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The weather forecast for Dallas wasn't too promising. Even so, we had no choice but to make the four to five hour journey across Texas with our friends Liz and Steve because they were taking us to see country music legend Kenny Chesney in concert. The sky was blue for the entire journey and none of the expected storms ever materialised.
We all stayed in a beautiful apartment with a rooftop terrace to die for. The Dallas Cowboys stadium, where the concert was to take place, is located in the suburb of Arlington so that's where we were. We spent the evening at
Hooters feasting on chicken wings and drinking beer. Russ managed to meet up with a friend he has known online since about 18 years ago. After so many years of corresponding, it was brilliant that they finally managed to meet up.
The next day was all about the concert. Well, it was more about the pre-concert party really. In the UK tailgating means driving too close to the car in front of you. In the USA it's a whole different meaning - a party out of the back of hundreds of trucks and trailers. Some of
the people we met in parking lot 12 meet up every time Kenny Chesney has a concert at the Cowboys stadium. They bring with them the most amazing pop-up bars and barbecues and their generosity is incredible. We got to try out quite a few different drinks and snacks! Chesney has his own online TV and radio station called "No Shoes". Russ was interviewed for the radio (but saying he thought he had come to see
">Chesney Hawkes was probably not the smartest move!) and we all made it onto the TV!!
After a good few hours we went into the stadium to see what it was all about. The concert began at about 4pm even though Chesney himself wasn't due on stage until 9. We caught the end of the first act and then saw all of Bradley Gilbert's show which was really not to our taste. After several hours of country music at Lot 12 and now this we were wondering if we had done the right thing in going. Next up was Jason Aldean and his 90 minutes on stage was a fantastic performance. Whilst not entirely converted to country music, we both agreed he was really
good.
And so, at last, 9pm arrived and Kenny Chesney arrived on stage via an illuminated trapeze above the fans down at the sandbar. He was good, but we think Jason Aldean was far better! Chesney's microphone didn't seem to be working too well so we could barely hear him a lot of the time. The die hard fans didn't need to listen as they sang along to every song regardless but we needed to hear it! It was a great experience and we wouldn't have missed it so we are very grateful to Liz and Steve for this opportunity. Back in Lot 12 people were starting to drift away but the Texas Rangers were playing baseball just over the road and the traffic was so bad we stayed there for a while longer.
The next morning we had a quick breakfast at Waffle House before the long drive back to Amarillo. I'm not sure it rained even once over the entire weekend, yet the weather forecasters are usually so good. Not that we were complaining of course!
D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Texas weather
Texas is hot in the summer, colder than you'd expect in the winter and very rainy in the spring so hearing the weather wasn't promising is no surprise. Sounds like a great concert and well worth the bus trip. I can hear you singing Amarillo by morning.