Grand Ole Opry

Nashville, TN

May 18 & 19, 2007

Review By: Cole


We started 2007 off in hopes that we would get even the smallest tour. I met Patty towards the end of January, who said she wasn't really sure, and that was hard for her to leave Emory all the time. That left us thinking we wouldn't have a tour this year. So, at the beginning of April when an Opry date of May 19th popped up--- we jumped on it. And Opry performance would give us 2-3 songs per show, but it was better than nothing! We were thrilled when we were informed that not only was Patty going to play the Opry on the 19th, but the 18th as well!

We weren't too sure how many folks would be able to come in for the show, since it was just an Opry gig, plus at a time of graduations, schools still being in session, etc. However, we still had people come in from TEN different states--Tennessee, Nevada, Georgia, Maryland, Virgina, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, California & Florida. The Loveless Lunatics were all over this performance-- impressive for just a small set! I think it's pretty clear--- everyone really misses Patty. We planned our PattyFest for Saturday the 19th, when the largest group would be in town, and a small dinner for Friday night, so everyone would have ample time to get together and talk Patty.

Prior to show on Friday, I had a dozen pink roses delivered to Patty (thanks Marcia!), because I wanted her to know before she even came onstage that we were all there to support her. Patty was on the 9-9:30 portion for the Friday night show-- the very last person in that lineup. We had eleven artists ahead of her-- you can imagine the anticipation building, waiting for Patty to come out! The Opry is pretty lenient on Friday nights & the late show Saturday nights, so a lot of us had the plan to go in front of the stage to take pictures. Or some us were taking pictures-- I provided Richard with an "extra" camera just to have a prop to go down to the front with! The band started stroll out in short commercial break, so the split second we saw Deanie and Garry-- we took off and sat on the floor in the front. The band as a whole consisted of Deanie, Garry, Guthrie, Marcia, Pete, and Emory. (Saturday night she was also joined by Harry Stinson on the drums.)

Patty walked out to our cheers of delight, and launched into "If My Heart Had Windows". Being as we were all right down in front of her, it was hard for her to miss us! She winked & smiled, making sure to acknowledge that she saw us. I don't think there's ever been a time where I've seen her and she didn't acknowledge us, which I think shows that she really and truly appreciates her fan base. She sounded & looked superb--- very well rested. She spoke of how great it was to be back and on the Opry stage, and then said she was playing an oldie-- attempting to use the phrase "oldie but a goodie", which Garry piped in with. Patty laughed and replied "I knew I'd mess that up!" and launched into "Blame it On Your Heart".

Before we knew it-- she was done. Of course, in my biased opinion, they could have given her one more song, but with no tour, I'm certainly not going to be picky! At the end of her set, our own Doug went to the stage to hand Patty a bear he had for her. Not just any bear--- Doug bought her a Loveless Lunatic bear, which he presented to her while wearing his Loveless Lunatic tee! She walked off the stage with a big grin, and we all headed out the door when she was over. It felt wonderful to say that we'd be back tommorow, to see Patty again. A multiple show weekend hasn't happened in two years!

Saturday marked our 2nd Annual "PattyFest". Since Santa Fe was so wonderful to us last time, I booked it there again for a few hours prior to the show. This time we had an added bonus- my best friend Anita has been housing my lifesize Mountain Soul billboard at her place in Georgia for me, and brought it "home" Saturday. We decided it was the perfect "backdrop" for our group photo this time around! It was fun to watch the looks on peoples faces as we all marched in with this lifesize billboard of Patty, many of us sporting Patty tees & Loveless Lunatic shirts! Our waiter, Jermaine, asked us about what we were there for, so we filled him in on Patty's performance. He was quick to tell us he had to work all night, so to grab an autograph for him if we had the chance! Overall, PattyFest was another hit! Once she tours or does a FULL SHOW at some point, we are going to have a HUGE Pattyfest!



Back Row, From L-R: Leland, Emily, Cole, Barry, Doug, Kevin, Richard
Front Row, From L-R: Mike H, Anita, Kathy, Teresa & Dennis

The Saturday Night Opry was a celebration of Porter Wagoner's 50th Opry Anniversary. Aside from Patty, Marty Stuart & Dolly Parton were going to be there in his segment to honor him. Because of this, the first show was relatively busy, mainly because that's the televised one. There were a lot of seats saved for Porter's Friends and Family, and then the front row center was for Porter's daughters & sisters. (And closer to their show time, Porter came out and sat in the audience to watch the show.) This meant that most of us weren't super close for the first show. Richard & I had 6th row, and attempted to get better seats-- the guy in the box office thought we were nuts! But, we dealt with it-- especially since we had front row for the second show.

Patty was the second artist on their segment to play, so we got to hear her relatively quickly! Marty Stuart introduced her, and Patty walked out in a tan dress-- she looked simply beautiful! She congratulated Porter and spoke of what Porter had done for her, and then launched into 2 of Porter's songs-- "If Teardrops were Pennies" and "The Pain of Loving You". Saying she sounded amazing is an understatement. She blew us away-- we were all either in tears or had goosebumps. It was incredible. My personal favorite was "The Pain of Loving You", simply because I've always enjoyed the song and I once heard Patty & Porter duet on it. Hearing her do it solo was simply incredible. Our girl can flat out sing! I'll never understand why she doesn't get the recognition she deserves! The band sounded phenomenal-- and I can't picture anyone else harmonizing on those tunes with Patty but Marcia Ramirez. They harmonized beautifully on both songs. We decided she should take that band out on the road (INCLUDING Emory).

Dolly was on after Patty, and everyone went nuts. We were a little annoyed that she sang two of her own songs for the tribute--- and then in the commercial break, she broke into another one of her own songs. After Porter's segment, Dolly & Patty came back out to sing "Just Someone I Used to Know" with Porter. They closed the show with "I Will Always Love You". While I know Dolly & Porter have a lot of history together, I felt like I was at the Dolly Parton Show, NOT a tribute to Porter Wagoner. And who knows, maybe they just wanted to spike up GAC ratings-- I was very disappointed to see in the televised portion that "The Pain of Loving You" was cut out. I could barely hear Patty on the last two songs. In this time, Dolly didn't really "include" Patty in any of their stuff (stating that first, she didn't see Patty sneak out behind her). That really rubbed us the wrong way for a few reasons which I'll leave out (though we ARE discussing it in the Message Forums, however, in the end, what was supposed to be a great tribute to Porter wasn't so much a tribute to him. And, I simply felt that Patty should have been given a little more respect towards the end of the show. I'm fully aware that Patty isn't at this huge status that Dolly Parton is, but she IS one of the few artists that is left that is REAL country, has never left her roots, and has a genuine appreciation for all the legends. Patty did the same set the second show, except that she didn't do "I Will Always Love You". I thought BOTH shows sounded superb, but the second show had more to it-- and Patty NAILED those songs. Well...and we were sitting in the front row!

Overall, one thing I thought was REALLY awesome was getting to see Patty onstage with the two artists that she hung out with as a kid and helped her when she came to Nashville. I've seen her with Porter a million times-- but I've never seen her with Porter & Dolly together. That was pretty special. Our girl made us proud. She honored a man that she truly admires as an artist, and someone who helped her in the music business when she was just a teenager.



As a whole, the show was amazing----- Patty made everything worthwhile. It's hard not to just repeat how fantastic she sounded, and how great it was to see her again. I guess now we'll just have to cross our fingers and hope for even just one full show later in the year. Funny...I never thought the day would come when I'd be happy with just ONE Patty concert for the year.