Lanierland Music Park
August 7th, 2004
Cumming, GA
Review By: Cole
I left Nashville around 6 a.m. to head to Anita's house....and I left on a worried mind. I was so positive that something was going to happen to my already wrecked vehicle-- making me miss the show. But, I am proud to say the Loveless Express pulled through for me, and gave me no problems whatsoever. I got to Anita's around 11 or so and we started to get ready to head to Cumming. Being the moron I am, I decided to dress cute. Did I stop to think about the complaining I had done about there being sawdust on the ground at this venue? OF course not, I strapped on my pink high heels, tripped down a few steps and hopped in the car to take off.
We got on the interstate only to discover it was at a
complete standstill! Well, we left about 7 hours early, but still- who wants to be stuck in traffic to a Patty show? So we improvised and came up with another route and headed to Cumming on some backroads, blaring "On Your Way Home" on the way. We were expecting to meet with Kathy and Kelly Ann and then also Tammie and her crew at the show, so we text messaged back and forth, and called eachother to squeal that we were on our way and so excited! Anita made a quick stop-- err what we thought would be a quick stop-- at McDonald's to get her some fries, and we were officially "on our way". It felt like an eternity--I swear we had some sort of red light curse. We hit every single red light on the way...and I was growing irritated!
When we arrived in Cow Country, excuse me, I meant Lanierland, I wasn't looking forward to this. It suddenly flooded back to me what a crappy venue this place was. Now when I tell you sawdust is on the floor, I am
not joking. I kept expecting a herd of cows to come stampeding towards the stage when any instruments started playing! We drove to the venue so that we could scope out what the situation was with soundcheck. To our delight, Patty and the band were already onstage! We didn't really hear any specific songs- we caught the very tail end of the soundcheck and then heard them chatting with eachother. We walked around to the fence by the bus afterwards, and ran into Deanie and Marcia, who walked over to chat with us. After talking with them, we kept walking when who should walk out but Patty herself. I didn't see the need to get her to come over so I just smiled and waved as she smiled and waved back. I was more than thrilled. Oh, Anita would kill me if I forgot to mention we also saw Garry wandering around chatting on the cell;)
About that time Tammie, Shawna and the kids Jordan, Derek and Mini-Cole Olivia pulled up (with Olivia wearing Patty Fashion), and we headed to Chik Fil A to meet up with Kathy and Kelly Ann to eat. I was contemplating on purchasing a stuffed Cow for Patty, as precious memorabilia for playing in Cow Country, but decided against it. I did, however, preach to the employees about how I thought having restrooms at a venue that had shower curtains for doors was a tad tacky (can you say "unsanitary"?).
Once we arrived back tot he venue, we discussed our crummy seats. Lanierland allows their season pass holders the front rows. Anita and I drove to the venue at 7 am the day tickets went on sale and still got stuck with 9th row, far left. Tammie had center, row 22. We were bummed. As we walked up the hill, two ladies asked us if we had tickets, which we replied yes. One of the ladies proclaimed she had four 5th row seats, which caught Tammie's attention. (These ladies weren't scalping, they only sold for equal amount). As we talked about it, the other lady casually mentioned she had one front row seat. My attention was immediately on her and I questioned what section. As she said center, I happily handed over the 25.00, and Tammie handed over the dough for her 5th row seats.
Once we sat down in the venue, I realized that the sawdust sticking to my toes inside my heels was worth this seat. After Jimmy Wayne's set, we were able to steal a few third row seats and hauled Kelly Ann, Anita, and Kathy over to sit by us. We annoyed the folks around us by chatting loudly with eachother until it was time for Patty to start.
Patty came out and the crowd went crazy for her. It was a great Patty crowd, and I thought the place seemed pretty full! We had already heard about Emory being sick, so I was truly not expecting her to be in the wonderful mood she was in! She came out, and was wearing the same outfit she wore the night before, at her show in Glen Allen, VA. I thought she was pretty energetic for one who just got over bronchitis whose husband was in the hospital. Anyone who says she doesn't go the extra mile for her fans clearly does not know who they are talking about. She wasn't quite as chatty and she seemed distracted at some moments--but for the most part, she kicked butt! She made sure every person enjoyed the show.
This night was quite special...it was Jimmy Johnson's 40th Wedding Anniversary. He had no clue until soundcheck that his wife, Pat, had come down to the show to surprise him for their anniversary! Patty made Pat come out on stage, and made the two of them come to the center of the stage for everyone to applaud them on their 40 years. Then, she announced it was
also Brent's, her sound technician (if you haven't gone to introduce yourself to him, do so, Brent is one of the best!) anniversary as well! She had the audience clap for them as well, and then went about her show, leaving a smile on Jimmy's face the rest of the show.
Her voice sounded top notch- I only noticed a few small parts where her voice would crack, and she didn't hum very long for the "Nothin Like the Lonely" intro. She had her throat spray there with her and really only used it occasionally. She sounded amazing, as usual. But then again, Patty on a sick night is better than ANY other artist on their best night! You could
barely tell that she had been battling bronchitis. She absolutely nailed each and every song. Her acoustic set consisted of "Grandpa", "Boys are Back in Town", "Daniel Prayed" and "Pretty Little Miss". Without a doubt, the Mountain Soul set was
the most popular set of the night. The crowd went nuts at the slight mention of "Mountain Soul".
What is so interesting to hear her chat about "Grandpa" prior to the song is the fact that this show was not that far from Dallas,GA. As she spoke of Pap Cochran, I had two folks beside me start talking about what a great man Homer Cochran was, and how they had no idea that her husband was Homer's grandson. I think it made the song so much more special this weekend. Another part about this song, while I have a hard time watching her during the song, is the fact that is is COMPLETE dead silence during the song. You can literally hear people gasping over it. If only they could do this for every song;)
The most popular hits aside from the Mountain Soul set seemed to be "Lovin All Night" and "Blame it On Your Heart". A few fans behind me were looking forward to Lovin All Night--- and Patty didn't disappoint them. At the moment she proclaimed "Baby I'm gonna love you till the cows come home", we laughed so hard we almost cried considering our claims to Cow Country! When she started into "Blame", I called Kelly Ann to come up to the front and be my sing along partner for the time. Patty was loving watching her sing along and kept her eye on her for so much of the song, which made her night!
The band was absolutely superb. Garry Murray-- is there anything he
can't play?? My seat was directly in front of him (I know, I know, I'm a meanie and sat there instead of letting Garry's little pocket rocket Anita have it;) ), so I also had a nice view for the show. Marcia Ramirez has got to be not only one of the most talented vocalists and keyboard players-- she's one of the nicest people I have ever come across. If she doesn't bring a smile to your face during the show with her abundance of happiness and smiles, then you shouldn't be at the show! Guthrie was just amazing during "Halfway Down", as usual! Everyone was impressed and cheering him n during his solo. Now, I must say, on this particular night, we felt was Jimmy Johnson's "night to shine". The man got DOWN! I've
never seen Jimmy dance so much during a show! He provided sooo much entertainment for us for the night! We love you Jimmy! (Whom we have affectionately dubbed "JJ") As she introduced Travis, she announced he was the comedian of the group. Travis stood up, and walked over to her. Patty stood there and said "Oh lord your making me nervous. What are you going to do??". Travis proclaimed he had an annoucement to make to everyone, so Patty stepped aside and gave him the mic. Travis leaned in and said, "I've not told Patty and the band this year, but I've also got a record deal. With Columbia House", which of course, had everyone laughing, Patty included, as she wished him good luck with that careeer.
After the show and our routine "band" chats, we headed to the bus to see if would could catch a glimpse of our girl. We were hoping we would, as new Loveless Lunatic Olivia, who is 9, was in tears because the show was over. She did not want Patty to leave. Marcia being the doll she is offered to take Olivia's hat on the bus and have Patty sign it for her. Not even five minutes later, Marcia came out sporting a Patty hat that said, "Olivia, Love Ya Patty Loveless". The tears stopped rolling and the smile quickly spread across her face.
We felt like we had bothered Patty enough for the night, and started to walk away, but decided that we
did at least want to see her step off the bus, our last glimpse for the night. While waiting, we suddenly belted out "Nothin Like the Lonely"--and when Garry walked by he grinned and said "Oh, sing it!" which made us sing even louder....causing us to
almost miss Patty getting off the bus! We quickly coordinated our "At the count of three, shout out...." and the bus door opened and we shouted "WE LOVE YOU PATTY", and I was QUITE proud that we were able to do it so well! Patty grinned and thanked us....and as we walked away I heard her say "Bye Nicole!". You would think after 18 years of her knowing my name, it would be nothing to hear it now.....Think again. It made my night, and was
the highlight of my night!
We headed to the car, singing "Nothin like the Lonely", and then started into "Pretty Little Miss". We KNEW it was a good night when our beloved Kathy even started belting it out with us! I told them, "Damn we've got Jimmy Johson getting down and Kathy belting out some tunes, Cow Country must be good luck!". I hated to see the evening end, since Kathy and Kelly Ann had to head back to Florida, but, Anita and I had plans to haul butt to Augusta for the show the next night, and we really neded to get on the road. We hopped in the car, stopped to see our favorite New Yorker/German Wale and headed off to the next show....
