Bangor, Maine, here I come..I am so excited.

[PERL]

I am planning on staying in Bangor, Friday night, as it is a 3 hour drive back home.  Does anyone else plan to stay in Bangor and if so do you have any suggestions on where to stay?   

I have never been to this venue and do not know where the "will call" window is located.  Some of you mentioned Lewiston, Maine which is a long way from Bangor.  Not sure why tickets would be there.

Have the front row seat been given out yet?  I would not mind having them.   

Hope to meet whoever is going next Friday. 

[Somebody]

Perl, I was told the Ticket booth and Will Call booth will be at the entrance a
nd that's where our tickets will be..
 Give this number a call for more information

207-783-2009 extension 525

http://waterfrontconcerts.com/

See you there !

[PERL]

Thank you for the information and the personal message.  Looking forward to meeting you .

[Callalily2008]

I am staying at the Charles Inn which is about half mile away..am driving up from MA to get my mom and take her and did not want to have to drive her home that night...

[PERL]

Callilily, I would love to meet up.  I will check  it out.  Thanks for the tip.  Could you send me a message with the particulars.

[AJfan]

Hope everyone has a great time tonight at the concert! Can't wait to read the reviews esp. from Somebody (Beth). Hope your blood pressure is under control.

[bb2832]

Bangor welcomes superstar ‘Country Boy’ Alan Jackson
BANGOR, Maine — In the lull before Alan Jackson stepped onto the Bangor Waterfront stage, a whistle blew in the distance. The audience watched a freight train pass behind the stage, a fitting introduction for the Jackson’s “Freight Train” tour.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY BRIDGET BROWNAlan Jackson greets the crowd of more than 8,000 fans at the start of his show Friday which was part of the Bangor Waterfront Concert Series.       

BANGOR, Maine — In the lull before Alan Jackson stepped onto the Bangor Waterfront stage, a whistle blew in the distance. The audience watched a freight train pass behind the stage, a fitting introduction for the Jackson’s “Freight Train” tour.
 A country superstar for two decades, Alan Jackson has sold more than 50 million albums and had 34 No. 1 hits, and he’s still rolling like a “Freight Train,” which is the title of his 2010 album and tour.

On Saturday night he drew about 8,000 concert-goers to Bangor, according to concert series promoter Alex Gray. “I’m a diehard fan from California and I flew 3,000 miles to meet him tonight,” said Josh Aleck, 38, of Palmdale, Calif. “I drove his manager crazy for 12 months.”

Aleck has been an Alan Jackson fan for 13 years and attends an average of 10 of his concerts a year. Maine is the farthest he has traveled for a concert, and it was the place where he first met Jackson in person.

“I’m just going to tell him that he’s in a class of his own,” said Aleck an hour before he would meet Jackson at 8 p.m. backstage. “His music is a big part of my life. When he walks out on stage, it’s the best part of the show.”

As the gray sky darkened, The Harters, a brother-brother-sister trio from Nashville, opened the concert. Concert-goers settled in their seats and zipped up their coats as the temperature dropped to 57 degrees.

With the opening act over, the stage was pitched into darkness. The rumbling of a train grew louder as Jackson’s band The Stayhorns took their places with guitars and violins in hand. Bright lights lit up the scene, and the crowd cheered as Jackson took center stage singing “Gone Country.”

Wearing shredded jeans, a tan cowboy hat and an embroi-dered, black button-up, he sang old hits such as “Summertime Blues” and songs from his 2010 album such as “Hard Hat and a Hammer.”

“The first time I saw those sky-blue eyes, I just about died,” said Bonnie Quint, 65, of Hodgdon, who was at the concert with her husband. “And when he takes that hat off with all those little curls, you just about want to run your fingers through his hair.”

“I’ve been listening to country all my life,” said Beverly Walton, 58, of Morrill who came with her sister Lillie Maddocks, 45, of Searsport. Both were celebrating their birthdays. “You know exactly what he’s saying when he sings. A lot of his songs come from growing up. He seems to be a down-to-earth family man.”

Maddocks, who comes from a family of nine, said she could relate to Jackson’s humble upbringing with four siblings in Georgia.

Jackson wrote or co-wrote eight of the 12 songs of “Freight Train” and has penned 26 of his 34 No. 1 singles, including Grammy-winning Best Country Song “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning,” a song about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He is a three-time Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year and the most nominated artist in CMA history. Just a day before the Maine concert, he performed at the Festival Western de Saint-Tite in Quebec City, and on Sept. 11, he’ll be in Glens Falls, N.Y.

“I think it’s pretty awesome that they’re bringing people to Bangor, Maine,” said Vickie Easler of Dexter, who has seen Jackson in concert out of state five times.

 
 

[Somebody]

It was the best !! I will be back later on with a report. I am kinda busy this weekend but I am also still floating on a dream cloud. Please be patient with me .

[AJTexasfan]

Thanks for your post Brenda!!  Can't wait to hear Beth's review!!!

[Dot]

Beth, we can wait but don't keep us hanging too long.
Brenda, thanks for posting the review from the paper

[mar4aej]

Beth, I have the feeling it will be into next week before you
float down and settle enough to write about it all. 
We know it will be worth the wait!!  It couldn't have happened to a more
deserving fan than you...to meet him and stand at the stage for your first
AJ concert experience.

I saw your m&g pic on your facebook page and I have to
say it is Most Excellent!!

[AJTexasfan]

Congratulations on the M&G Beth - now I really can't wait to hear all about it!!!

[PERL]

I did not have a M&G but I am totally "in love" . I had seats in row H (8 rows center) and when that real freight train rolled down the tracks by the river and whistled to us it was a great beginning to the Alan Jackson concert in Bangor.   It was a long trip 6 hours of driving etc.  but it was all worth it.  I will go to any concert by Alan Jackson, I just love listening to him. 

There was much less talking by Alan than at the concert than in Manchester, NH but the music was all good.  I was able to meet-up with Beth and her daughter in row 2 and another friend, Donna,  living north of Bangor, while waiting at the front gate.  My husband went back to the hotel to get our camera as the venue had posted "no camera's "but that was not true.    If AJ comes back to Maine he may want to come in mid july or early August as it was cold Friday night down by the river. 
Since, AJ, likes lakes better than Florida, he might want to investigate the many, many beautiful lakes of Maine when it is a little warmer. 
I am not sure if AJ's back was bothering him as he had someone come out and reach down for the items to autograph at the end of the show.





















I 

 I

[mar4aej]

PERL, I am sorry you didn't get a m&g,,, darn it all.
I hear ya re: the long drive being worth it all, though.
Wasn't that train whistle Right On Time... ?!   Reminds
me of a police car going by with its siren on here in this
small town years ago when we were in a memorial service
for a police detective...

I just read today that Alan loves the ocean so I'm sure hope
he had time to look at it before or after the concert! Hope that
Denise went to Maine for this one!!

It is great to see you so excited about this concert, PERL!
Thanks for sharing some of it with us.  Do you have any pics
to share?  I always say No Rush as I know how it can be on
your end.

I know Somebody's review will be one worth waiting for.
I spoke with her yesterday. LOL  I'm sure she had lots more
to share but it turned out to be a long phone call as it was.
I told her to savor it all and things sometimes come back to you
days afterwards so I'd be patient with her. ha

[PERL]

   I uploadedmy photos to Shutterfly and have spent most of the day trying to figure out how to link it to here.  I am ready to tear my hair out.  I have to take a break from it.  But I did get a pic by the bus with my cell phone.  We thought we could not take pics and when we came out of the concert the batteries were dead in the real camera so I just have this cheesey cell phone pic.but I know I will see this man again if I have my way. 

I have been an Elvis fan forever but I am now an Alan Jackson fan for forever on. ............