C2C

If there is a country music concert in any vicinity, Mark and I are likely to know about it and see if it is worth attending.  Lucky for us, we found one in London.  You may be thinking that London doesn't seem like the place where hordes of country music lovers would flock but surprisingly enough there were enough to fill up the O2 arena. The Country to Country tour came to the UK for a second year and it seems like something they will continue to do. It is a whole weekend event consisting of major country stars.  We went on Saturday and our line up was Martina McBride, Dixie Chicks, Dierks Bentley and Zac Brown Band.  We missed Martina but saw everyone else.  Our favs were Dierks and Dixie Chicks. We really thought the Zac Brown Band was going to blow us away but we were a little disappointed. The mellow, cool, islandish vibe they usually have turned a bit into a rock show- even doing a cover from Metallica- who I love but its not what I went for.  It's like looking forward to eating your favorite milk chocolate bar and when you open it it's white chocolate. Not awful, still good, but not what you wanted. One observation- and I'm not sure if it because the English tend to be a bit more conservative- but not a lot of people getting up to move, dance, fist pump, shout, sing, etc.  At times it was hard to tell if people were enjoying themselves. We got up a lot but I was mindful of the fact that we probably looked like those "crazy Americans". Oh well.   The O2 arena is awesome - restaurants, bars, a cinema and other small venues and the tube brings you right there.  Mark and I had a blast - music was great, people watching even better! And it gave us a chance to don what we have for a country wardrobe...

Dierk's singing "Home".  Yup, I cried. 

Boots straight from Nashville, TN! 

The Chicks- they were awesome. Awesome. 

Zac Brown Band.

Our selfie from one of the bars.  For some reason the picture kept coming out grainy. C'est la vie.  

After the concert we found a Mexican restaurant. Gosh I miss Mexican food. Mexican restaurants are unheard of where we live so London would be the only place to find one- what a treat!  We started talking to a couple in line with us- Kevin and Jackie. They travelled from the Shetland's in Scotland for this country fest.  We instantly liked each other - maybe it was the common interest in country music, maybe it was the drink talking- no matter, we had a good time talking to them. Well it was mostly them talking and us trying to understand what they were saying. Man, Scottish accents are tough! 

Here's to country music and making friends...