Windsor, ME
9/5/04
Review by Chrissy
My weekend began on Friday afternoon when my friend Erica and I drove to Vermont to stay over for the night because it was the halfway point to Lancaster, NH. We got up bright and early Saturday and headed to the Lancaster Fair to see Patty. Being a city girl, the experience of a fair was brand new to me. Although I was very excited to be seeing Patty and the band, I was not very excited to be spending the warm day with lots and lots of animals! (Sorry to all of the animal lovers) We went to both the 2:00 and the 7:00 shows and had a lot of fun! I’ll just leave it at that because I know Barbara will be writing a fantastic review of the these shows J We had intended on going to the two shows Saturday in Lancaster, staying over, and then heading home Sunday morning, however, after some thinking and convincing and trying to find hotels that had rooms available, we decided to go to the show Sunday in Maine.
The show in Lancaster was over by 8:30 and we hung around a bit, but then decided it was time to hit the road for our three hour or so drive to Augusta, Maine. It was quite a drive! Very dark and rural and we even got a surprise when a moose decided to walk out into the road in front of our car!! After that incident we drove about 25-30 miles an hour because we were so afraid that another one would come out and run into us. I had never seen a real moose before and let me just say it is not something you want to run into your car!!!
We made it to Augusta around midnight. We went right to bed because we were exhausted and wanted to rest up for the next day. We slept in Sunday morning and headed to the fair around 2. It was very similar to the one in Lancaster, but I think there were even more farm animals!! We walked around a bit to check it all out, and saw the guys from the band doing the same. After a while we decided we better head to the bleachers to claim a seat for the show. The concert took place on a race track! The stage was pulled into the center of it on the grassy part. It was pretty far away from the bleachers!! We then found out that if you had lawn chairs or folding chairs that you could bring them down to the dirt track in front of the stage and sit. Of course, I didn’t have chairs with me because I didn’t know anything about the fair and I wasn’t planning on going, but we did manage to get two chairs and we sat in front of the stage. All that dirt and dust flying around couldn’t have been good for Patty, but it didn’t seem to affect her. After the sun set, it got very cold outside. Everyone was shivering and trying to stay warm as we sat and waited for the show to begin. As we sat waiting, I chatted with some people around us. The place was PACKED, but there appeared to be a mix of long time fans and newer fans. One couple asked me what songs she sings and it made me laugh a little, but then there was another older couple next to me who were talking all about Patty and how much they like her. I was impressed that he knew most of her songs and he asked, “Do you think she’ll sing If My Heart Had Windows?” I told him I wasn’t sure because she had been including it in her encore, but the day before in Lancaster there were no encores, probably due to the fact that she was doing two shows so I wasn’t sure. Time would tell if it would be in this show.
Right around 8:30 the band came out and they began playing “Tear Stained Letter” the older man next to me I mentioned before was very excited and said, “That’s Tear Stained Letter, that’s Tear Stained Letter”. It was very cute. Patty came out and began singing and sounded great despite the cold and the dirt and dust. The set list was the same as its been however, the bluegrass portion was omitted. That’s OK though because it was just too cold for them. It was evident that their fingers were freezing and were having a little difficulty playing, but again you couldn’t tell that by the sound only by looking at them. Patty introduced the band as always, and when she got to Travis he got up and put some funny glasses on and a huge, round, purple, furry hat that he got at the fair. He was joking around and Patty explained that it was his last show with them because he is going to play for Rascal Flatts. He then asked Patty if he could say something. He stepped up to the microphone and joked saying that he was really leaving because he got a record deal with Columbia House records. He said it was a good deal because if he joins, he’ll get ten cd’s for 99 cents. The audience got a laugh from that. Another funny thing to mention is that during “Halfway Down” in the middle part when Guthrie has his mini solo again, he started to play “Frosty the Snowman” because it was so cold outside! The band got a huge laugh from that. A woman in the audience threw Patty a pink hat like the one that Travis was wearing, and she put it on and posed for all of us. She laughed and said it was cute, but that she had to take it off because it was time for “Grandpa” and the serious part of the show. As always we all got up and sang along to “Blame it on Your Heart”, which is always fun, but it was sad too because I knew that was the end. They took their bows and left the stage. The crowd was yelling, “One more!, One more!” and to my surprise and delight, they all came back out to do “If My Heart Had Windows”, and “On Down the Line”. Boy was that man next to me excited!!! He got to hear the one song he was hoping for. He was very nice and at the end said that it was one of the best shows he’d been too of any artist. I was very happy! This crowd was VERY enthusiastic and many people stayed to get autographs from the band.
While the place emptied out, Erica and I hung around a bit to say goodbye to them since it seems that that was our last show of the year. While we were waiting, there were some people who I think won the chance to meet Patty from the country radio station chatting with her. There were still about a handful of people from the show hanging around by the stage and I heard security say that she would meet with them and sign one item. I heard this and thought this is really cool, but its freezing out and I don’t want to bother her. But then a couple of the guys in the band/crew said, “hurry up get on the line, she’s signing”. Well after that I said I guess its okay then to go and we did. She saw us and said “hi girls”, signed our items, and we thanked her and told her to get in the bus and warm up! J We then said goodbye to the rest of the group who has just been so nice all year. We can’t thank them enough for doing what they do and for providing us with such great entertainment at each show. This group is so talented and I hope they all return next year. Here’s to a safe and happy rest of the tour and again, THANK YOU!!
And who couldn't resist just one more shot of Patty in the hat!:
