Keith Urban on stage at his "All For The Hall" benefit concert at the Sommet Center in Nashville, TN on October 13, 2009

Isn’t the internet great!  Tonight I was faced with a dilemma.  Three school age children with soccer practice and mountains of homework OR Keith Urban doing a one-of-a-kind concert in downtown Nashville with special guests Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Little Big Town, Lady Antebellum, Jason Aldean, Faith Hill, and Taylor Swift.  A concert Keith set up to benefit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Of course my kids come first, but then I get a last minute email that the concert is going to be streamed live online.  Thank you Al Gore!  So tonight, a concert was broadcast live on a laptop from my kitchen counter while I tried to remember long division, sorted out some story problems and ran a mock spelling test.   I even signed off on two permissions slips for field trips and emptied the dishwasher! All the while I was able to post updates about the show on Twitter and upload snapshots to a photo gallery on Facebook.

Watching the concert online was good, not great.  Nothing can replace the experience of being in the crowd and seeing a show like that live.  But you take what you can get.  And without the live stream, I would have never had the chance to see Keith and Brad duke it out with their guitars on “Start A Band.”  Or witness Faith Hill sing “Take Another Little Piece of My Heart” with backup vocals by Vince and Keith.  Both Keith and Vince stayed onstage throughout to play along with all of the featured guests on their respective hits.  The grand finale was worth the wait, as the entire lineup of stars took the stage together to perform “Lay Down Sally.”  There were a ton of other incredible moments and collaborations throughout the night.

I’m glad I got to be there, sort of, and take part in the experience from afar.  But more importantly, I hope my youngest son can remember how to spell “mosquito” on his test tomorrow and my daughter can get the correct answer to 408 divided by 8.

Did you go to the show in person or happen to watch it online too?  Either way, leave me a comment and let me know what your favorite moments of the night were.

ShareThis