May 19, 2001 - Miller Park - Milwaukee, WI

The 4^th annual George Strait Country Music Festival came to Milwaukee as the first concert to play in the new Miller Park. It was a huge success. Over 37,000 country fans were in attendance on a perfect day. The stadium was nearly full with the exception being the 4^th deck, which was partially filled. (I think those seats were overpriced at $51.50. I was in the 8^th row and those seats were a long way from the stage!) Straitland was nice with the usual drawings, promotions, vendors, etc.

At 1:00, Asleep at the Wheel took the stage to kick off the show as they have done for the previous three festivals. I was surprised how many people were there already. Asleep at the Wheel played their brand of western swing for about 30 minutes, made a few plugs for their new CD, and did a nice job overall.

Sara Evans also had a 30 minute set and went through her list of hit songs including "No Place That Far" and "I Could Not Ask For More." She did a nice job with her set and seemed very comfortable with the large crowd.

Next was Brad Paisley, one of my personal favorites. He did an excellent job with his set, playing solid country songs. Brad is also very humorous and made quite a few jokes during his set. He referred to the concert as the George Jones Country Music Festival, acted like he was done after two songs, and played one of his new songs which he said described why he was still single. (In the song "I’m Gonna Miss Her" he has to choose between the girl and fishing; he chose fishing.) Brad saluted country’s legends by playing Haggard’s "Are the Good Times Really Over for Good," and received a good response from the crowd when he changed the line about Nixon lying on TV to Clinton lying on TV. (He did not get as friendly a response from the women when he sang the line about "when a woman could still cook . . .") Brad is an excellent performer and he has a very bright future in country music.

Lee Ann Womack performed next, and is also one of my favorites. She also did a good job but I did not think her show was a great as it was when I saw her at North Star Casino six months ago. She went through her set playing her country hits with some rock covers. I would have liked her to sing some country covers since she has such a good voice for country songs.

Lonestar followed Lee Ann. This was the third time I have seen them. They are an ok band, but it seems that every time I see them they seem to be moving more and more in the direction of a pop sound. An ok show, but hard to pay attention to when you know the heavy hitters are coming up next.

Alan Jackson took the stage playing "Gone Country," as he usually does. He was incredible and moved through his list of country standards and remakes smoothly. The sound quality was good all day but it was excellent when Alan and George played. Alan is himself a legend and I was hoping that he would be on George’s tour this year. He mixed scenes from his music videos into his show and this was great since his videos such as "Summertime Blues" and "Chattahochee" show him doing all kinds of things such as driving Bigfoot and water skiing in his cowboy boots. It does not get much cooler than that!

Well, maybe it does get cooler than that. Cool as it is to see Alan Jackson drive Bigfoot and water ski in his cowboy boots, seeing George Strait is even cooler. Strait was incredible and since I was in the 8^th row, it was that much better. He went through a good mix of his hits and played some different songs that he did not sing the last time I saw him such as the classics "The Fireman," "Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind," and "The Chair." Another highlight was when Alan came on stage to sing "Murder on Music Row" with George. I don’t know if I’ll ever see these two on the same stage live again, but it was great to see country’s greatest traditional singers together. Then, as the concert wound down, the security staff let the crowd rush the stage and I ended up about 6 ft from George! I watched him sing "The Best Day" and "Unwound" before he left the stage. When he came back, he sang "Folsom Prison Blues" and ended with "The Cowboy Rides Away." I wasn’t able to shake his hand or get his autograph, but it was still unbelievable.

In my mind, George, Alan, and Brad were the best performers of the day and show the strength of traditional country music. This was definitely a Saturday night to remember. I think George put it best when he sang, "When you hear twin fiddles and a steel guitar, you’re listening to the sound of the American heart, and Opry music on a Saturday night, brings a smile to your face and a tear to your eye . . . sing a song about the Heartland, sing a song about my life."

My Grade, A+

More Pictures from the 2001 GSCMF!