Thursday, October 22, 2015

Houston & Abilene concerts were mind blowing!


Good afternoon Home Fries and visitors!  Needless to say my Home Free/Home Fries weekend excursion was nothing less than unparalleled fun and excitement. Two concerts in 3 days, driving all over Texas, singing and dancing, meeting amazing people called Home Fries and sharing it with my beautiful daughter! Doesn’t get any better than that! Now 3000 pictures and 900 miles later, it’s all over, but I can still feel the exhilaration of the weekend.
Let’s start with Houston, because mom got a night out with awesome friends and oh there was there this Home Free concert too. The drive to Houston was a welcome break. A long peaceful drive with a lady I have grown to love like a sister and uplifting music. I enjoy long drives and one filled with Home Free music (and seeing the mirrors rattle with the Tim notes) and good company is perfect. We got the hotel, made ourselves gorgeous and then met up with other fries. I got to meet fries I’ve talked to endlessly but never met in person. Names with faces and personalities, that’s the part of the trips that makes me feel like I’m meeting family for the first time. I love my fry family!
Now for the VIP event and concert, you know the important stuff. First, a huge shout out to Home Free and their entire crew. I’m not sure I can put into words what these people accomplish each night they have a concert. A thousand questions that have been asked over and over, people who can’t quite make up their minds, the fast, slow, impatient, giddy, friendly and everyone in between. And yet they are all smiling, nice and get it done! Thank you, Y’ALL ROCK! VIP was busy but exciting and I now have my favorite VIP picture. I got my merchandise signed, questions answered, a song not in the show, a copy of Country Evolution and a great picture. Supporting Home Free on Patreon to get first shot at VIP tickets is worth every shiny penny and more!
I really enjoy taking pictures and the seats in Houston were so close to the stage, you could prop your feet on the stage from your seat. Well this was a little too close for good pictures, IMHO. So I traded seats with someone in the third row, stage right. Pure perfection. The concert was so close and Home Free was superb! From the first song to the last, there was energy and intensity in Home Free and the crowd. From the original songs to their outstanding covers and Tim’s poetry corner. Rob knocks every song out of the park, Austin continues to run on all cylinders, beautifully, Chris leaves them wanting more of his serenading, Tim just blows everything out of the water, high or low and then there’s Adam. I’d like to say Adam was amazing or phenomenal, but that doesn’t seem to fit. I’m still looking for the right phrase to describe Adam’s performance. He blew our minds and rocked the damn crowd to their feet. Houston was incredible! There was even a little fry party afterwards with dancing, singing and a drink or two.
Well, after a drive home and a night to recover, my fry friend and I took our eight year old daughters to Abilene to see Home Free. There was not as much primping and meeting, as it was somewhat of a drive by for this concert. So I won’t waste any more time and I’ll get right to the meat of the story. VIP was a lot of fun. Our daughter’s birthdays are on either side of Chris’, so we made Happy Birthday signs for their VIP picture and said Happy Birthday to all three of them. Home Free was very playful and goofy in Abilene. I got great VIP pictures, including one where Austin lets loose a little (love it).
The Abilene stage was not too close, so I kept my front row seat (yea!). The audience in Abilene was, let’s see, how can I say this, INSANELY LOUD. The guys came out and did their opening number, Fishin’ in the Dark/Boondocks medley and they were on fire and the crowd let them know! There was so much fervor after that first song that that set the mood for the rest of the concert. The look on Austin’s and Rob’s face when the crowd went crazy was absolutely adorable. The guys felt the powerful momentum coming from the audience and managed to keep up with us until the very end. They sang their sweet, country gentleman hearts out in Abilene. Every note and every song, from I’ve Seen to Elvira to Thinking Out Loud to 9 to 5 was flawless and passionate. I would look at my daughter to see if she was having fun and she was either dancing and singing or completely mesmerized, which is often how I felt, mesmerized. Home Free was stunning and shook my soul down to the core in Abilene. Their talent is outstanding, but their live performances will take to you a higher realm of music. I think many skeptics of a cappella music would be astonished by a live Home Free concert. And Adam will hypnotize you with bewilderment at his talent. It’s no wonder he gets two standing ovations during his drum solo. He’s simply not human when it comes to his vocal percussion/beatboxing skills. The Abilene show was beyond amazing, it was foot stomping, crowd cheering, don't be over, ridiculously mind blowing!
The combination of these five guys; Chris, Adam, Rob, Tim and Austin is pure musical rightness and exquisite harmony with the added touch of handsome! I can only imagine every show on this Don't It Feel Good Tour is just as good as the two shows I had the pleasure of seeing in the Lone Star State!
Well, I’ve been going on and on and I’m sure we all have things to do. I’m going to get my errands done while listening to Home Free, because everything is better with Home Free playing! More concert pictures will be added soon.



Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Don't It Feel Good Tour here I come!!!

On Friday, October 16th, I will drive down to Houston with a great fryend and meet up with many other Home Fries to see Home Free! Then we will scoop up our sweet small fries and head out to Abilene to see Home Free again. Now some people out there might think that’s a little over the top, but believe me, this is nothing compare to how far and long fries will travel to see the five amazing guys that call themselves Home Free. It’s just what Home Fries do. If they can, fries will drive or fly to as many concerts as they can, not just to see the boys, but to meet and see each other.

For the past two weeks I have been as busy as the squirrels gathering nuts for the winter. I was up to my eyeballs in events with my daughter, work (which is a story that has me wanting to crush some skulls, but that’s for another blog) and my daughter’s birthday. So, I haven’t really had time to get excited or giddy about the Home Free concert, right? WRONG!!!

The past four or five nights I have tossed and turned for a couple hours before I could get to sleep. I’ve been thinking of all I had to get done and what I’m going to wear to the concert and birthday parties and what I’m going to buy at the concert and do I have my tickets and how should I make the VIP picture look and oh, my daughter’s birthday. Wow, I almost lost it there for a minute. Even as I type this I am thinking about what to pack and my plans for that morning. Fortunately, I was able to keep my thoughts in the right place to get the birthday party off the ground and make it a fun day for her. We’ll be doing crafts until her next birthday. Now, on to mom’s night out with great fryends, great times and five adorable men that make damn good music!

In Houston, I get to have a little fun. There won’t be any bull ridin’, calf ropin’ or two steppin’ on the tables, I’m no stealth chicken. However, I do plan on letting my Texas girl out to play. I got my fancy new cowboy boots and my Thelma and Louise attitude ready (well except the bad parts). But the best thing is seeing Home Free and hearing some great new songs. I can’t wait to hear Seven Bridges Road, Good Ol’ Country Harmony, Don't It Feel Good and 9 to 5 live! I have not watched the whole show via Periscope or YouTube yet. I’ve seen bits and pieces, but I’m trying to hold out.

There is this new addition to the show that has quickly become a fry favorite and that is Story Time with Tim. I have only seen a couple of them, but I laughed so hard I gave myself a cramp. Between Tim’s comical story-telling and Austin’s live action antics, you couldn’t ask for more. But then you get the rest of the guy’s reactions, who apparently don’t always know what’s coming. This is going to be as awesome as Texas is hot (93 degrees on this fine mid-October day)!

Then there’s Abilene. I will get to see my fry friends and the guys again, but this time I get to share it with my little angel. This will be her third Home Free concert and I love that she enjoys going with me. Her birthday was this past Sunday and she saw a picture of someone getting a big hug from one of the guys and she says, “I want one of those, but from all the guys, for my birthday!” OK, I guess it’s safe to say she is getting over being shy around them. The first time we saw them she was terrified of Tim and hid behind a stranger when she got to Austin. Now she’s ready to take them home and instantly have five new big brothers!

I’m so amped up to see Home Free in concert again, and I have many things to do before Friday. Like pack my dancing speaker (which hops when there’s a lot of bass or percussion), cowboy boots, Home Free pictures and my wild and crazy Home Fry mindset!! Houston, here I come!

Do you get all giddy and anxious days before a Home Free concert?

Seven Bridges Road: https://youtu.be/kTTid4CBcd4




Friday, October 2, 2015

My 7 year old's favorite Home Free songs

Well, Home Free's Don't It Feel Good Tour is well under way and it's two weeks until I finally get to them live (again)! I will see them in Houston and Abilene (plans changed, so I had to give up two shows). I'm very excited, because it's a ladies night out in Houston, so if you live in the area, LOOK OUT! Oh we're harmless, but we are ready to have fun with fellow fries! Then in Abilene I will be joined by my daughter, who will be 8 by then. The reason I bring up my daughter is today she is my guest blogger. She is going to share with us her top five favorite Home Free songs. A chance to see how the little ones view Home Free's music.

Starting with five and going to her number one favorite song. Remember she's seven and these are her words.

5. Any Way the Wind Blows - "The video is fun and I like singing the song."
My addition: She fell in love with this video the first time she saw it. I'm actually surprised it's not higher up on the list.

4. Butt Remix - it's funny (the song and the video)
My addition: We giggled all the way through this video, especially at Austin. My favorite part of this song is Adam's beatboxing. She's seven so, of course, the seat wiggling gets her laughing every time.

3. House Party - "I like the song and the video is fun."
My addition - She already loved this song by Sam Hunt, so when I told her Home Free was doing it, she was so excited. Then we saw the video and that made it even better. Beatboxing Batman is cool, but the pillow fight won her over.

2. Honey I'm Good - "Funny, especially with the bad words."
My addition - She loves singing this song and always has me turn up the volume when it comes on. We came up with a way for her to sing it with other words, but the "you got that ass", always makes her LOL.

And here it is, I was very surprised by this, her number 1 favorite song by Home Free!
1. Devil Went Down To Georgia - "It's like no other song, it's cool!"
My addition - She's never heard this song before, but she's always asking me to play this song from the new album. I expected HIG or HP to be number one, but this was her pick, hands down!

My daughter went from being scared of Tim and Austin, the first time we saw them, almost a year ago in Nederland, Texas to talking to them way past our time in the signing line in Dallas. She wanted to tell them that kids sang some of their songs (covers) and she meant Kidz Bop. Adam, finally figured out the best way to keep things moving was to pretend to tell Tim what she said (they couldn't hear her) and Tim nodded and smiled and she was happy!

Her birthday is the day before Chris' birthday and the best part is we are going with another fry and her daughter (same age as mine) and her birthday is the day after Chris'. We are hoping the girls can get a picture with Chris.

So, the countdown begins. In two weeks I will be driving down to Houston with a fellow fry, windows down, Home Free playing and we'll be singing our hearts out! I hope to meet some fries I haven't met and be reunited with some of my fellow Texas fries! Have a Happy Home Free Fryday!

What are your top 5 songs by Home Free?

Honey I'm Good - https://youtu.be/rCLW7Xm1DXs?list=PLfWdh4XTtIqnVcLdXTjXzvv_ahtWOC2S7

House Party - https://youtu.be/B6SKCsPPVFg

Butts Remix - https://youtu.be/IA0WCc3vTls

Any Way the Wind Blows - https://youtu.be/fhoBtlWbT-w

Home Free YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTFuNYrqAcsmSjgqYMvxOqw