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Well, we got our two-day passes two months early for $75 each. A great deal, I thought, until I met a scalper the first day out front selling a two-day pass for $50. The gate price was $95 -- guess that was further proof we were in Aggieland!

Picture this folks: you’re in the infield of a giant racetrack with 30,000 other folks and it’s 11:00 on a beautiful Saturday morning. There are 42 world champion BBQ teams having a cook-off to determine whose is the best. This means free samples galore! There will be two 8-lap stock car races and 34 performers jamming for you on 5 different stages.

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The Toyota Tundra stage had the most performers that I wanted to see. When the gates opened at 11:00, Mary Ann and I just strolled on over and set our chairs down in front of the stage. I went and got us some super chipped beef and drinks and we settled in for the best concert I’ve ever been to, bar none! The first band was one called, “One Mississippi”. They were okay, but the bass drowned out a lot of the vocals. Next came Leon Russell, or should I say Mister Leon Russell?! A legend that still rocks at 175 yrs. old -- or somewhere around there. We were torn between seeing Los Lonely Boys and the Wreckers. We just saw the Los Lonely boys a couple of months ago, knew they could really jam and put on an awesome show, but we decided to stay put and watch the Wreckers. I’m glad we did -- those two girls can throw down with the best of them. In a town full of college girls, their beauty and stage presence still stood out.

I eased over and caught some of Billy Joe Shaver’s show. Man, that dude can raise the hair on my neck. Then came our next dilemma. Dierks Bentley was starting over on the Bud Light stage and Robert Earl Keen, one of my favorite living writers, was starting his show on our stage. Sorry, Dierks!

Dierks had bad timing or a bad draw for time slots. Going against Robert Earl Keen in College Station, Texas was not the thing to do! Robert went to A & M. and has thousands of loyal fans there. Maybe 15,000 folks packed our stage for his show. Ever hear his song, “The Road Goes on Forever” (and the party never ends)? Well, he released an album called No.2 Live Dinner in 1996 and on the intro to “The Road Goes on Forever”. He tells of going to the second Willie Nelson 4th of July jam at this very same spot. What he doesn’t mention, is he took his dad’s car to the show from Austin without permission! (Becomes relevant.) He said after partying “In the Willie way” all day, he fell asleep and was woke up by the P.A. announcer saying there had been a fire in the grass parking lot and 40 cars had burned up. And the first license plate he read off was Roberts’s dad’s car! He said, “ That’s my car, man.” He sat down in the burnt grass and cried. A man with the venue told him the least he could do was let him meet Willie and it softened the blow some. He went backstage to Willie’s bus. Willie came out and told him he wished he could stay and talk but he had to go jam with Leon Russell! Wow! Willie and Leon were both here for the festival along with Robert Earl Keen. And guess what folks? 20 cars caught fire and burned up in the grass parking lot! Maybe Robert has a fan that goes a tad too far? Or was it just a coincidence? When he took the stage he said, “ That’s not my car man!” Those of us that know him hurt ourselves laughing.

After his great show, I snuck over and caught a little of Miranda Lambert’s show. She does hold an audience very well and she’s cute too! However, the reason I came to this festival was about to take the stage 10 feet from my chair: Lynyrd Skynyrd! I guess I should put in my sadness here for Lyle Lovett and his Large Band. The sparse crowd at his stage was slightly overwhelmed by the noise from the Skynyrd crowd at our stage. I’ll say 85% of the people at this festival were behind me for as far as you could see. And, well you know us Skynyrd crowds! The band was incredible! And the crowd was the LOUDEST I’ve ever heard! Johnny was in perfect voice, Rickey was pumped and Sparky, Billy and Ian were all just right on with everything! We sang every word and cried with “Free bird” all 15 or 20,000 of us. What a day!

And to think tomorrow I’d be seeing Jack Ingram, Charlie and Bruce Robison, Willie Nelson, The Drive-by Truckers and Tim McGraw. We got back to our room and the Jacuzzi around 11:00 and when we woke up the next morning in a fog and hungry, we decided to go find a place for breakfast. We drove around College Station for a while and found a Denny’s, got out and decided it was too crowded, and went looking for somewhere else to eat. Maybe two miles from our room and 15 miles from the venue we found an IHOP and had to still wait outside to be seated. While waiting, an older couple walked up with a young girl and some longhaired guy. Mary Ann pointed out to me that she thought the longhaired guy was Sparky! I said no way, but when he turned around, sure enough it was! After waiting for the butterflies to settle and for his conversation to be over, I eased over and said, “Are you who I think you are?” He said, “Yep, I’m Sparky.” I lowered my voice so as not to cause a stir with the other folks outside and told him they rocked that place last night. I told him who I was and he said to tell Bruce and all the folks at Southern Fried, “Hi,” and thanks for supporting Southern rock. His dad chimed in with, “ I’m his Dad!” And his mom said, “And I’m his mom!” I said, “ You done good mom!” We chatted awhile and these folks are real. Down to earth as they come. We split and headed for the second day.

All the people who played that day were great, but the rain came on Tim McGraw and the crowd wasn’t as big as Skynyrds’. I was reminded that in my mind, Tim doesn’t really sing as much as he talks. No real depth to his tone. Nice guy I guess, but as far as great singers go, he lacks range. Anyway folks, I don’t know the line-up for next year’s festival, but if it’s anything like this one, I’d advise you to get your tickets as soon as they’re available. Make the trip to College Station next year! Like I said, it was the best concert I’ve ever seen. Until next time, stay fried Southern style!

- Jody