A Night at the Opry
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Matt and I drove down to Nashville on Saturday to see our friend, Mark Lathom guest announce at the Grand Ole Opry. It’s was WRAY Night at the Grand Ole Opry again, which meant that one of the announcers from the station got a chance to guest announce. It was my 3rd trip to the Opry with Matt. We went on our honeymoon and again to see our friend Dave guest announce. We have enjoyed all of the shows we’ve been to see, but this one was particularly good… even if we did go on a backstage tour the last time.
The weather going down was interesting. It was cloudy and dreary most of the way. We even drove through some pouring rain.
We drove down with plans of staying the night, but I guess I should have booked a room ahead of time. Apparently, there’s some sort of tourney going on (NCAA) and there were games in Nashville so all of the rooms in town were booked. That meant for a long drive home – we didn’t get back until after midnight.
It’s all good, though, the show was great. We got to see Little Jimmie Dickens host the first half hour of the show. Like always, he spent a large part of it telling dirty jokes.
In between his jokes, he introduced the Nashville Irish Step Dancers – it was St. Patrick’s Day, after all – and Connie Smith.
The second half hour was hosted by someone I’d never heard of before, Mike Snider. He and his band play old fashioned blue grass music.
This was the also section of the show that Mark announced.
That meant that he got to guest announce during the section with Jim Ed Brown.
The 3rd quarter of the show was good too. That section was hosted by Larry Gatlin. He’s super funny. He even got off stage and danced with couple ladies from the audience.
It was also the section of the show which featured Kellie Pickler and the Opry Square Dancers.
The last section of the show was hosted by Vince Gill. He looks a lot different than the Vince Gill I remember from the 90’s, but he did a great job singing and hosting the segment.
His segment featured John Conlee, The Whites and The Black Lilies.
The Black Lilies did an amazing job. They are the best band I’ve never heard of before. And possibly the best act of the night. Not to take anything away from Vince Gill, and his amazing job.
Basically, this Opry show was just like all the rest – great. If you’ve never been, go – even if you don’t like country music. It’s super interesting to watch this show, because it’s not a concert. It’s a live radio show – one that’s been on the air for 85+ years. Even during the major flood in Nashville, which destroyed the Opry stage, they didn’t miss a show. That’s dedication.
Very nice post! The show was great! Mark did a great job! I also really loved the Black Lillies and I had never heard of them either. fyi Mike Snider lives next door to Dennis Boggs the Lincoln presenter we have at Civil War Days. Glad you and Matt enjoyed the show….maybe next time you’ll get the spend the night.
I was hoping that 3rd time would be a charm – since it was the 3rd show we’d seen together… but then I guess it was only the 2nd time we’ve driven down from Princeton. So yea, maybe next time. Also – why do all the cool people live in TN? Maybe Mr. Lincoln can bring Mike up with him next time – no offense to the Red Bank Reunion Band, but I’d rather hear some real old timey music – not old timey band music.
Nashville is a cool town. I would love to get a group together for fun night on lower broadway, hit the clubs and stuff and maybe an Opry show at the Ryman. Mike and his band are really good and he can be very funny..but he didn’t do his comedy stuff for some reason.
he probably didn’t have the time.
Thanks for your excellent description of the Grand Ole Opry show (March 17, 7 pm). Although I had seen two Opry Country Classics performances, last week was my first Saturday night at the Opry. I stayed for the second show as well. Some additional performers were added, and those who performed in the first show did mostly different music. I was thrilled with my Opry experience.
Claudia,
I’m super glad that you enjoyed the show. One of the things I like about the Opry is that it is a live radio show, and since they broadcast both the early and late show, they can’t play the same music. I saw on the schedule that Rocky Top Express was going to be on in the later show – so I would have loved to stay – but it’s a long drive back to Princeton. We didn’t get home till almost 1am as it was.
Whoa! I had no idea a show like this existed anymore! Now I def need to go visit Nashville! 🙂 TFS!
It’s a great show. Also a lot of fun downtown at the Ryman Auditorium, which is the original venue. They do classic shows there on Thursday evenings and most of the shows there in the winter.