CMA Fan Fest
June 11th
Nashville, TN
Review by: Nicole

I'm not a huge "CMA Fest" go-er. We used to be regular attendees - back when it was still Fan Fair, at the Fairgrounds....We always mapped out Patty's schedule for the week, and I always managed to convince my mother to let us camp out, so we were among the die hards that slept outside at the fairgrounds at the main gate to get in. I have this weird thing about needing to be first or near the front of Patty's line. When Patty stopped going - so did I. That obviously changed this year when Patty signed on.

DRIVE4COPD set up a booth inside the exhibit hall, and then a booth outside in the "Sports Zone". Since I was already going to brave the crowd and heat, my mom and I decided to head Wednesday night too to see the Marty Stuart Jam @ the Ryman because our main man, Keith Urban, was going to be there. I made a stop over at the Riverfront Stage and drilled the cops about what the procedure exactly was when the gates opened, and then headed over to assess the COPD booth. I told you --- I have this thing where I HAVE to be there early and be one of the absolute first people there, so I definitely plan ahead.

We met PLN'er Nelson for breakfast Friday morning, then headed to Riverfront....which was an absolute zoo. I'm just a little spoiled. I am used to seeing Patty in small venues, where I'm usually close to her, and usually surrounded by other people who agree about how awesome she is. And yes, I've done years and years of festivals for her, but, Fan Fair is so not your average outdoor festival. And we knew that going in, but still....We got there right after the gates opened and had a hard time finding a place to sit, but finally found a spot way off to the side of the stage, a little lower, and set up. By the time we set up, we were already so insanely hot, we were miserable. The heat index was 100. Before the first act, Gretchen Wilson, came on, Paige was already in the "I AM SO HOT" mode and I began to question if it was really bright of me to bring a 12 year old.

(Side note, I do not like Gretchen Wilson. My niece, however, loves "Redneck Woman". She was 6 when the song came out and sang it all the time, driving me CRAZY. I made her change the lyrics to "And I know all the words to every Patty Loveless song", and I was super proud Friday when she shouted OUR lyrics during Gretchen's performance. I have trained her sooooo well!!)

After the first act, some folks left...so Paige and I took that as our chance to move closer. By the time Patty was about to go one, we'd made our way closer towards the middle of the stage, and at the very front row, behind the photo line. As a plus, since we were down there, we spotted Patty when they drove her up!

The Crowd was relatively "rowdy" -- mainly because Gretchen Wilson had opened the show, and they ate her up. She took shots on stage, and the crowd screamed and cheered her on. That set the tone for the morning and I had my fingers crossed they would be good to Patty. She came out to a great response from the crowd, and she picked some good songs for the set--- a nice mix, that let her still do a ballad or two, and mixed some new stuff with old stuff the crowd would recognize. The only thing I hated was Patty or Saguaro didn't have a booth set up or anything in the exhibit hall---it would have been great for the folks who hadn't heard the new material yet to be able and go purchase MS II.

I was stoked at how much she got to do in her short amount of of time! Her set was:
Nights Too Long
On Down Line
You Don't Seem to Miss Me
Crazy Arms
Why Baby Why
Bramble & The Rose
Busted
Boys Are Back in Town
Drive
Blame It On Your Heart

Patty was the first artist of the day to do any sort of ballad, but "Crazy Arms" got a great response! The hit of her set was "Blame", which the crowd roared for and didn't miss a single word when it came to singing along. I had a mix of people around me -- a couple girls next to us had never seem her before, and absolutely loved her. The guy behind me complained that she didn't move around the stage enough, and that he had to stand to watch her because everyone below him was, and talked half the performance. (We asked him to hush and promised him we were leaving when Patty was done!) The girls on the other side of us told us how much they loved her as kids, and had no clue she still made music. (Which floored me....I suppose because I am SO involved with her, I just cannot even fathom not knowing she doesn't have a new record out!) So, not a over the top response, but a decent one.

Patty kept her comments brief since she only had a 45 minute set-- which was the difference between Patty and most of the other artists. Patty was there specifically to showcase her music. She wasn't there to chit chat during the show, she wasn't there to do shots for the audience, and she wasn't there to get the crowd to scream and yell at her. She was 100% about the music.

I didn't expect her to do anything from MS II, so we were delighted when she spoke about releasing MS II, and explained quickly about cutting the original lyrics to the next song, and started into Busted-- and I think the guy behind me was less than enthused when we began to loudly sing along.

During the show, Patty commented on the heat and said she hoped she looked alright when she was sweating. By the end of her set, she was swinging her towel around her head, saying it was an easy way to get cool.

She DID take a few minutes to say part of what brought her there, and explained about DRIVE4COPD-- explaining to the audience what COPD was, and why she chose to be involved with the campaign -- she used that to lead into "Drive".

Patty's 45 minutes seemed to fly by (whereas the earlier acts seemed to go by so slow!), and we hated to see her over. We welcomed the chance for air conditioning, so we ran over to Joe's Crab Shack (one of my favorite places that is FINALLY back open since the flood!!) for a short bit. I immediately logged into twitter and did a search for Patty to see what people were saying, and I found one tweet that I absolutely LOVED--- where someone said the acts before Patty were okay, but now Patty Loveless was on "showing them how it was done". She was right. Patty was spot on, and sounded incredible the entire set. I know people think I'm exaggerating when I brag about how great her shows were, but seriously, she was just flawless. She's that good.

We went over to the Sports Zone COPD booth around 1:15 and staked our spot at the front of the line--- flooring all the folks there. The girls @ the Drive4COPD were super sweet, and took great care of us, trying to make sure we had water, and insisting we could leave if we wanted and they'd make sure no one took our spot. Patty was the only one that we were there for, though, so we stayed put. Apparently, PLN and Flat Patty are also a hit with the Drive4COPD folks.... (Thanks Rachel, we'll be sure to bring Flat Patty next time!)

Patty came around 4:30 to the booth, and spoke a few minutes about COPD, and her involvement with the drive. After a few introductory words, she said And by the way, if you don't know who I am, I'm Patty Loveless, and I drive 4 COPD. And, she sat down and signed in the scorching heat (in black plants, nonetheless!) and signed for everyone, with a smile on her face. She had a great line, and when we cheered when she got there, a lot of folks came rushing over to take pictures of her.

As a side note, just taking a moment to brag here, but in telling me how much Emory enjoys the site and checked it out, she mentioned him commenting that PLN was better than her site, and then she grinned and agreed. Just bragging --- words straight from the Queen Bee's mouth herself!

I don't know how many folks got through the line completely--- we headed out shortly after getting her, and said our goodbyes to Nelson, and rushing to the car for air conditioning, but she was scheduled to be there for an hour, so I imagine that and the 2 1/2 hours she signed inside--- she took time out for quite a few fans. And, I know Drive4COPD screened a ton of people during the fest, so…. I'm hoping Patty's numbers's on the screener count go up significantly!

Paige and I were so wore out, it hurt to walk……we have the great sunburns along the scalp, and it hurts to brush my hair--- and after 12 hours of sleep, I'm STILL tired. But, for Patty, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. If she'd been back on Saturday to sign, I'd been the first person in line for her again --- 100 degree heat index or not! 100% totally worth it.