Arriving home after 4 hours of sleep and an 8 hour drive, some random thoughts (in no particular order) of the Grand Ole Opry's 5000th Saturday night show:
There was a lot of speculation as to who would introduce the 5,000th show. Would there be a special, unannounced guest surprising us, or would it be one of the artists scheduled? Well, it was Marty Stuart and a wonderful video featuring Connie Smith, Craig Morgan, Rhonda Vincent, Carly Pearce and others. Nicely done.
The opening with Bill Anderson, Connie Smith, Gatlin Brothers, Darius Rucker, Terri Clark and Chris Janson was great. Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, Charlie Daniels, Loretta Lynn were recognized in that opening.
Some wondered how they would fit 14 Opry members into the two hour show with Circle TV doing their segments and commercial breaks. Well, they fit everyone in just fine, including multiple slots for most. In fact, if my mind is working correctly, only The Isaacs were limited to just one song, and they were a late addition to the line-up.
The pairings were good. Bill Anderson and Jeannie Seely; The Isaacs with Connie Smith and John Conlee; Connie Smith, John Conlee and Jeannie Seely with Dustin Lynch and Chris Young. Let's not forget the tributes as Chris Young remembered Charley Pride and Darius Rucker honored Patsy Cline. (And didn't Darius and his group look spiffy in their cowboy outfits?)
The artists doing the introductions and bringing on the next act was well done. As an FYI, each of the intros was done with a teleprompter, as were some of the song lyrics. Even with that assistance, Chris Janson forgot to introduce The Isaacs and Chris Young missed a bit on "Kiss An Angel Good Morning." (On the second show, it was all good).
While there were no special guests, there were certainly no complaints.
Those on stage looked good and sounded good. I know Bill had a little frog in his throat but as he said, he wouldn't have missed the night for anything. My wife said he sounded good on TV, so it might not even have been noticeable.
Great use of the video screens as the pictures portraited the artists when they were much younger, or in the case of the veterans, when they were in their prime. Connie Smith, Jeannie Seely, Bill Anderson, John Conlee, The Gatlin Brothers, Chris Young were all featured.
During the commercial breaks, Mike Terry introduced some clips of Darius, Chris Janson and Alan Jackson from the night they became Opry members, or from the night they were asked to join. I could have watched more of those.
And speaking of the second show, I thought the flow was better. Even though it was 90% the same, I think without the restraint of television the artists were more at ease.
Vince Gill did his usual good job and it was wonderful that he had Sam McGee's guitar and then sang the great Johnny Russell song "Making Plans" in tribute to Sonny Osborne ("Making Plans" was also done by Sonny and Bobby. While there was no true bluegrass on the show, at least Vince mentioned it.
Let's talk about Garth and Trisha, who closed both shows. I will admit that their segment seemed to be a separate part of the show and didn't really tie in to the rest. But then again, it was Garth and Trisha and they had a lot of fun, and they did change it up on the second show, where they did a few different songs and ran about 15-20 minutes over. I'm not going to complain as we don't get Garth often on the Opry (and those in the audience were not complaining either). Garth came and honored the Opry and that is all that matters.
Both shows were sold out and it was nice to see a full Opry House again. I did miss that. And for those who could not get a ticket, I do appreciate Circle TV showing the entire show for those who could not attend.
Really the only complaint was the weather. Cool and rainy and that did affect the attendance for the Opry plaza activities that were taking place all day Saturday. Not very many people were milling around but those who were, enjoyed themselves. The music was good.
To those who read the blog and who I saw this weekend, thanks. I always enjoy visiting, and between Bill Anderson's 60th, the 96th birthday weekend, and last night, we have seen a lot of each other over the past several months. And while Casey did not come down with me (once again missing out), she loves the pictures and stories I share and she promises to return to Nashville in 2022 and maybe some of you will get a look and see that she is a real person.
To sum it all up, I thought both shows were outstanding, well produced and flowed very well. The legends and veterans were featured as were the younger newcomers. And it was nice to see an Opry show with only Grand Ole Opry members. My wife watched it on Circle, as did I when I got home, and thought the television presentation was good. I was thinking in my mind where this one ranked as far as Opry shows I have attended. It definitely goes into the Top 5.
Still first on my list is the 75th birthday weekend. Most of the Opry members appeared at least once that weekend and it still stands out. Second on my list would be the 40th anniversary of the Opry House. Third goes to Vince Gill's 25th anniversary as an Opry member and fourth would be the return of the Opry to the Ryman Auditorium in January 1999. Last night would go into fifth place on my list. I know others might have it differently, but from the hundreds of shows I have attended, that is where I would place it.
I'll conclude with thanking Dan Rogers and the entire team at the Opry. He put a lot of time planning the 5000th show and making sure it was a memorable evening. I was able to personally tell him thanks, and I know others share that same opinion. In fact, all of us offer our thanks to Dan for the wonderful job he has done at the Opry. As fans, we appreciate it very much.
Like I wrote at the beginning, just random thoughts.
As always, I am interested in what some of you think.....
You were there Byron, and I have to think your assessment for those who attended was spot-on.
ReplyDeleteI was not able to listen or watch the first show, and heard maybe 30 minutes of the second show on WSM online before falling asleep.
As a radio show, it was terribly confusing. I couldn't tell who was singing or saying something, and was very confused as to what was going on most of the time.
Videos don't come across on radio, and stories are much better when heard in person.
Don't anybody misunderstand, I am certain Byron is correct when he says it was a fantastic live show.
I can only add that as a radio show, it was very difficult for me to follow the action.
I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Sure, it lacked the star power past/present of the 75th anniversary, but it was still an outstanding celebration. The classic stars there were each given a chance to shine thoroughly. The stars from the 70s through the 90s sang a hit each. All Garth and Trisha had to do was be Garth & Trisha. Vince honored the past. And the strongest of the crew to me were Darius Rucker, Chris Janson, Dustin Lynch, and Chris Young. They demonstrated how to be links between the past and the present in the grandest style.
ReplyDeleteI was channel flipping between Circle, the World Series, and a football game. At one point I flipped to the Opry, and before the picture caught up I heard somebody screaming and thought, "What the heck is that?!" Then I saw Garth and thought, "Oh, that makes sense. I knew I should have recognized that voice."
ReplyDeleteI agree Garth and Trisha didn't fit the rest of the show, but I'm sure people enjoyed them. The other portions I saw were very good. Having the artists introduce each other reminds me how much I miss segment hosts. And I was glad that some of the legends and early Opry stars were mentioned.
J in OK
I listened to both shows and they were a wonderful tribute to the Opry and Country music. First show I used headphones on my computer which gave me fidelity while watching Circle TV with a slight delay but thoroughly enjoyable. 2nd show was on WSM am radio but basically the same show as the first until I went back to computer and headphones for Garth a Patricia figuring they would add some stuff ! I wasn't disappointed . A wonderful, satisfying evening of old and new country music. I was moved ----
ReplyDeleteI watched the 1st show on Circle TV/Youtube and listened to the 2nd show on WSM 650. It was FANtastic. Get it. Bob
ReplyDeleteFor those wondering, and I saw a few comments on Facebook about it, the Opry didn't bring everyone on stage at the beginning or the end because they are still being careful do to Covid. That is also way, overall, you saw a little space between the acts. I think Bill/Jeannie and Garth/Trisha were the only acts that really were close together for any length of time.
ReplyDeleteI thought they did great. And we'll say that Garth and Trisha kind of worked in a Marty Robbins tribute by running long!
ReplyDeleteYou can't do everything in a two-hour show. Think of opening night in 1974--that ran about 90 minutes long, as I recall, and Marty had little of the responsibility for that. I wish they had had bluegrass, and they could have done a bit more with Texas (ET). But as I say, you can't do it all, and they hit all the right notes.
Oh, and if I may tease a little, that frog is why we call him Whispering Bill! More seriously, he did sound a little froggy, but he sounded great. And happy birthday to him--84!
I loved the cover of "Walking After Midnight" by darius Rucker and I also thought the way they came out dressed was awesome!!!!! That right there, the way they were dressed, was a nice tribute to the performers of the Opry in the past. THat is the Opry I grew up on and loved till Little Jimmy passed away. I love those cowboy outfits and rhinestones.... I thought the show as a whole did a nice job of linking past to present, showing the veterans, and including just about everything. 2 hours is hard.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing there should have been an act for was bluegrass. For me, that was a major missing part. Other than that, I loved watching it on YouTbe here in Spain.
My favorite moment of the night was missed if you only watched Circle TV. On WSM radio Darius Rucker recalled his induction night and as he was coming off stage, Jimmy Dickens blocked his path and looked straight into Darius' eyes and said in a loud voice " Don't you EVER let anyone try to tell you, you don't belong !!!" ----- Dashmann, Flushing, Michigan ----and I grew up in Saginaw where Jimmy was DJ and was discovered !
ReplyDeleteWe were blessed to attend both shows and concur with Byron's assessment. It was a wonderful and memorable night. Thank you Byron for summing it up to well and thank you to Dan, Gina and the entire team at the Opry for the meticulous planning required to pull off something like this with the pandemic still lurking. The shows were fabulous!
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