenny Chesney, "Livin' in Fast Forward," and ended with "Loco." What? No "Dust on the Bottle? I was disappointed that I didn't get to hear that.
Charley Pride followed with a medley of hits, starting with "The Snakes Crawl At Night," "Just Between You and Me," "Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger," "Losin' You Again," "All I Have To Offer You is Me," "I'm the One," "I'm Just Me," then sang the whole version of "Kiss an Angel Good Morning," "Is Anybody Going to San Antone," and ending with "Kaw Liga."
Sara Evans was the final performer of the afternoon, and she started her set with Real Fine Place to Start," then sang "Born to Fly" (I think... correct me if I'm wrong. I forgot to write down the second song.) He third and final song was her current single, "Cheatin'."
Great show. Later on, after the show, Sara signed autographs by her bus. We didn't stop though as we were tired and wanted to get back to our hotel to have some dinner and rest up for the following day.
