King George and Fancy

            HOUSEKEEPING:  I found that people were unable to post comments unless they were registered users with Google or one of its partner sites. That has been corrected so anyone can comment now.

            NETFLIX: In my futile effort to try to knock my Netflix queue down, I finally saw Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino last night. It was different than what I expected, but I enjoyed the movie. It is difficult to make a guy likeable when saying some of the nastier things Eastwood’s character said, but it’s a testament to his acting that he was able to play that character as a major grump that you could still see was a good guy underneath it all even though he didn’t do any nice things until an hour into the film. Still, I never wondered why people were trying to befriend him (like I did during the first two Twilight movies I had to sit through, trying to figure out why anyone would want to date or be friends with someone as whiny and unpleasant as Bella). There’s also more humor in Gran Torino, albeit subtle humor, than I was anticipating and it worked. The actress who plays the young Hmong girl was particularly good. I recommend this one if you haven’t already seen it.

            WEEKEND ROUNDUP: I spent Saturday evening with my friends Jack and Angie at the KFC Yum! Center (yes, that’s the name of the new arena in Louisville. No, it’s not the best they could come up. The people who brought you KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell paid for the naming rights). The attraction was a major concert headlined by George Strait, with a full set by Reba McEntire and a 30-minute opening set by Lee Ann Womack.

            It was my first time at the new arena, and I have to say they did a pretty good job in building it. The location is ridiculous of course. When the city has the fabulous fairgrounds complex with acres and acres of parking, easy access from both local roads and I-65 with more than enough space for another arena, why not build the new one downtown? After all, it only costs twice as much to park  in scattered lots and you have to go through the idiotically-designed “spaghetti junction,” which exists as a living monument to traffic congestion, but enough about that.

            Inside, the building is quite nice. There are wide concourses with plenty of concession stands and gathering areas. The arena itself is well-designed, featuring excellent sightlines. I kept comparing it to the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where I lived for eight years. Conseco is probably the best place in the country to watch basketball and other center-of-the-arena events, and the Yum! Center comes fairly close. It feels larger than Conseco, and consequently is less cozy, but all things considered it was pretty nice.

            The show was terrific. Lee Ann Womack started things off at 7 p.m. sounded and I was surprised when her set ended after only 30 minutes, although that made more sense later. Bonus points also go to her for finishing with her terrific version of Rodney Crowell's "Ashes by Now." Jack, Angie and I Googled all three performers to check their ages. Lee Ann is 44, Reba is 56 and George is 58. The building was mostly full except the upper deck, which had a few empty sections in the areas that would be behind the baskets if the arena were set up for basketball. An announcer said the attendance was 15,000, which seemed about right. I wonder how many other triple-bills of performers over 44 who could draw 15,000 people in a crowd as diverse age-wise as the crowd Saturday. There really were people of all ages there, which was fun to see.

Reba came on to a huge ovation of course. She sounded excellent. It’s remarkable how well her voice has held up. Her set was a good mix of old hits and new songs. Lee Ann Womack came out to sing Linda Davis’ part in “Does He Love You,” which was a highlight. She also had a couple of surprises, including her sitcom co-star, Melissa Peterman, running on stage in character. It’s not easy doing comedy in front of 15,000 people, especially when the crowd isn’t there to see comedy in the first place. Comic timing often doesn’t translate within the echoes of a building that large, but these two were quite funny and scored some huge laughs. I haven’t seen Reba's sitcom but I enjoyed this part. The big finish was an encore performance of “Fancy,” which had the women in the crowd going wild.  

George Strait was the final act, because who could possibly follow him? This was my fifth George Strait show and it’s been fun every time. This one was even more enjoyable as he was a lot looser than usual, probably since it was the final night of the tour. Strait is never as demonstrative as Garth Brooks or some others, but he was clearly having more fun up there Saturday and that translated to the audience. He played several from his new album, but the biggest cheers came for his classics like "Amarillo by Morning" “Oceanfront Property” and “All My Exes Live in Texas.”

By the time it was all over, it was 11:45, wrapping up almost five hours of first-class entertainment. That kind of night was hard to beat.