Along with soft rock, I’ve always enjoyed listening to country music. Some of my favorite artists to date are Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, LeeAnne Rimes, and the timeless, ageless Reba McEntire. Then there is Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Another duo that is a favorite of mine. Especially Tim McGraw, and his first big hit “Don’t Take The Girl”. When I saw that they were doing another “Soul 2 Soul” tour together this year, I considered buying tickets to see them in concert. By the time I started searching for those tickets, most of the really good seats were sold and the ones that weren’t cost a small fortune. So, I decided that maybe next time I’d try and get tickets earlier and put the whole thing out of my mind.
Until last week, when I received a call from my sister-in-law, Debbie (my husband’s only sister/sibling). Her husband, Kirk, has a friend who KNOWS Tim McGraw and is working with him on some movie deals. This friend, Mike (who I also know through Debbie and Kirk) was given four VIP tickets and passes for the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert at the Staples Center for this past Saturday. The three of them were going, and Debbie called to invite me as the fourth person. I was ECSTATIC. 
I wasn’t certain what the VIP passes entailed, but soon found out. When we arrived, we were escorted backstage (very cool) and into a private area where the VIP party and pre-show was 
set up. American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson was there, too – and was very sweet and gracious to everyone who approached her. There was a huge buffet of food and an open bar, and after everyone had a chance to eat something, we were treated to a private acoustic performance by Tim and Faith. Wow. 8O We were in the same room with them, only feet away as we watched them sing and banter with the small audience.
When that was over, it was time to take our seats – and we had absolutely no idea where our seats were! We walked into the sold-out stadium, which was filled to capacity with nearly 60,000 fans! It was incredible. Our seats, we soon discovered, were absolutely amazing. 
They were the second row back, which also put us next to one of the stage’s walking platforms that Tim and Faith used while singing, so they could approach the audience from different directions. A woman who was sitting next to me struck up a conversation before the show started and wanted to know how we came across the VIP passes. Once we told her, she admitted that she paid $550.00 for her one seat, without any VIP treatment. ::gulp:: I felt like we struck gold!
The concert started with Tim and Faith singing a duet together, which was fabulous – and the screams from the fans were deafening. And talk about two very beautiful people! Well, Faith is the beautiful one, and Tim McGraw is just downright sexy! Anyway, after that opening song, Faith Hill took the stage for well over an hour. She started out with “Mississippi Girl”, and went 
on to sing most of her #1 hits, such as “This Kiss”, “The Way You Love Me”, “Breathe”, and “The Lucky One”. She took time to banter with the crowd and even tossed out a scarf she was holding to a lucky fan who grabbed it. Faith was phenomenal, engaging, and larger than life.
While Faith got the crowd up and moving with her pop-songs and stellar vocals, the second half of the show, mainly Tim McGraw, literally brought the house down with his tight jeans, sex appeal, and his many country hits. He opened his act with “Real Good Man”, and I have to say that those lyrics (I might be a real bad boy, but baby I’m a real good man) is what epitomizes most of my heros. It’s a great song, and one of many that had the fans screaming and jumping up and down for more. He sang one of my all time favorites, “Don’t Take The Girl”, and by far the biggest cheers of the night came for one of his most loved songs, “Live Like You Were Dying”. We were also treated to a sneek peek of a movie he’ll be starring in this fall, “Flicka”, along with a song he wrote and recorded just for the movie, a sweet ballad called “My Little 
Girl”. A very fitting song, considering he has three daughters of his own.
In between his songs, he talked and joked with the crowd – - and during many of the songs he did sing he took the time to shake hands of the fans standing around the stage. My brother-in-law, Kirk, shook his hand, and Debbie grabbed his pant leg at one point. The two of us laughed that she could have just pulled him down onto her lap! 
As for me, I was too busy taking pictures, gawking, and trying to process the fact that Tim Mcgraw was only feet away from where I was standing.
The entire concert was three hours of non-stop songs, action, and interaction. Most of the 
time we were standing up on our feet, or dancing in front of our chairs. The evening ended when Faith and Tim returned to the stage for the last finale, “I Need You”, in which they sat in chairs facing each other, and sang to each other, then ended the night with a passionate kiss that reminded everyone that these two people were first and foremost husband and wife who truly loved one another. :love: After a final wave and a thank you to the fans, they were escorted off the stage, leaving 60,000 attendees to slowly filter out of the stadium. :happy2:
It was definitely a night to remember. 
So, have you every had one of those “Once In A Lifetime” moments? If so, tell us about it!
Janelle Denison finds it hard to believe that it’s been nearly 25 years since she first started writing romance novels. At first, it was a way to pass idle time while her husband worked swing shift, but before long it became an obsession to get published. Luckily, she kept at it (it took her over 5 years to get that first book published!) and is now a Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, and USA Today Bestselling author! Now, after selling over 45 plus novels, she finds that her Plotmonkey pals help to keep her stories fresh and unique, and she can’t imagine writing a story without their input. Janelle lives in Oregon with her husband, Don, along with two teenage daughters that keep life interesting.
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Once Upon A Valentine
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Wow, that was an incredible re-cap, Janelle! It sounded like something right out of one of your books – a true romance between 2 beautiful people. I love them both. Yeah, Tim’s song “Real Good Man” is hot, and fits the bad boys
I remember going to see Garth Brooks in Chicago several years ago. I think originally he’d only scheduled 2 shows, but they were sold out so we added another, then 2 more, it was amazing. He is just one of those performers who is so charismatic and energizing that you feel like you could conquer the world after being to one of his shows – he knows how to get the crowd going and how to slow them down, eating out of the palm of his hand. I can’t wait til he goes back to performing.
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How exciting!! That’s a memory to cherish forever.
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Congratulations on getting to experience such a wonderful thing! Not just the show and VIP treatment, but to get to see the two of them interact. I’ve always been a fan of theirs (seperately and as a couple).
I have to confess that when I saw the title “Once in a Lifetime” I immediately thought you were going to write about Keith Urban’s new song with the same title. Of course, that will also tell you what my Once In a Lifetime moment was – the time I finally got to see Keith in concert.
He had been nearby twice with Kenny Chesney and I’d had to work both times so couldn’t go (I like Kenny but didn’t care about him NEAR as much as Keith). Then Keith headlined a tour and I got tickets – center stage just a few rows back. I was ecstatic!!! The day of the show I woke up deathly sick…I tried everything to get better that day and, considering I actually had a two hour drive, my friend and I decided there was just no way I could go. My husband even considered calling a friend who has a private plane to fly me to the show because I was so devastated, but I was too sick even for that. I cried for days!!!
One year later, almost to the day, Keith came nearby again (a 3 hour drive this time but that was “nearby” enough for me!). I had similar seats and I ate health food for 3 weeks prior to the show. There was nothing going to stop me this time! And it didn’t!!!
During the show he “flew” on a wire right over my head and they landed him on a stage about 7′ behind me. My fingers shake now, just remembering. He sang 4 or 5 songs from that stage and I lost count of the number of times he looked directly at me. I think he was actually worried for our safety, because there were several of us standing on chairs and leaning in precarious positions trying to get pictures, but I didn’t care what the cause! Keith looked at me! (sigh…)
Anyway, thanks for the post and giving me an opportunity to remember my once in a lifetime moment. What a great way to start the day!!! And if you haven’t heard Keith’s new song, keep an ear out for it. It’s a really sweet song about falling in love and very timely considering his new marriage.
Have a great day everyone and enjoying recalling your Once……
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WOW, that sounds like an amazing concert and experience.
I am sooo jealous!! :)
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:)Sounds like it was an amazing concert, Janelle. Thanks for sharing….:thumbsup2: I felt like I was there!
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The concert sounded great. Thanks for taking us with you sort of :)
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I LOVE Tim McGraw!!!! He’s so inspirational when it comes to my writing, particularly my Harlequin Blazes. My WOW moment involves Toby Keith, however. Love, love, LOVE him also. I sat on the front row and just seeing him up close and knowing that he was actually real was such a cool thing! I also met Beyonce (Destiny’s Child) once at the Hard Rock in New York. Totally awesome, as well. She was having dinner and we were having dinner, and it was like running into an old friend. We chatted. Unfortunately, she didn’t ask me to star in her upcoming video, or even make a cameo appearance. Such is the boring life of a writer . . .
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It’s so nice that there are a bunch of Coutry Music lovers here. :love2:
Two years ago right after my husband had a heart attack, i took my daughter to the big arena to see if she could at least get a glimpse of Tim McGraw when he was here on tour with Big and Rich and the Warren Brothers. Not only did she get to meet each of the members of Big & Rich, and all of the Warren Brothers band- they each took a picture with her. When they found out we weren’t going to the show ($$), they came back with 2 tickets in the section saved for them to hand out. It was a great show needless to say. And all of those guys hold a special place in my heart for that.:love2::love2:
We also meet all of the American Idols from last year when we went to the concert. All but Bo, he was sick at that point.
Heather (my daughter) is planning on working in the industry and has managed over the years to meet more people at concerts. I have been to over 300, and she still has meet more of them than I ever will. Lucky brat!!:hissyfit:
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Janelle-
Sounds like you had a FABULOUS TIME!!! I love Tim but have never seen him in concert..he and Faith are on my list of wanna see artists. Thanks for sharing….great recap and wonderful memories for you.
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What a fabulous time for you Janelle………that is one show that would be so exciting to see and you were so fortunate to be able to experience everything so up front and personal………….A wonderful recap and I loved the pictures……….:cheer:
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Hi Janelle,
No I’ve never had such luck at a once in a lifetime moment, yet. I still have a few good years left in me.:happy2:
Sounds like you had the perfect evening. You look fantastic in the photo.:thumbsup2:
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how fun. love them two.:cooldance::love2:
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Janelle–
I personally have yet to have my once in a lifetime moment, I hope it happens soon. (sigh)
I am so happy for you. The Soul to Soul tour will be here in Vegas next month but we just can’t quite afford to go. We get alot of big names here but they also cost alot of big $.
Make sure you write down this memory and the way you felt, where you can always return there and your kids–and one day future generations will know the importance. Especially since you have such a way with words. (Ha Ha):thumbsup:
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Oh all the up close and personal concerts sound wonderful. I got to see Elvis but not up close. I tried getting garth tickets but they were sold out. Having friends in high places is always nice lol.
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Janelle, That’s awesome you got to go and be realized as a VIP no less!
That’s definately one for the books. Just remember it’ll be hard to go back to the “cheap seats” at the next concert.:wink:
My “lifetime moment.” I got to meet Joey McIntyre a few years ago when he was performing off Broadway. I even got my picture taken with him
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Janelle, sounds like you had a wonderful time. I’m a huge country music fan and love, love, love Tim’s “Real Good Man” song. Also adore Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Brooks and Dunn, etc… I haven’t gotten to meet a lot of the actual country music stars, but have met a lot of the song writers. One of our local radio stations hosts a “Muscle Shoals to Music Row” thing here every Thursday night during the summer and they feature the song writers. It’s fascinating.
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I love them! I saw them in concert before they got married…I think they had just started dating…it was so sweet.
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How exciting for you!
I got to see Garth Brooks at The Rose Garden in Portland, OR. Would I go see him again? You bet your bippy I would!!!!
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My once in a lifetime moment happened at the RWA Reno Conference last July. I’ve been a huge Star Wars fan every since A New Hope came out, and once I saw Hayden Christensen as Anakin I pretty much decided he was the perfect male and became my muse. I found out that he would be in Reno on Wednesday night as part of the Bullrun Race. So I showed up at the Literacy Signing for a little bit then headed over to Circus Circus where the drivers were coming in. I not only got to see him, but meet him. Twice. He signed a manuscript I was working on (he was my inspiration) and then a little while later saw him again and he signed a Bullrun T-shirt I’d purchased. It was so great! And he was so nice. Not to mention gorgeous:wink:
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Mine was to see Charlie Pride in concert once and shake his hand and to see Kenny Rogers in concert.
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What a fantastic experience! and then a VIP pass to boot! I am jealous!
I have had some fantastic experiences myself. The one that sticks out most in my mind is when Donny Osmond and his sister Marie were performing at our theater in Merrilville. I had a crush on him as a teenager. They came out on stage singing and my husband and I got to shake their hands since we were sitting next to the aisle.
Also, my husband got lucky a ways back when George Bush Sr. was campaigning for president. My husband and I went to the Farm Progress show in Illinois. We were right next to the walkway where he was walking by and he stopped and shook our hands and my husband said to him, “I hope you win Mr. Bush”. George Bush said to my husband, “I am going to give it a good try”. That was really nice of George Bush to comment back to my husband. It sure made our trip a memorable one!
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I don’t like Country but I love Faith Hill
THey’re a really rock solid couple
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I am so jealous. Am glad you were able to experience this wonderful concert.
I am crazy about their duet on the radio. What a wonderful song. It had to be great to see them sing to each other.
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Wow, what a fabulous experience. I don’t think I’ve had that kind of experience yet but I have been to some concerts that I enjoyed so much it takes you a long time to get back to “normal”!!
One of our local radio stations that plays smooth jazz music has “free” concerts & it is amazing some of the talent they have for these concerts. After listening to the very first one I went to I got to meet Boney James & Peter White, very talented men & I spoke with them briefly & thanked them for the music. Both of them are favorite performers for me & I hope to see them again sometime. These men a big in the Smooth Jazz world.