Wait, am I really devoting my week 41 entry to Sam Hunt? Well, maybe not all of it but most of it because SAM HUNT.
For better or worse, Sam Hunt was the reason for my renewed interest in country music seven years ago. I’m going to say it’s for the better because if not for Sam, I might not have “discovered” Tyler Rich, made online friends with fellow Sam fans who then led me to the Davis brothers (Jacob and Jordan), and made real life friends who shared and continue to share the love for Tyler. Sam will never know this but he is the reason for so much of the musical joy in my life and for that, I am so ever grateful. (And I still hold on to the hope that I’ll get that picture with Sam and Tyler someday. Hey, it could happen.)
I admit it, I fell HARD for Sam Hunt when I discovered him back in 2015. He is even one of my Listworthy fellas (read about it here). I saw him live a few times but they were never enough. When tickets went on sale for his tour in 2020 (Southside Summer Tour 2020), I bought them. Well, that didn’t happen, of course.
I was excited when Sam’s tickets for his 2022 summer tour went on sale but we didn’t buy tickets right away because he didn’t have any dates close to us. Once we decided an out of area concert would be fun, we bought tickets. Add the fact that it would be a great away to end fall break and we had the makings to a good time. (We soon after bought tickets to Tyler’s show, which would mean beginning and ending fall break in the Reno area.)
I decided to make myself a long weekend so I took Thursday and Friday off. Good thing too because we headed up to Reno early on Friday morning so the hubby could do some work at the Reno office.
After work, we went to a local restaurant for drinks. When we were back at the hotel, I decided to stay in because getting up at just before 5 am had me tired after a few drinks. We stayed at the El Dorado this time. Our room on the 7th floor didn’t have as nice a view as our room on the 14th floor at the Silver Legacy but the room was neat and clean.
We had a late start Saturday and I still needed a nap before the show. Am I getting old or what? We had brunch at Liberty Food and Wine Exchange then drinks at the Eddy before heading back to the room for a little rest before the show.
We headed out early enough to get to the area of the venue about an hour before show time. After a little walk through Victorian Square, we sat down for a drink and food at Great Basin Brewing Company. I had something called a Flannel Mule that was pretty tasty. When we finished, we headed to the venue.
The Nugget Event Center is an outdoor amphitheatre across the street from the Nugget Casino Resort. It’s a neat venue with a nice, roomy layout. We had floor seats in section 105, along the aisle, which ended up being a rather perfect spot. The weather was cool enough for me to wear the Sam Hunt sweatshirt I ended up buying. Only for Sam will I buy a lighter colored piece, I swear.
Lily Rose opened up and she was great! She was energetic and lively and sounded fantastic. She was backed by her very talented band, including a guitarist named Kevin Smith, which made me giggle (and think of *my* Kevin Smith, the late actor who played Ares on Hercules and Xena). I think I’ve only heard one of Lily’s songs before her performance but I definitely enjoyed her on stage. She rocked!
Sam opened up with “Leave the Night On” and all my adoration just burst forth. I was finally at a show where Sam was the headliner! He was on stage! I was singing along! All those long simmering dreams were coming true. What more could I want?
I took snippets of all his songs, I think, so this might be the order of the songs:
- “Leave the Night On”
- “Hard to Forget”
- “Kinfolks”
- “23”
- “Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90s”
- “Take Your Time”
- “Cop Car”
- “Raised on It”
- “House Party” (walked the crowd to switch stages)
- “Sometimes You Gotta Start Nowhere” (small stage)
- “Make You Miss Me”
- “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (then the walk back to the main stage)
- “Vacation”
- “Water Under the Bridge”
- “We are the Night”
- Tyrone Carreker sang (not sure what he sang)
- “Break Up in a Small Town”
- “Drinkin’ Too Much”
- “Young Once”
- “Ex to See”
- “Let It Down”
- “Body Like a Back Road” (finale)
The only song I didn’t know some of the words to was “Sometimes You Gotta Start Nowhere” and that’s only because it’s not been released. Yet? Other than that song, I knew all the songs that Sam sung. It made me happy to be able to sing along to almost all his songs.
During “House Party,” Sam alighted the main stage and made his way through the audience to the small stage behind our section. He passed right by us! It was probably the closest I might ever get to him and I recorded it while it happened. He sang a few songs on the small stage and we thought he’d go the other back to the stage but now, he passed us again and he fist bumped the hubby as he passed by.
OMG!
It was so exciting having him that close but I didn’t push forward to try and touch him. It was just enough to have him that close. It was enough to hear him sing songs I’d heard so many times over the years. It was enough to be there for his show and feel the energy of the crowd, to be part of that crowd and that energy.
This concert felt like a long time coming for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I really did love being part of the crowd. I loved knowing (almost) all the songs. It was a great night in a very cool venue. I wouldn’t mind seeing another show at the Nugget Event Center. And I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing Sam Hunt again…
