Renfro Valley Ent. Center
May 22cnd, 2004
Chris arrived in Nashville to pick me up around 12:30, and we headed to Renfro Valley immediately afterwards. Since he had never been to Renfro before, he entrusted Cole to drive his vehicle (now that could be a dangerous thing!). We spent our time in the car listening to Patty, and having Chris teach me some of the words that Patty says. Chris is a Kentucky boy, and I am a Florida Girl, and there are still some southern words that I just don’t quite follow! Chris humored me for quite a while telling me some “southernisms”. We made it to the venue in record time, getting there in plenty time to spend time with some fellow Loveless Lunatics before the show. This show marked the second time only in my 17 years of attending Patty shows that I did not wear a Patty shirt. By the time Anita, Rhett and I sat in our seats, it was killing me! (I gave in second show…during intermission, I had to change into a Patty shirt!)
As we sat down, to our surprise, we were sitting near quite a few of other Loveless Lunatics- which was not planned. We figured that just meant our section would be the loudest and the leaders of the Standing Ovations. Renfro allowed fans to come down to the front of the stage during the first three songs to take photos- and the rest of the photos would have to be taken from your seat. Now, I have a great lens that would have gotten wonderful photos from my seat. But I ask you, what would be the point in sitting in your seat when you can stand right in front of PATTY and take the photos from there? So I hopped up to the front of the stage carrying my camera and Molly and Steve’s digital camera, and waited for Patty to come out.
They kicked the show off with, “Tear Stained Letter”. I really love the new intro they’ve given this song, it sounds fantastic! Opening up with Deanie once again was a fantastic opening, and really showcased the Veteran of the Band’s talent. (Deanie, we missed you!) Garry Murray is such a talent as well, and it was fantastic to see him showcased in the opener as well. He and Deanie play off of each other so well, it’s such a treat!
They kicked into “You Can Feel Bad” after that, which is always one of my favorite tunes to hear live, because it’s just a great uptempo number to hear! Patty was looking and sounding fantastic. I know she has stated numerous times she is more nervous in Kentucky than anywhere else, but on this particular night, you never would have known that, because that girl was all over the stage! She was completely comfortable on stage, and sounded fantastic!
They did “You Don’t Seem To Miss Me” next, which Garry Murray sounds fabulous on background vocals. I’m just not as crazy about hearing this one live, but it surely showcases her amazing voice and how well she blends with Garry, so it’s always nice to hear it.
“You Don’t Even Know Who I am” was, as always, one of my favorite tunes of the entire show. She sounded amazing, and with every note she sang, you could feel the emotion. Now, I ask you, how was this magnificent voice NOT voted Female Vocalist of the Year?
She introduced the new guitar player, Guthrie Trapp, and let him take off with a solo before “Halfway Down”. I thought Guthrie was extremely talented, but I’m just not quite used to him and didn’t enjoy his solo as much as I have the previous guitar players. He definitely enjoys what he does, and gave his best, and I applaud him for that. A guy in the audience shouted, “Let him loose!” which prompted Patty to laugh and say, “Oooh you don’t want me to do that!"
They did a small “On Your Way Home” set which included “Draggin My Heart Around” (once again amazing, and my absolute favorite song of the night!), “Nothin Like the Lonely” (no way she could leave this one out, that girl can hum! My only complaint was she didn’t hum long enough!), and then she started off the Acoustic Set with “That Ain’t the Grandpa That I Know”. She told everyone the story about Emory’s Papa Cochran, and explained how she took emotions and thoughts of Emory and his grandfather as she went into the studio to record this. She had the audience’s complete attention as she explained to everyone the story behind the song. What made the song so special on that particular night was that Emory’s mother, Christie, was in attendance. Everyone in the audience was completely captivated by the song and many were in tears by the end of the tune.
The rest of the acoustic set was fabulous as well, as she included, “I’ll Never Grow Tired of You”, “The Boys are Back in Town”, “Daniel Prayed” and “Pretty Little Miss”. (The second show she chose to include “Harlan”) Because of Patty’s Kentucky Roots, I always find that the Kentucky Crowd truly appreciates her acoustic set - especially when she includes “Harlan” because so many of them have lived the life that she lived. She received a much-deserved standing ovation after “Harlan”.
She closed out the show with, “On Your Way Home”, which, as Richard once said, is the new masterpiece. I’ve repeated myself over and over in this review using “she sounded amazing’ about a million times, but it’s one of the only sentences I can think that can even begin to describe how fantastic Patty sounded at this show. “On Your Way Home” garnered another standing ovation, which was not too surprising- she nailed the song! She then kicked into “Lovin All night”, which while it isn’t one of my favorite Patty tunes, it’s certainly a killer one to hear live and watch her really get into the song.
I’ve had a few people tell me that Patty isn’t much of an entertainer, and I’d have to agree. But if you want to go see an entertainer, you’ll need to go see Shania or Reba. If you want a high class, emotion filled show full of some of the most amazing songs you’ll ever hear- then you need to head over to a Patty Loveless concert. And I know that the folks that attended the shows in Renfro Valley will most certainly agree!
During the second show, Patty announced that her baby brother Jeff was there with his family. She made him come to the front of the stage and bring his son, Jordan (whom Patty called, “the baby”) to her so she could show him off. Jordan, who looked to me like he was about 2 ½ or 3, wasn’t overly thrilled about being onstage with Aunt Patty as he looked out at all the people staring at him. He started to cry and said that he wanted Mommy, which everyone thought was adorable!
I felt the second show was rocking and she had much more energy during the show. She was completely as ease, and you could tell she was not as rushed. However, she still had some encores on the set list that she did not sing, unfortunately. “I Wanna Believe” was also on the set list for the second show, and that was also cut out of the show, which was a bummer, I’m anxious to hear her do it live.
It was fantastic to meet up with Loveless Lunatics: Anita, Rhett, Tammie, Shanna (girl we got you hooked now, didn’t we!), Chris, Brad, Janet, Molly, Steve, Sue, Jess, Mike, Jackie, Richard, Patti, Terry, who all just made the show much more fun to attend! Thanks to those who attended our After Show Party and made it so fun, and thanks to my Personal Patty Cheering & Giggle Crew: Anita, Tammie and Shanna for the absolute blast for the second show (“what was that giggle for?”, “he tickled her fancy!” “he’s dangerous”) - you guys are the fun that Patty shows are all about, I love you all!
Mucho Thanks to Chris who was awesome enough to come get Cole….Heart Muchly!
