The "Sunday Morning Nobody-Asked-Me-To, But-Here I-Go-Anyway Concert Review - Reba McEntire

(or, Why I Will Never Be A Professional Concert Reviewer)

We missed her in Winnipeg.

We missed her in Kelowna.

By gum, we didn't miss her here in Calgary!! We finally caught Reba McEntire live last night.

It was the only Stampede concert we've attended this year at the actual Stampede, the other show being held off site. Frankly, that doesn't matter one iota...

At any rate, yesterday was a freakin' cooker, 34 degrees on the Stampede grounds. We arrived plenty early, to find parking, and mini-donuts. Found both!!

After some donuts, we realized we needed some dinner, so we hit the casino, which for Stampede triples in size, taking over the adjacent convention space in The Big Four building. It was absolutely nutty in there!

(I'm getting to Reba, relax...)

We waited half an hour for a simple hot dog, then had to scramble over to The Saddledome for the show. I hafta say, after numerous visits, the place is still a pretty neat facility to see in person...

Anyways, in we go, and get our seats, clear across the arena. I can see a stage somewhere in the distance, but it's really just a fuzzy blur.

First surprise, her warm-up act - Canadian country star Gil Grand, who we happen to really like. He puts on a killer show, virtually every song a hit single. Who knew? Including, by the way, his terrific remake of Burton Cummings' "Break It To Them Gently".

Tres enjoyable...

After a brief intermission, the house lights go down, and the place goes absolutely bananas. They're all koo-koo for Cocoa Puffs. Standing ovations that would end up lasting all night long, roaring, cheering - what a crowd.

Oh yeah, Reba...

We've both been fans since the first time we jumped Stetson-first into country music, back in the 90's. We even enjoyed her recent sitcom (hey, we weren't the only ones - six seasons!!).

She was phenomenal. Outstanding. A tidal wave of tunes. A hive of hits. More songs than we could shake a stick at.

She had a crackerjack band, an HD big-screen smack-dab in the centre of the stage, and with over 40 #1 hits, her show clocked in at just under two hours. Class act, no disappointment here.

Again though, we marvel at the younger generation of concert-goers. Much like an ant farm at sugar time, these people cannot sit still. Up and down, down and up - grab a flippin' seat, for the love of Pete!!

By the time we toodled out of the show, we were able to catch Tom Cochrane on The Coca-Cola Stage, kickin' out "Life Is A Highway", and encore "Lunatic Fringe".

We've seen him before...

That's all for today, peoples!!

Chow for now!!