Many, well most of you know that I am a HUGE country music fan. I live and breathe it. It's my addiction. Any of y'all who also share my passion know that the CMA's are like the Oscars essentially to country music. It's the one night were country goes glam! The show is a pretty big deal and it's held every year right here in Nashville at the Bridgestone Arena!
About a month ago my professor Dorren told my friends and I how to get in for free. All we had to do was look for the guys handing out wristbands.
Finally the big day arrived, for those of you who don't know, it was Wednesday night. My friends Jade & Jacquie went with me. All three of us dressed super nice. I wore a dress and heels. For those of you who know me, I hate dresses. But hey it's the CMAs, I can't really wear jeans to such a prestigious event. Anyways around 4:45 we got a Lyft and headed downtown. When we got to the arena, there were already roughly 20 people standing in line to get free tickets. We got in line and waited. A few times I literally ran down Broadway in heels and a dress to search for the man with wristbands. Tragically I couldn't find him. I did find one of Dierks Bentley's people and tried to persuade him to let us in, but that was a no-go. I ran back to the line and we waited.
We waited for roughly 3 hours in the rain. Finally two women appeared and handed out tickets! Jacquie grabbed them and off we ran to the doors! When we got inside, there were tables filled with stacks of commemorative books. Naturally I grabbed three. I also grabbed 3 copies of the special edition People Magazine. But Florida Georgia Line was on the cover, so I had to grab more! While we walked to our section (114), Jason Aldean was performing his single, Burnin' it Down. And yes I sang along the entire time. We found our section and had to wait behind this curtain until the next commercial break. Before that happened, Little Big Town performed with Ariana Grande. LBT was really good, I sang along to them. When Ariana hit the stage, I about vomited. I cannot stand her. But that's for a different blog post. Once they finished we were able to head to our seats. And our seats were amazing!
They were to the left of the stage and like 10 rows up. As soon as I sat down, I immediately began looking for all the stars. And there they were like 50-100 feet from me. I obviously spotted Tim & Faith, Keith & Nicole, Mike Fisher, Dierks, Florida Georgia Line, Vince Gill, Lady Antebellum, and others. But then sitting like 50 feet from me was none other than Billy Currington. Guys I almost died. Then it got better. I noticed a strikingly handsome gentleman in front of Lady A. He had glasses on and I knew he looked familiar. I just couldn't figure out who it was. Then it hit me. Guys, it was Tim Tebow. I sat under the same roof as Tim freaking Tebow. He was like 100 feet from me. I almost had a heart attack.
But seriously the awards were so much fun! Seeing Luke, Dierks, Tim, Carrie, Brad, and others perform was amazing. You'll watch the show on TV and think that it's cool, but being there is just a whole other ballgame. During commercial breaks everyone gets up and talks with each other and they take pictures together and hug one another and it's just fun to watch! When Vince Gill won the Irving Waugh Excellence Award, I will admit that I teared up when he teared up. The emotions were high at that point. I also teared up when Luke won his first ever CMA which was the night's top honor, Entertainer of the Year. I am a huge fan of Luke's so I was rooting for him all along.
Truly it was a magical night. After the show was over, we waited out in the lobby for a bit. While I was standing there, Frankie Ballard walked by. He's an up and coming country singer. I chased him down and asked him for a picture! He was super sweet about it!
Finally we headed out, but not before I grabbed more copies of People Magazine! We went outside onto Broadway and it was popping! Little Big Town was performing at Rippy's Bar and across the street Carl Black Chevy dealership was throwing a VIP After Party. We saw Big & Rich perforn from outside and then Lee Brice sang!
Around 11 p.m. we grabbed a Lyft and headed back to campus. But first we made a pit-stop through Wendy's Drive-Thru since none of us had eaten all night. Finally we made it back to campus and that was the end of CMA night! It truly was a spectacular evening and I'm so glad I was able to spend it with two amazing friends!
These are the moments when I know that I picked the right university!
