I rocked out to DJKO between sets.
Mat and I were lucky enough to score some free tickets to the 1st Annual Mountain Home Country Music Festival. Growing up on country music (and Mat growing up listening to Tupac and Incubus), I like to think I’m the reason he enjoys country concerts now. We were stoked because the line up was incredible: Brad Paisley, Sarah Evans, Florida Georgia Line, Blake Shelton, Justin Moore, Jana Kramer, and many more.
Since we got these tickets last minute, we decided not to try and camp for the three day festival, but just drive the hour back and forth each day. Since this was our first official “festival” we had attended, we weren’t entirely sure what to expect, especially with it being a 1st Annual.
We left work a couple hours early on Friday to get there in time to see one of our favorites, Thompson Square, at 5 p.m. Well, we arrived at the festival in time, but hadn’t accounted for waiting in a line of cars for over an hour just to park. Unfortunately, we missed seeing Thompson Square perform, but we were still excited to see Justin Moore and Brad Paisley that night.
After finally parking and making the 75 mile trek in (I may be slightly exaggerating, but that’s what it felt like), I already had a blister and watched one girl roll her ankle thanks to the very uneven ground. The “venue” of the festival reminded me of one of my dad’s fields…..that hadn’t been watered in 10 years. It probably didn’t help that it was incredibly windy as well. I spent most of the time holding a hand over the top of my beer to try and keep dirt from blowing in it.
We also weren’t prepared for the access that our tickets allowed. We didn’t know that tickets were tiered, with general availability being so far back you could only see the performers on the jumbo screen. I’m not sure why, but I was assuming I could elbow my way towards the front of the stage. But no, only VIP ticket holders were allowed anywhere close to the stage. That’s alright, it gave me more room to dance.
When we got home that night, I swear I had never been that dirty in my life. My legs were a different color thanks to the dirt line (kind of like a tan line that washes off) where my shorts and the top of my sandals were. I couldn’t imagine camping there and just getting in a sleeping bag without showering. Hats off to all of those that did-I am NOT that hardcore!
The takeaways from attending the first night of the Mountain Home Country Music Festival:
1. Wear shoes or boots. Not sandals. My mistake.
2. Spend the extra money to get VIP tickets (only because we are ticket snobs).
3. Fanci Freez always tastes amazing.
4. Don’t plan on ever feeling clean.
5. No matter how dirty it is, if there is country music, I will still have a blast.
Brad Paisley
Justin Moore
Of course we had Fanci Freez for dinner.
Some hot guy I saw. His name is Mat.
Dusty sunset.
