[Kira]

MY REVIEW OF THE CONCERT IN HERSHEY, PENNSYLVANIA

First I would like to give a review of the overall concert and setup and then I will tell you all about each artist from my point of view.

Well, everyone, I have to admit that it was my very first country concert ever. As I have stated before I never liked country music before until Carrie Underwood introduced me to it with her performances on AI and then with Kellie the following season, I became a fan of some of it, but not all.

The concert in Hershey, Pennsylvania took place at Giant Center which is a stadium, arena that plays hosts to all kinds of events such as ice skating and sports as well as concerts. It probably holds 20,000 people capacity and we estimated about 15,000 there or more it was pretty packed.

Our seats would have been good but not great (floor seats in front of the stage but back at the 29th row) , except for the fact that I am short and most everyone was standing up by their seats for most of the concert so I tried my best to see but usually had to rely on the images projected on screens for facial expressions etc.

One thing I must say that really disappointed me and I heard other fans on this website complain about it too: while there were signs everywhere outside the stadium that no alcohol was permitted, inside they were selling beer. Two young girls were right in front of us and proceeded to get rip roaring drunk to the tune of shaking their bodies ( supposedly dancing) all night while the singers were performing ( as if we wanted to watch them instead of the artists), and we had to put up with one of them almost losing her top and jeans with every few seconds tugging at them to keep them up! It was annoying and distracting to say the least. I am sure they were not the only drunk ones but being right in front of us we could not help but notice. I really wish they would not allow alcohol at these events, but my hubby says that they make a tremendous profit on it and are not about to stop it.

As for the concert as a whole, I was impressed with parts, and not so impressed with others. Especially in Brad’s set, though I don’t know that much about country music, some of it sure sounded like rock music to me. But I was impressed with the elaborate production as a whole: it really was first rate! Unfortunately I was not able to get any pics as we were too far away and my camera is not the greatest. I heard someone else went to that concert, so hopefully she will have pics.

Starting out with Jack Ingram, he was just okay in my book: not bad, but nothing fantastic. I don’t feel he is that much of a showman but his voice is nice. He was the first act, and then he introduced Kellie. The crowd cheered her on, but not as loudly as I would have hoped but then again this is the Northeast and most likely she does not have as many fans here as she does in other parts of the country. The order of her songs was: Gotta keep Moving, TTNCAMM, DUKHMIlY,9-5, I Wonder, and closed with RED High Heels. Kellie looked absolutely stunning in tight blue jeans and a pale blue tee shirt that was form fitting but not revealing at all; it was perfect dress for the crowd. Everything about her was beautiful from inside out. She was in perfect vocal form, and her showmanship was marvelous; she worked the crowd, shook hands and signed autographs for the people down front, and moved about the stage like a real pro. I have only seen her once before in the AI tour last year when they came to NJ, but I saw real professional growth in her. She got a very nice reception from the audience for every song, but IWonder really was her shining moment. She did cry at the end and people started to cheer towards the end of the song, and then many in the audience stood up and gave her a standing ovation. She spoke about her mom ( no realationship with her) before I Wonder and then went into the song. She then spoke about Taylor Swift being so mature and together like HER older sister instead of the reverse given their ages, and that she herself is immature and obnoxious, which to be very honest with you, I don’t think she should be saying that stuff about herself and I will mention during my review of Taylor, why I don’t think that it is true. Perhaps because I love Kellie so much, and am slightly prejudiced in her favor, I think she was far better than Taylor Swift. My husband agrees. Kellie’s music is more what I think country music is about, and her appeal is to people of all ages. I was sitting next to a couple who are real country music fans for years, and they also like Kellie way more than Taylor and Ithink it is age related as well as that Taylor’s music does not seem to be pure country while I think Kellie’s is. I would love to see Kellie in her own concert or in a smaller setting. But I was very proud of the way she presented herself over all and her voice was just lovely and catching and inspiring. She sings with emotion and right from the heart.

I want to be very fair in my assessment of Taylor Swift, and all the opinions stated here are strictly my own. The crowd went wild for her at the mere mention of her name; that is because she was born and raised in Pennsylvania and it is her state ( as Kellie so humbly stated). I would like to ask anyone who was in attendance at the concert in Charlotte if the crowd went more wild for Kellie than they did for TS: I would expect so. For me, she has an appeal only for the kids: the teeny boppers from 10-18. I read reviews from others on the site saying after seeing her, they are now real Taylor fans. I cannot say the same for myself, although I do admit she is great for the kids and has a real teen age appeal. Her voice, in my opinion, is not nearly as good as Kellie’s, and I don’t think that jumping around with her guitar and throwing her hair all over the place equals great showmanship. I also do not feel that saying the word “awesome” every five minutes is a sign of maturity at all: she is what she is: a great pop star for the teens. I realize that the teens are the ones buying the cds and her success will be because of that but I don’t think she is pure country at all: she reminds me more of a pop star maybe country rock but not real country. However, I do think it is admirable that she writes her own songs, that takes talent of course. But for me Teardrops on my Guitar does not hold a candle to I Wonder.

Brad the star: you cannot imagine the difference with the settings and lights that Brad had compared to the others! When they were setting up for him, my husband who never even heard of him before said : wow, I think a real big name is coming on now. They had five projection screens for him instead of the two (one on each side) for the other performers. The lights, I am telling you were like Broadway and Hollywood put together. However, my favorite time during brad’s set was when the band went backstage and he sat on a stool with his guitar only and sang a few songs. That was what my image of country music always had been, and he was really great. But like I said before, many times during his show I felt that I was at a rock concert. The music was loud and booming. Perhaps country music has changed according to the times we live in; maybe I am a bit old fashioned and naïve about it all, but I prefer the old style country except for Carrie, Kellie, Bucky, Martina and some others. But loud screaming rock style stuff just is not my cup of tea.

Over all it was a very enjoyable evening ( except for the two drunk girls in front of us), and I am looking forward to seeing Kellie again in the future. I think she is a star in the making!