On Friday, December 9th I got to experience my first show on Lady Antebellum's "Own The Night" tour. This concert was different and special to me for a few different reasons. First thing is that I'm 4.5 months pregnant so going to a concert while pregnant was a new experience for me. Second was the meet and greet lounge that they started doing for this tour. And the 3rd thing that was unique was the stage set-up and where my ticket location was.
I was lucky enough to score a meet and greet with Lady A before the show. Most meet and greets are just a line of people that get to go up to the artist, maybe get something signed, then take a picture and leave. Well, Lady A has decided to make it more special than that for their fans on this tour. We were all taken to a room and got to have a seat in the rows of chairs that were set up. They even had cans of pop and bottles of water on a table in the back for people to have. While we sat there, a gal from GAC gave us a brief overview of what was going to happen and then their security guy, Marcel, came and gave us the rules & regulations of the meet and greet (no pictures or vid could be taken, Lady A wouldn't be doing autographs). After waiting a couple more minutes Dave, Hillary and Charles came into the room and each took a seat on the 3 stools that were set up in the front. We had a chance to ask them questions and they played a couple songs for us. The first question was what were Hillary's wedding colors and Charles was actually the one to answer for her. One of the next questions came from a gal that said she only had about 6 more months to live and meeting them was on her bucket list and she asked them what was on their bucket list. After answering, the let her have the first song pick which was Dancing Away With My Heart. The other memorable question of the meet and greet was if they were going to sing I Run To You during the show because the guy wanted to ask his girlfriend to marry him after the song was over. That turned into them coordinating the proposal on stage during the concert since his tickets were in the inner circle. The other song they did for us was Heart Of The World. Charles said he was a bit rusty with the song since they don't usually do it live. There were a couple mix-ups and they ended after the 2nd verse and chorus since none of them could remember what came next.
With the way they ushered us from where we were sitting to the picture line afterward, I ended up being the first one. I walked up to them and said hi and Dave looked at my shirt and said "what do we have here?" Then they were excited for me when they saw that my shirt said 'Baby's First Lady A Concert'. When we went to take the picture I said I wanted a 'silly' picture and they happily went along with it which made for a memorable meet and greet picture for myself. After the picture I got a hug from Hillary and was on my way back to get a spot on the floor for the concert.
The stage setup for the tour is phenomenal. The closest that I've seen to something like it is when I saw Rascal Flatts a few years ago when Taylor Swift opened for them. The main part of the stage is an O shape with a catwalk that comes off the front. In the center of the O is a standing room area for fans during Lady A's set called the inner circle. I was lucky enough to get tickets for that area. During the opening acts, people with inner circle tickets stand off to the side in the standing-only general admission floor. After the stage is cleared off after the 2nd opening act, people with the inner circle tickets are ushered in to the area. Being in the inner circle was almost like watching a concert from backstage. Some other fans have complained about seeing their backs the whole time and some fans have decided not to get inner circle tickets because of that. Yes, you get to see them from the back for much of the show. But they do a lot of interaction with the people in that area. I also got some unique pictures that are unlike I've ever gotten at a concert before because of it.
They started out the show by coming up from under the stage singing We Owned The Night. That song and entrance seemed to set the energy and excitement for the next 90 minutes.
They put on a flawless set that included all of their hit singles, as well as some new stuff from their latest album. One of the highlights for me was getting to watch Dave act like a rock star while jamming out on his guitar while standing on top of his piano.
Something else that they are doing on this tour that I don't think I've seen anywhere else before, is letting the fans decide one of the songs that gets played during the show. Voting takes place on their Facebook page starting a few days before the show. Fans can also tweet their vote or text in their vote using the numbers given on the screens before the show. The choices are all songs that haven't been released to radio and span all 3 of their CDs and were All We'd Ever Need, Love This Pain, As You Turn Away and Cold As Stone. Although my vote was for As You Turn Away, it was Cold As Stone that won out in Sioux City.
Probably the most memorable part of the show was getting to see the guy from the meet and greet propose on stage to his girlfriend. During I Run To You they came and stood at the bottom of the stairs that lead from the inner circle to the stage. I was standing right by him and was excited for him, knowing what was going to be happening next. When the song was ending Charles came near the stairs and security let them up on the stage. The woman had no idea what was going on. Charles handed the guy his microphone so the whole arena could hear him propose. And of course she said yes!
With it being December and Christmas is right around the corner, Lady A helped get everyone in the spirit by putting on some Santa hats and singing Blue Christmas. Hillary's Santa hat had a tiara on it and Charles opted for some red glasses with some sideburns that hung off the sides.
When they exited the stage they actually came down the stairway into the inner circle. After going back to do Need You Now for the encore the exited the stage once again through the inner circle. Being in the inner circle was an amazing experience I'll never forget, but I am also looking forward to seeing them again in March when I have regular general admission so that I can see more of what was on the screens which were to my back the whole show.
To close out this post, here are some of my favorite pictures from the night that weren't posted earlier-
