CMA Fest Thursday night at LP Field was legendary…in many ways…Reba took the stage and we were rained out…all in one night…

Brooks and Dunn kicked off the night… The most decorated duo in country history, Brooks and Dunn, rocked LP Field with all their favorites…but “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” took the cake when Reba came out to sing with them.  The stadium errupted with excitement.  After all, it’s been a while since Reba has performed at CMA Fest…

When Reba took the stage for her own set, you could feel the energy.  There is something about that iconic red-head belting out that distinctive voice.  She kicked off her performance with a personal favorite of mine “Why Haven’t I Heard From You.”  The crowd loved this…I think many people forget the songs they loved from way-back-when…especially when an artist has been around as long as Reba…

Afterward, Reba jumped right into her current hit “Strange”…and that’s when things got…well….strange….During the last bit of the song, GAC host Storme Warren interruped Reba, and by the look on her face…That doesn’t happen often.  We were told to clear the field because a storm was coming…

Clearing out tens of thousands of people is time consuming, and the natives got restless when the rain didn’t start immediately.  The staff handled it like pros, and when the lightning display and rain finally did start, I was glad I wasn’t sitting down on the field. 

While waiting for the storm to pass, we met some great people…Country Girl and I hunkered down in our ponchos under an overhang…checking Twitter constantly for updates from the artists waiting backstage.  Two hours later, we were invited back to our seats to enjoy the concert.

Julianne Hough, Jimmy Wayne, and Rascal Flatts couldn’t wait out the rain due to prior engagements…I had hoped we’d get to see full sets from the remaining acts, but they only performed 10 minutes each…We were disappointed to say the least.  After all, we waited out in the rain for hours, and I wanted it to be worth it.  By the looks of Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, and Brad Paisley, they couldn’ve performed all night. 

Darius Rucker played his first CMA Fest on Thursday, and all I can say is WOW!!!  He ran through the crowd, and had everyone up on their feet…Dierks worked it like always, and you could tell he was having the time of his life.  You can read more about the show in Country Girl’s earlier post.

Check out our Flickr to see all of our CMA Fest pictures here.

Got some country music gossip and don’t wanna be a tattle tale?  Email me, Tawny Tucker, Tawny@countrymusictattletale.com