To say my night, last friday,(May 22, 2009) was great, is an understatement......it WAS AMAZING.... If you've never had the pleasure of seeing Sugarland perform, LIVE...you're missing out. I was able to see them two years ago, just after 'Enjoy the Ride' was released, and even then, with sparse stage setting they put on one heck of a show. And the same can be said for now too, with numerous CMA, ACM, and CMT awards under their belt, not to mention those Grammys, they haven't changed a bit! Still an AMAZING, ENERGETIC Show. Billy Currington was the opening act for this particular tour date. He played a pretty good set, your typical opening act. (Too bad Annie didn't come out and sing with him.) He covered most of his well known hits, including "Must be doing something right"....and honestly...that was the SEXIEST song....I've never really paid much attention to it...but dang....and then came the 20ish minute intermission/ set-change, I thought they'd NEVER get the sets changed!..... From my seats I had full view of the crew beside the stage. I was able to catch a glimpse of most of the band before and as they were taking the stage. I spotted the exact crew member to watch, the one with her hand on the main house light switches, I was watching her wait for the cue...then it happened, the house lights went down, only the lights over the stage were on... Annie walked out (amidst TONS of Screaming and Cheering), Travis (who's a cutie!), Brandon (the coolest piano player!), Thad (another cutie), and Scott (the coolest guitar player I've ever seen!) who slammed the trunk shut. They each took their spots, the lights went out, umbrellas came on, and the venue went wild. Then the first chords of "Love" started...and its like it got even louder in there. Then I caught a glimpse of Jennifer and Kristian, and Jennifer eased into..."is it the face of a child?...is it the fear of danger". I don't mean to be cheesy or anything, but hearing your hero sing the opening notes to a song, seein the lights come up and actually seeing them, less than 40 yards away, is an awesome experience. I was completely overcome with emotions before the ever got to the first chorus. I had chills, I was crying, singing to the top of my lungs, and to beat it all I felt like I was gonna pass out, I'd do it all over again. I don't think I fully comprehended the power of that song until hearing it live. It was breathtaking! After 'Love', they launched into 'Settlin', which as usual was AMAZING...then into 'Want To', and onto 'It Happens' (which, btw, if you've seen the video from JazzFest, you know her little rewrite to the end of the song...well she did that. "LEEEEEET GOOOOO.....BOOGITYBOOGITYBOOGITYBOOGITY!!!" so cute!), they also did "All I want to Do"..which, was as entertaining as ever...I thouroughly enjoyed seeing Jenn's hilarious dance moves first hand!!...They changed the pace a bit to 'Nightswimming/Joey' complete with lit up umbrella and red beret. (ADORABLE!) and they then went into Already Gone (which Jenn BELTED...straight up tore it up! and was sOOOOOO adorable dancing around in 6/8 time), and then to 'Genevieve' (my favorite, and now my dad's favorite song). They then went into 'Who Says You Can't Go Home'....Jennifer kept callin us all a bunch of "Volunteers" (University of Tennessee's Mascot).They also did "Better Man" (if anyone has the audio of them doing that, send it my way....I gotta have it!) To 'Everyday America' complete with the 'Remix' that included "Holiday", Best of my Love", and "It's gettin Hot in Here"...which was hilarious, especially with Jennifer dancing and Kristian acting like he wouldn't dance. And then to "Something More" which by the way, Jenn had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction, during opening notes of the song..her little sparkly shirt came undone and she was all bent over and was able to belt the "C'MOOOON!" Annie even did her "thriller" move...I loved it...I got to see it firsthand. Then came time for the encore, which began with "So Long". I secretly think people were jealous of my lyrical-knowi-ness...lol, I was singing the entire song. That was the only new song they played...sorta made me sad....but its ok! ( I was secretly hoping for "Thats how I like it" and some "Sex on Fire" but it didn't happen ....) They did 'Stay', sparse staging, just Jennifer, Kristian and a spotlight.....SHE TOOK THE ROOF OFF THE HOUSE...I wanted to run up to the stage and just hug her, when she got to the emotional part, she actually started crying...Its really no wonder they've won all the awards they have...and if they don't get Entertainer of the Year this year...who will? They moved the setup around and Annie and Jennifer disapeared to the back of the stage behind Brandon.... to put on their Love Shack wigs...and then came the opening notes of it...and Kristian saying "WHEN YOU SEEEE A FADED SIGN......" Love Shack had the place JUMPIN!....I was dancing around like a crazy person....singing to the top of my lungs....singin every word, and the came my favorite part, and they changed it up and let Annie have the line "TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNN ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOF!......RUSTED!" (she KILLED IT.....I was like "HELL YEAH ANNIE!") It seems I got a bit long winded, while trying to break down the details of the night....my appologies....but this was the MOST AMAZING NIGHT OF MY LIFE!!! I can't wait to go see them again!