Ryman Auditorium & The Grand Ole Opry
Nashville, TN
July 28 & 29, 2005
Review By: Cole
Being as how I don't normally do a review for Opry shows, I decided to go ahead and do one for this visit- and just do one big "mixed" review for both shows this week!
Thursday was the Ryman show- which was a "Bluegrass" show. It's a series that runs through the summer at the Ryman each Thursday, and they nabbed Patty to close down the series for this year. So, she was the headliner, much to our delight. However, after our last horrid experience of a Bluegrass Festival...I had my doubts about this concert. Patty was added to the lineup LATE- so Chris, Tammie and I all got separate tickets so that we would have decent seats--so we didn't have a support system this show if we had a bad crowd!
Chris and I left for the Ryman early to scope stuff out and visit with some folks. I was thrilled that Emory was going to be at the show, as I planned on achieving my goal of getting my photo with him! Tammie arrived to the venue about an hour or so before show time, and we headed inside the Ryman to locate our seats- Chris and I had center stage, and Tammie was just to our right. We all had pretty decent seats!
Patty had three opening acts on this night...a band called "Cherry Holmes" (I think?), a girl named Melonie Cannon, and then The Grascals. Although I thought Melonie Cannon had a nice voice, after her set, we felt the need to "get out" for a little bit, so we sat The Grascals show out, and stayed in the lobby. While in the lobby, we ran into Garry Murray, who was there to see Patty perform. It was great to see him again- he let us know that he's now going to be out on the road with Dolly Parton, so look for him if you're heading to a Dolly show this year!
Patty came onstage after a very, very long introduction from Eddie Stubbs. The crowd seemed to be pretty receptive of her. Tammie and Chris both said they sat by pretty good folks crowd wise...but of course, I had to be the oddball. While the folks around me seemed to like her- they were so dead quiet, never laughed at any joke she made, never cheered for her- just politely clapped. (Note that next time, regardless of the seating, I will get seats WITH my group next time!) Everytime I screamed for her, the guy in front of me acted like I was shattering his ear drum (ok I know I'm a loud mouth, but I did actually tone it down for this show, considering the folks around me), and one guy behind me was complaining about how she wasn't a bluegrass singer. Aside from these few folks that I of course had near me- the crowd absolutely LOVED her!
We had a little bit different band this show! As noted before, Emory was at this show, which was awesome. But we had another familiar face this show as well- Carmella Ramsey joined in on this night! The rest of the band was our normal road band, minus Jimmy Johnson, who rejoined on Friday night at the Opry.
The one thing I love about her full acoustic set shows is the difference in set lists. She always throws in some of the "treasured, but seldom heard" songs. Tonight was no exception- we were treated to "I'll Never Grow Tired of You", which sounded FABULOUS. She always seems to nail this one- and the crowd loved it! She also did "Handful of Dust", after explaining to the crowd that Tony Arata wrote the song about his daughter, and that's what she thinks of when she does the song. I love when she does that one acoustically- and wish she would do it at more shows! Since Emory was there, she introduced him as her better half, and then explained how he wrote "Cheap Whiskey", before starting into it.
Patty was in a great mood- she seemed FULL of energy and really chatty! Before she started into "Here I Am", a guy in the balcony shouted "I LOVE YOU PATTY!", to which she grinned and replied with "Love You Back!", and then laughed saying, "They always say that in the dark!"...and then teased the guy saying "We may have to shine the spotlight on you, you sound like a nice voice!".
The band was in top notch shape- Troy sounded fantastic, as usual. I can't express enough how great he sounds with Patty! He sounded fantastic on "Never Ending Love", and "Someone I Used to Know"- he's one of the best voices I've heard her have on the road with her.
Because Carmella was with her, Kylie didn't sing very much, which was a shame- we'd been looking forward to getting to hear her more with Patty, since we'd only heard her once before. While I know a lot of you are Carmella fans, I've never been shy on the fact I've just never been much of a fan, and I'd have to say that was my only "complaint" for the night. I *REALLY* feel like Carmella is just too loud, and to me, she overpowers Patty. She sang on most stuff, and then Kylie sang on a few songs.
"Big Chance" was the last song of the night, and the crowd loved it- it even got a chuckle from some of the statues sitting around me! I love this one, and can't wait to hear the recorded version!
Chris and I headed out after that...but then heard her come back onstage, and chit chat with Eddie Stubbs for a few minutes- and then start into "My Old Friend the Blues"- which was WONDERFUL! I said at the beginning of the tour that I was torn between 'Big Chance' & 'Blues', but "Blues" is by far my favorite on the new cd thus far! It seems like every time she does it live- the crowd is just COMPLETELY silent. Take that combined with the fact that she sings it COMPLETELY by herself- that's the perfect song! She then closed the show with "Blame it On Your Heart"- and the band gathered to take a bow, except Emory, who was packing up his stuff! Patty ushered him into the bow, and then after the took their bow, leaned over and kissed him.
After the show, we did our usual and headed out to see what the verdict would be on having a "shake and howdy" session with her. (Sandi, Tammie, Chris- that was just for you!) Before she came out, Emory came out, and we talked with him for a moment, (Let me mention that I also got a hug...quite pleased!), and I got my prized photo:
