Collin Raye

I've been a country music fan my whole life.  Growing up, my CD collection consisted of Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Bryan White (sang on stage with him), and one of the greatest, Collin Raye!  I love his music.  He wasn't ever the big country singer, but boy do I love Collin Raye.  (His song "I Think About You" came out when I was 6.  When I was 8, that was my all time favorite song.  The chorus says "I think about you, 8 years old, big blue eyes and a heart of gold.  I was convinced it was about me)  I almost got to go to a concert of his when I was about 11.  My mom, sister, and I bought tickets to one of his shows in Riverside.  After we purchased the tickets, my mom realized it was at a casino and decided she wasn't comfortable with me coming (she wasn't sure what the environment was like).  My sister got to take a friend instead.  Turns out, it would have been fine for me to be at, but I missed out.  I was bummed.

A few months ago, my oldest sister mentioned that Collin Raye would be performing at this charity event she was helping with.  I really couldn't tell you what the charity was for, but my mom, sister in law, and I bought tickets.  Our seats we up in the balcony, but the theater was smaller so they weren't horrible seats.

 Before Collin Raye came out, the did a little raffle.  Everyone at the concert had their name put into a hat and 2 lucky winners won a beach cruiser.  Well, luck was on our side that night.  The first name called was "Terry Mazzarelli!"  So my mom won a bike, which was pretty awesome, but things just continued to get better.  It was an adventure trying to get that into mom's care.  Thank goodness we didn't take my car!

Half way through, there was an intermission.  When the performance started back up, I noticed that nearly every seat in the front was empty (where all the important people sat).  Kristy told me that every person paid the same price for their ticket.  So I decided if that were the case, I was going to go to the front.  They didn't care who came and went, so Jess, my mom, and I made our way to the front row!  That was awesome.  For one song, he just kept smiling and looking at Jess and I as we sang along (most of the people there were there for the 'charity' part of it, so not everyone knew his songs.)  Another slow song, he stared at mom the WHOLE time.  Like...to the point where it almost got awkward.  Kinda funny.

Anyway, the concert was fantastic.  It was fun feeling like I was singing along with him since he kept looking at Jess and I.  So after the show, we went out into the lobby and asked the people in charge where we were supposed to claim mom's bike.  They responded with, "It's on the stage.  Go get it from the stage."  We went to get the bike, and guess who was standing right by the door we had to exit from?  =)

Best part?  Once we started talking to him, he said, "You guys were sitting right there in the front off to the side, weren't you?  Yeah, I remember seeing you guys sing along!"  That was neat.  Then I mentioned how my mom had seen him in concert awhile ago and he winked at her during that concert and he smiled and said, "I think I winked at you again tonight!"

It was a great night!  I had a blast and love Collin Raye and his music!  Maybe I'll get to see him in concert again =)  He's a really great performer and it was one of the best concerts I've been to.