Friday night Country Girl and I slipped into our rubber britches and flotation devices to brave the hurricane-like weather and headed down to the Grand Ole Opry.  On the agenda for the evening was David Nail, Vince Gill, and Keith Urban.

After the traditional Opry regulars (Little  Jimmy Dickens, Ryders in the Sky are my favorites), David Nail took the stage and headed right into “Red Light.”  Lookin mighty fine, David impressed the audience with his incredible vocals.  The guy sure can sing that’s for sure.  David then joked about the impressive crowd, sayin he felt pretty good about himself until a car withdark windows drove in after him…but that guy had people with umbrella’s come out to walk  him in….He got a pretty good laugh.  David remarked that it was his 4th time playing the Opry stage and it never got old….it was such an honor.  Throughout his set, David surprised everyone with his impressive vocal ability.  This guy is gonna be HUGE.

Vince Gill was the last ‘host’ of the evening.  He sang “Whenever You Come Around.”  I LOVE this song.  Vince is one of those guys that I sorta forget that I like…However, when he sings, it all comes rushing back, and I was glad we had rushed from our seats to squat on the floor by the stage to be closer.  Vince Gill has one of the purest voices in country music.

Vince then introduced his ‘good friend’ Keith Urban.  I’ll be honest, this was my main reason for attending the Opry that night.  I never miss an opportunity to see Keith at the Opry.   Keith opened up with “Only You Can Love Me This Way.”  This song is at it’s best when performed at the Opry.  Something about the acoustics make this song really come alive.  Keith was joined by a mini version of his band including Brian Nutter and drummer Chris McChugh.  After a quick guitar change, I knew “Sweet Thing” would be next (you can tell by the guitar Keith switched to).  Immediately heads started bobbin and voices started singin along.

Many of Keith’s fans were ‘hoping’ Keith would be asked to join the Opry this weekend…Call it a gut-feelin if you will…and, the atmosphere really lends itself to it.  There was opportunity after opportunity and you could see people holding their breath every time one presented itself.  However, it just didn’t happen.

After Keith sang “Sweet Thing,” stools were brought out and Keith brought Vince Gill back out to the stage.  He said he really enjoyed playing with Vince at the We’re All for the Hall benefit and he wanted to do it again.  Vince and Keith then sang a BEAUTIFUL version of “Making Memories of Us.”  These two guys obviously have fantastic chemistry and a mutual respect for each other.

Overall, it was a fantastic night at the Grand Ole Opry.  I never get tired of going to the Opry and seeing a virtual time-line of country music history.

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