A few months ago news spread like wildfire that George Strait was going to headline a concert at Clemson and the stars aligned. David and I had always wanted to see the King of Country perform and when he came 45 minutes from our house But Our anniversary, it’s decided- we have to go!
We debated whether it should be just the two of us or the whole family and ultimately decided it would be very special for all of us to go. I set my calendar to be alerted when tickets went on sale and then hovered over the Get Tickets button on October 27th to get in line as soon as possible.
I felt like I was pretty quick at pressing the buttons so I was surprised that I was number 1,575 in line. With my heart racing and palms sweaty (I take my responsibility of getting good seats seriously) I watched the queue drag on until it was my turn to get a ticket. Once in the system they were disappearing fast so I was grateful I had a plan and I grabbed the four lows and checked out as quickly as possible.
Luckily David and I had talked ahead of time to discuss the price of tickets, so it wasn’t a complete shock, but as someone who doesn’t attend a lot of events, it always surprises me how expensive these experiences can be.
Out of pure curiosity I logged back in an hour later to see if tickets to the event were sold out and that’s when I saw that the tickets were sold with dynamic pricing and the seats I had paid for an hour earlier were now available. four times In price. I didn’t know the concert used dynamic pricing and I suddenly felt a little better about the amount we paid. Our price was now the price of hemorrhage. Seriously, I was stunned.
Time passed like that and soon May 2nd came and it was the day of the concert! The concert started at 6:00 and we knew we wanted to get there a little early to walk around the campus, so we headed out around 12:30.
When we arrived traffic was building but not terrible and we found a parking spot at a church 7 miles from the stadium for $20 and called it a win. We set up a mini tailgate for a few people to enjoy some snacks and drinks and toss a football before heading to campus.
It was a beautiful day and the streets were buzzing with energy. Everywhere you looked, there were people wearing cowboy hats and boots. I started exploring in my shoes, but halfway through I opted to head back to the truck for my sneakers. Very good option.
We had such a fun time people watching, walking around campus, and enjoying the beautiful day that soon it was time to go to the concert!
The weather was ideal for an outdoor concert. The threat of rain had been looming earlier in the day, but apart from a few sprinkles during the opening ceremony, the temperature remained around 60 degrees and the sky was clear. Absolutely beautiful weather!
We knew we came to see King George, so we were treated to Cody Johnson’s stellar performance. The man has true talent and a natural charisma for the crowd. He did his job impressively, keeping everyone excited and singing some explosive songs himself. Did my eyes tear up like usual during Dirt Cheap? Absolutely. Actually when she started playing it Haley looked at me and said, “Oh no, Mom, it’s here.” Ha 🙂
Between Cody and the main event we went to grab a bite to eat. We were surprised by how poorly prepared they were for the crowd, considering that Clemson is no stranger to large crowds at football games. The lines were long (30-45 minutes), they ran out of pizza before George arrived, and the only food available was popcorn and chips. No big deal, of course, but it’s surprising and my plans to feed us all at the concert were completely ruined. Oh.
Instead we stopped eating popcorn, M&Ms, Cokes and seltzers. Caitlin was on cloud nine. But Morgan Wallen just has a warning for any friends heading there this summer.
Finally, the time came, and the crowd roared as George Strait walked up to the stage (which turned around and gave everyone a view of the entire night’s music, which was pretty cool).
george.
Very good.
I don’t really even know where to start.
First of all the guy makes 73 look very good. But really, wow, you can tell he’s a natural, born to sing these songs for a crowd. that was amazing.
We sang and danced along with the rest of the over 90,000 people, enjoying every minute of George’s 2 hours. He had a great mix of songs to sing, which was probably difficult to judge based on how many hits he had. My favorites include Troubadour, of course, Check Yes or No, How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls, and Run, but honestly it’s easy to forget how many amazing songs he sings and we enjoyed them all.
The crowd chanted slogans after he left the stage one more song And he returned to repeat a few more songs, finally ending it appropriately with The Cowboy Rides Away.
what a night!
It was absolutely incredible and I don’t even mind the fact that it took hours to get there due to jammed traffic (easy for me to say, as I was nodding along in the car while David was handling it, but it was another sign for Morgan Wallen concert goers).
We reached home around 2:00 pm with tired bodies but very happy hearts. I’m so glad we got to share this experience as a family. King George may still lay claim to country music’s throne; Truly a living legend.
Oh, and of course happy 17 years to my aunt. Don’t know how I got so lucky to spend my life with her, but I don’t take a minute of it for granted. <3
