Review: George Strait & Willie Nelson Perform Once-in-a-Lifetime Concert in Austin, Texas
Growing up in Austin and loving country music, I've seen some really good shows. But this weekend's grand opening of the Moody Center took the cake.
If you didn't know they made a new concert and arena called the Moody Center in Austin. For their grand opening, they had a stacked lineup.
Opening the show this weekend, April 29th and 30th was Randy Rogers Band which started off at 7:30 p.m. He did an amazing job and played all of his best songs. You can see below a video of his performance.
After that Willie Nelson took the stage to celebrate the Moody Center's opening -- and his 89 birthday this weekend. It was seriously the coolest thing ever. I have never seen him before and he just sat there and played. His guitar, named Trigger, was made in 1969 and he's still using today. It was so wild to see such a well-traveled and legendary guitar in person. It even has a second hole in it because he plays it so much.
Nelson started off with a goodie, "Whiskey River," and played other songs like "Highwayman," "Mommas Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to Be Cowboys" and so many more. You can see a little teaser video from the show below:
After that, attendees at the sold-out concert waited patiently to see the King himself. Seriously, every second of this show I was pinching myself making sure I wasn't dreaming because of how cool the place was and the performances we were seeing.
George Strait took the stage in his iconic black cowboy hat, black shirt and, obviously, jeans and cowboy boots.
He played so many amazing songs, from "Check Yes or No," "The Chair," "Give It Away," "I Got a Car" and so many more. It was a good list of old ones and some of his new stuff as well. During his set he even brought at Willie Nelson to play with him. They played two songs together, "Sing One With Willie" and "Pancho and Lefty."
Seeing these two iconic country singers together is something you only dream about and I didn't want the songs to end.
The concert started at 7:30 p.m. and ended after midnight and I still wanted it to go longer. They really made sure the concert was worth every penny and it definitely was. Strait closed out the show like he always does, the perfect way possible by playing "The Cowboy Rides Away" and man, did he do just that.
I just wanted to say a big 'thank you' to everyone who made this possible for me. Thank you mom and dad for this amazing night and for letting me tag along. Thank you to my boss Lance for letting me get to go, and thank you to Moody Center for hosting this awe-inspiring concert.