….maybe his band too for that matter.

What do you think when you think of Dwight Yoakam? I think of tight jeans, white cowboy hat, AWESOME country music and Wedding Crashers. I’ve wanted to see him for a couple of years now, even had a chance to see him a year and a half ago but it seems like every time he is around this area I have something going on. I knew I had to grab the opportunity to see him.

Dwight Yoakam was scheduled to play at LoneStarPark, which is a horse racetrack in Grand Prairie, Texas. He was to come on around 7pm after the races had finished. The Park has a deal if you get there before 5pm, it costs $5 and after it’s $15. Pretty good deal right – I mean where can you see a show for $5 anymore. Bring a chair and a cooler and you are good to go!!

I arrived a little after 4:30 pm. I park, walk in and start roaming around. I am early. I start seeing people walking around with chairs and there are people sitting in front of the stage in lawn chairs. I didn’t know that you could bring a chair and a cooler – this would’ve been good to know. Crap, I have to go get my chair out of my car. So I convince the people at the front gate to let me go grab my chair out of my car. They kindly tell me I have 10 minutes to get back otherwise I’ll be charged the concert fee of $15. I run to my car, ok I run halfway, I can’t run. Then I walk very quickly back to the building, I can’t run. They let me back in. I am hot, I am sweaty. Have I mentioned it’s about 100 degrees outside? Only two hours to go until showtime!

I wander around inside the building for a minute waiting to cool off then I head outside to find my spot. I have to get a good seat! Three rows back seems pretty good. . A lady next to me happily informs me that this area is for the mega fans. I’m ready to see the man! For the next two hours I rotate between watching the last couple horse races, going inside occasionally to cool off and sitting in my seat.

At 7, I am hot, sweaty and ready to get this show on the road. Finally, the opening band comes out – Whiskey Myers from Tyler, Texas. I would say they are more along the lines of Shooter Jennings type of band. They seemed a little conceded to me. A couple of them consistently had a cigarette in their mouth and another one couldn’t stop playing with his hair. A little high maintenance perhaps. I’m not sure they were exactly the right band to be opening up for Dwight Yoakam but…. They played.

Ok, let’s hold on a second here – why on earth do you have two long sleeve shirts on? How can you keep those jackets on?! I get they are your stage outfits but it’s 100 plus degrees out here and you are playing on stage, under lights?!  And now I’m going to ask a question we’ve all been wondering…. Mr. Yoakam. I gather that you are in an air conditioned bus which probably helps you get those jeans on that are so darn tight. But we all know wet jeans suck and unless you don’t sweat how the hell do you get them off after a show?! Is this weird to ask?! Do you not sweat?! Yes, odd questions – I know.

How was the concert? The concert itself was AMAZING. I think we all have a tendency of forgetting how many hits an artist has until they start playing them during a show. It’s one after the other and they keep coming. He croons you with his voice, spins around, does a little shuffle to and fro and can play the heck out of his guitar. And on top of it all, I’m pretty sure a lot of the women were ready to throw themselves at him, maybe even some men.

Listen for yourself. (More videos on my YouTube site.)

He played for a little over an hour and then came out and played one song as part of the encore. I actually tried to skip out early so I could avoid some of the traffic and watch the encore from the back (not to mention I just wanted a gallon of water and to get out of the heat) but the ecstatic fan who I met when I first sat down wouldn’t let me leave. I had told her it was my first time seeing him and she said I had to get the full show experience.

If you are a Dwight Yoakam fan, check out one of his shows. He puts on a great show. His band is great to watch and very talented. He’ll play the songs you love, the songs you may have forgotten about and maybe even a couple that are new to you.

As for the real question – Dwight, don’t you get hot?!