Montgomery Country Fair
Montgomery City
Ricochet and Clay Walker
July 25, 1998
Well, I got up at 6 am, on 5 hours of sleep, and drove out to Sara's to pick her up. We left about 7:45 am, and made it to the fairgrounds around 9 am. Not a bad drive at all. Well, the first three rows were already saved, so we got 4th row, left side of the stage. We were saving 6 seats, for us, and my friends Tracy and Lisa their friend, and Tracy's mom (who ended up not going). Well, the morning was really nice. We watched the stage being set up. We were entertained by this little boy in front of us the whole day. He was so cute. These people drove all night from Oklahoma to see Clay. We played Peek-a-boo with the kid...he was 19 months I think. We started talking to the people behind us, Carol and another lady. She had a album with her of Ricochet pictures. Turns out she and her friend she was saving a seats for, were at the show in Columbia I was at, and her friend was at the Sullivan show last month. And my friend Diana and Linda I know from AOL showed up ion the afternoon, and they sat with us, and knew the people behind us! We had fun, even though it rained half the day at least. It wasn't a hard rain, just light. But annoying. We saw all the Ricochet guys except Heath walking around. Saw Jr messing with his fiddle for about an hour. Oh yea, he likes regular Dr. Pepper. Saw Clay Walker's band do the sound check.
Tracy and Lisa got there around 5 or so. So, we moved down, and we almost dead center. We were surprised when Danny Montana from WIL came out for the intros and stuff. We thought it would be more of a local radio station. We talked to him for like 30 seconds.
It rained off and on through both shows. I just out a baseball hat on, to keep the rain off my glasses. Worked good!
The guys came on at 8, and played for about an hour. They were great as usual! For me, there was just one disappointment in the show. And that was that they didn't sing "Connected at the Heart". They , as usual, started off with "Blink of an Eye". They guys all looked and sounded great. This was Sara's first Ricochet show, and I think they have a new fan now! She was surprised she knew so many of their songs. I'm not sure of the song order, but I know they did "Ease My Troubled Mind", "He Left a lot to Be Desired", "Love is Stronger Than Pride", "What Do I Know", and maybe "Can't Be Good for Your Heart". I'm not sure. I don't remember if the a capella was next or not. But they did "For the Longest Time", "Lean on Me", and "It's Alright". Eddie did the "How low can you go" thing again, and the tugboat sounds, saying when he was little, he wanted to be a tugboat. No rude comment from Greg this time though! This part got the whole crowd on their feet! It was incredible! At one point in the show, not sure if it was now or when, but Greg got down in the front row.
Heath sang "Goodbye Makes the Saddest Sound", which he wrote with Billy Yates. Greg (Yea!) Did "She's Got Everything Money Can't Buy", which he wrote for Rhett Akins. Eddie sang the #1 song he co-wrote for George Strait, "One Night at a Time". Next it was time to promote the new album. It will be out Oct. 6. First was "Why You Been Gone So Long", then "What a Ride", which is the title track, then "I Can't Stop Thinking about That", and the new single, "Honky Tonk Baby". I just love the new ones! I've heard "HTB" several times live, and also "WYBGSL". But the new ones were spectacular.
They closed the show with "Daddy's Money", where they had everyone on their feet again. They said they were signing after, so we went and got in line. But, they left just as we got up there, because Clay Walker had come on. Hopefully Sara will get to meet them next time!
Well, we FOUGHT our way back to our seats, literally had to push our way through people. Clay was spectacular! Between Ricochet and Clay, this was the best concert I have been to. I don't know all the songs he did. Don't know what he started with either. He did all his hits though. He played for about an hour and a half.
Near the end of the show, someone in front gave him a gift basket. In it was goodies and a 6 pack of clear bottle, with no labels. He said it was cream soda, and everyone was like, "Yea, right!" He opened one and took a swig, then opened another and gave it to the person that gave it to him. "Then What" was the best. They threw beach balls out into the crowd.
He cut his finger on a broken guitar string. One of the radio station there had been giving out these travel band-aid holders... all these people up front held them up. Clay said "No thanks, I'll just bleed", or something to that effect.
I only know the song lineup for the end of the show. He did "Brown Eyed Girl". He said "blue eyed girl" a few times, and "Missouri girl" too. I think the song was "If I Could Make a Living" that he ended with, but I'm not sure. Anyway, they shot confetti out. They all left the stage, and the crowd was clapping, and yelling "Clay! Clay! Clay!". They came back out, and Clay did "I'm Already Taken". Then he did a song I know, but an not sure of the title.... it goes "give me the beat boy, to save my soul, I wanna get lost in the rock-n-roll, and drift away". (I later found out it IS called "Drift Away"). Next he went up to the keyboard, and did, by himself, "On My Own" and "Wind Beneath My Wings". He finished with "Louie, Louie". What a show! And what a cutie! I took almost a roll of film of him....I couldn't help it! There were too many Kodak moments, with the Ricochet guys too!
Well, then we made out way to the car. We got out of there really fast. But, got stopped near Warrenton. There was a huge accident involving a tractor trailer. We were backed up for miles. People were even getting out of there cars and walking around. It took at least an hour to get past it. I stayed at Sara's that night, since I'd have a half hour - 45 minute drive home from her house, and we didn't get back till close to 2 am.
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