Last night was surreal! The John Rich show last night in Atlantic City was such a good time. Here's the play by play.
Get there & pick up the tickets
We got to Bally's at about 4:30-ish... parked all the way up on the 11th floor (the place was bumpin'!). We went in & waited in line to pick up our comped tickets (*holla!*). Our line just wouldn't move so some obnoxious all-up-in-my-personal-space old couple, a loud sarcastic reenactment, few laughs & stares, and 20 mins. later, we finally got our tickets.
Gamble away dinner money
Off to the casino floor we went... I brought a little $. Lost the first twenty bucks in minutes. I took the remaining $ over to my friends @ the craps table. By 5:45 I was empty handed. The show didn't start until 9! I sat & watched *A get to spin the Wheel of Fortune bonus round. It was fun but I was starting to get hungry. There was a wait at Johnny Rocket's, Pickle's didn't have anything vegetarian on the menu that looked appealing, *A's feet hurt so we couldn't walk far and I was getting cranky. There was a little cheese-steak place a few stores down where I saw fries. Borrowed $$, got fries & I was again a happy camper!
Let's Rock!
We went into the ballroom & sat down in our good yet whoa-cramped seats in a small venue with obviously comped ticket holders. Cowboy Troy started the show @ 9. His set was 3 songs long. He sang his Play Chicken with the Train song just before John Rich came out. Out came John Rich, sang some good stuff... only a handful of familiar Big & Rich tunes though. John Rich busted out with an AC/DC cover. Later he pulled a couple from the audience and sat them down on stage, poured them champagne and serenaded them with Lost in this Moment. He had this girl-duo (the brunette girl played the fiddle in John's 
band) called Jane Deer play 2 songs. A couple songs later, out comes Sebastian Bach singing the National Anthem. The once lead singer of Skid Row sang a few more songs. The crowd was into him despite just how different his style is from country. John came out with a couple of his solo songs and got everyone going again at the end. I personally jammed out to We Like it Loud and Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy. Time for the meet & greet that never officially happened.
This is where the fun really started
Anyone who has seen Big & Rich has seen "Two Foot Fred". He came out on stage after the show and *A & I said hi to him. We were wandering around and ended up at the back door of the stage area... and there he was again. We stopped for a picture and we chatted a bit. He said there was no meet & greet but that we should go play Blackjack with them all in a little bit. He tells us when & where and it just happened to be within sight of the craps table. I hit up the ATM and was scoping out the table when Fred came rolling in on his rascal like scooter. Change in plan... They're getting a cabana at the Bikini Beach Bar and he asked if we'd like to join them. Seriously?!
At the Copa, Copa Cabana...
We go in, sit, relax, chat and have drinks. Then we look up and in rolls John Rich with two girls, Sebastian Bach & his Mrs., Shannon Lawson. At one point the waitress spilled a drink on Fred. Some interesting musical mixes were played and we were all just kinda hanging out having a good time, boppin' around in our seats singing along. It was great. Then a little later came in Cowboy Troy, Adam the guitarist, Kris the XTU DJ with his wife... which I thought was pretty cool too! The odds aren't very good that a girl like me would run into anyone I know in John Rich's beach bar cabana but it happened! Cheers!
Stylish Casino Transportation
We were the last 3 at the cabana as everyone else had started making their way to the blackjack table. Fred offered me a ride on his little cruising scooter - so I took him up on the offer since *A needed a couple more beverages before riding. It was fun, and mildly dangerous. He is out of control zooming in and out of people on the ramp, cornering on 2 wheels, the whole 9. I was sitting on the seat behind laughing up a storm. It was fun in a uniquely fantastic sorta way.
Split 'em & Double Down ~ Blackjack, Rides, Cigars
It was no doubt a good circumstance that the $100 table turned slightly lower was full. It would have been cool to say that I played blackjack with John Rich, but clinking drinks and saying cheers was good for my likings! Someone started handing out cigars and everyone seems to have one. I thanked him for the offer, but declined despite the other women puffing away on them. That was until *A asked me if I'd like to share one with her... I thought to myself 'what the heck', this is so far from a typical night I might as well. Hahaha, we smoked a stogie! hahah. Fred insisted that *A go for a ride on his scooter so off the went, out and about onto the casino floor... she had the cigar in one hand, a beer in the other hand, Fred practically in her lap as they cruised Bally's. They came back and we traded off... I took *A's seat and stogie and Fred & I went around some more. I made dixie horn sounds as he slightly grazed past gamblers. We made it back and hung out some more.
Craps 11, any 7, high, low, yo!
After watching lots of blackjack, *A went off and reacquainted herself with the Wheel of Fortune machine. She was gone a while so when I heard a couple of the guys were going over to play craps, I went along. We did alright! I made a small amount back and got some decent rolling in. So did the two shooters following. We had a good time as I shared the basic rules I knew with one of the guys. Winning anything back is good and when you do it in great company, it's even better. Fun people!
The 4:00 in the morning snack, sunrise on the way home
Well, it was about that time... *A was drunk, tired, feet kiling her, not good, hungry but wouldn't eat, cranky from losing $$, shall I go on? Unfortunately, the # of drinks - hours there- hours later = there was no way I was driving anywhere for another hour & a half despite feeling fine, it was time for a snack and coffee! Off we went to end the night. The restaurant was called six or something like that and I've gotta tell you, overpriced for whoa-mediocre. Great waitress though! The night had finally come to an end. 1 more stop for Wawa coffee round 2 and we were good.
The newspaper beat me home and that new Jason Michael Carroll song, "I Can Sleep When I'm Dead" ran through my head. I walked inside, closed the curtains and went to bed.
We hung out with rock stars, we hung out with rock stars :) And for the record, always bring someone who will pull you away from the craps table early on!
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Luck with the concerts lately... not so much. Let's start with the Gary Allan show on March 5 @ the House of Blues in Atlantic City... we were going to get some tickets at the door - SOLD OUT. We heard it was a great show too.
The band was fantastic! If you missed them, you missed some really good live music. Most of the music they played was their own, while they tossed in a little "Devil went down to GA" cover. ZBB had me cracking up with the song, "Sic 'em on a chicken". I've gotta mention the fiddle player tore it up! I picked up their Foundation cd, which they signed for me :) . I've been playing it quite a bit! I really enjoyed the show! 
Here's a photo of the storm that passed through... I love when the sky is dramatic like this!