For the past several weeks, the Opry shows have been relatively weak, with very little star power. This weekend, there is some improvement, especially on Friday Night. That show will feature Opry member Dierks Bentley, who will be making his 1st appearance of 2011. Also on Friday will be Rhonda Vincent and Mark Wills.
Another Opry member who will be making her 1st appearance of the year will be Patty Loveless, who will be on both Friday and Saturday night. I will say that when Patty joined the Opry, I really thought she would be on the show much more than she is. Being a traditional country singer from Kentucky, I thought she understood what the Opry was about. Recently, she has moved more into bluegrass, but the Opry appearances have not increased. In 2010, she was only at the Opry one time, and had 3 appearances in 2009. For the past decade, the most she has been at the Opry has been 7 times, and that was in 2007 and 2000. We need to see her more.
Also appearing on Friday and Saturday night is an Opry member who does get it, and that is Vince Gill. This August, Vince will be celebrating 20 years as an Opry member. And Hall of Famer Bill Anderson will be joining Vince at the Opry on Friday and Saturday.
Friday May 20
7:00: Riders In The Sky (host); Jean Shepard; Rhonda Vincent
7:30 Jimmy Dickens (host); Jesse McReynolds; Mark Wills
INTERMISSION
8:15 Bill Anderson (host); Jan Howard; Dierks Bentley
8:45 Vince Gill (host); Mike Snider; Patty Loveless
Saturday May 21
7:00 Jimmy Dickens (host); Jeannie Seely; James Wesley
7:30 Mike Snider (host); Jack Greene; Gene Watson
INTERMISSION
8:15 Bill Anderson (host); Riders In The Sky; Bo Bice; Opry Square Dancers
8:45 Vince Gill (host); Bobby Osborne & Rocky Top X-Press; Patty Loveless
The host of the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree will be Ben Hall.
A very nice Friday Night Opry last night. Some very good performances. And again, the show ran way over. It is nice to see that Opry management is allowing more flexibility with the time and not doing everything possible for the show to end exactly when it is supposed to.
ReplyDeleteMany of the bigger named stars are singing up to 3 songs, which is great. Now if only they would allow the legends and veterans to sing more than 1, that would be real progress.
No Jimmy Dickens on Saturday night. I will have to say that it was a very good show. Jack Greene did both of his big numbers, "There Goes My Everything" and "Statue of A Fool." Vince Gill and Patty Loveless were great, as always, and did some singing together.
ReplyDeleteJeannie Seely did a very nice tribute to Billy Walker and Bo Bice did a nice tribute to Mel McDaniel by singing "Stand Up".
And, finally, Mike Snider passed on his final number and asked Gene Watson to stick around and close out the segment, which he did with the great, "Farewell Party."
All in all, a very good Opry show.
Oh, and one other comment. One of the square dancers, and I did not have a piece of paper or a pen to write down his name, was celebrating his 45 anniversary as an Opry Square Dancer last night. Bill Anderson called him over and made note of it and added some very nice comments. If anyone was listening and caught his name, please add it. When you think about it, 45 years of dancing on the Opry is a big achievement.