My husband and I like to attend concerts, and we’ve been blessed to see quite a few together. Jimmy took me to my first concert in May 2005 – Bruce Springsteen, the Devils and Dust tour. It was just Springsteen, no E-Street Band, doing an-all acoustic show. It was definitely more artsy than the traditional concert, but that’s OK. I was in the same room with The Boss.

Jimmy had been to a lot of concerts before we met, but I had never been to one. While I’m sure I would’ve enjoyed them, concerts just weren’t high on the priority list since I had four children. Over the past six years, though, Jimmy’s made sure I’ve played catch-up when it comes to concerts. In the summer of 2005, I got to see Def Leppard and my favorite singer Bryan Adams. We were in a general admission area, and Jimmy managed to push me to the front row, and there I was just a few feet away from Bryan Adams, and I got to touch him.

Lots of concerts followed, and these remembrances are not necessarily in order. Jimmy’s memory works much better at keeping them all in order than mine does.

We saw the Rolling Stones and Alice Cooper at Churchill Downs. The Stones are Jimmy’s favorite group, and the next time we see them (well, if there is a next time to see them; they are getting on in years), he wants front-row tickets. We went to the CMA music festival in Nashville for vacation one year with all the kids, and I can’t even remember everybody we saw while we were there. But over the three days, if they sang country, we probably saw them. We took Nicole to a Brad Paisley concert, and Sugarland opened for him (back when Sugarland had three members). We took Trav to see Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. The seats for these shows were OK, but then Jimmy went and spoiled me, and now, if it’s not pretty good seats, I won’t go.

We’ve seen Seger two other times, one of those was from the second row, but the other was front row, center stage. Bob Seger was right in front of us all night. And let me tell you, there’s nothing quite like the sound of Alto Reed’s saxophone, with the lights down, when he starts the intro to “Turn the Page.” The only other gives-you-chills saxophone performance would be that of the late, great Clarence “Big Man” Clemons with Springsteen’s E-Street Band, and we saw him once from the third row on the side of the stage and once fromthe  front of The Pit. We took Byron and Cody to see Darius Rucker at a vineyard, and those seats were in the 7th row. Another great show was Rod Stewart, whom we saw from the third row; he might be old (well, I guess a lot of these guys I’m talking about are old), but Rod Stewart puts on a great show.

We’ve seen my favorite Bryan Adams five times, and each time our seats have been so great. The last three times were in small venues, with just Bryan and his piano player Gary Breit, and we were never farther back than the fifth row. All the shows were great, and for one of them in Lexington, Jimmy got the “meet and greet” tickets, and I was able to speak to and get a personal autograph from Bryan. However, the last time we saw him was the best of them all. We had front row tickets, just off center stage, and after the song “Let’s Make It a Night to Remember”, Jimmy dropped to one knee and proposed. Bryan noticed, told the crowd what was going on, congratulated us, and dedicated the song “Flying” to us. At the end of the show, he congratulated us again, shook our hands, and wished us the best. It was definitely a night to remember.

And now, Jimmy has gotten us tickets to see Bob Seger a fourth time, in Louisville. The seats we have right now are pretty good, 19th row, but knowing my Jimmy, he’ll keep looking, and I’m hoping given his good luck in the past that he’ll be able to get us an “upgrade”. If he can’t the 19th row isn’t too bad, but we are spoiled when it comes to getting good seats at concerts.

I have been blessed to see so many great performers, and see them from great seats, and I owe it all to Jimmy. There are still a few artists I’d still like to see, but if I don’t, it’s no big deal.I’d also like for Jimmy to get his wish to see the Stones from the front row since that would be a huge improvement over the other five times he saw them, including when he had to watch them from the top five rows of Riverfront Coliseum, and I’m looking forward to our Seger show, even if it is from the 19th row. I always get a good dinner and a good show, but the best part is spending the evening with my best friend.