Veteran's Day benefit concert with Bret Michaels!

Yesterday was Veteran's Day. I am very patriotic and support our troops. They are putting their lives on the line and making the ultimate sacrifice in some cases for our safety and for our freedom. They do it out of patriotic service to our country and I respect that. Whether the mission they are sent on is right or wrong, I will always support and show respect to our servicemen and women who are doing a job and putting their lives on the line so that we can enjoy ours.

My wife and I went to a benefit concert in support of the troops. It was a rather awesome night of music and patriotism. The night began with Honor Vet founders talking about the organization. Both founders are in their early 20s! Then we saw a trailer for the movie "Red Tails" which is about the famed Tuskegee Airmen. To our surprise, an actual Tuskegee Airman was there! That was VERY cool. Afterwards, one of the stars of the movie, Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. was introduced and spoke with the crowd. It was quick but very cool. Then Senator John McCain was introduced to the crowd. His son is one of the founders of Honor Vet so he was there to support his son. Then we got onto the music which began with an all-star band consisting of members of Phish, Blues Traveler, Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top and more! A good night of music. AND this was all BEFORE Bret Michaels hit the stage with his band! During the intermission, the lights came on and sitting next to us was Sen. John McCain! He was totally mobbed for photos and autographs and was very gracious as he accommodated everyone, including me! I got to take a photo with an American Hero - Sen. McCain on Veteran's Day! How cool is that? Then it was time for Bret to rock! As you know, I'm a big fan of Bret and Poison so I had a blast! Bret totally rocked and the night was a rousing success in my book. Totally awesome and memorable.

Carrie Underwood & Keith Urban concert

I just got back a little while ago from seeing the Carrie Underwood / Keith Urban concert at Madison Square Garden and it was great!

I've been to dozens of rock & pop concerts over the years and have seen everyone from Ricky Martin to Kiss, etc. I even took my daughters to see Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers in December and enjoyed it! I love going to concerts and truly enjoy myself. With that said, I'm a big fan of country music yet this was my first country concert!

I'm a big fan of Carrie Underwood. She is my favorite female singer, I think she has an amazing voice and I love the lyrics of her songs. She deserves every award she has won. I was really looking forward to her. Carrie opened the show and the crowd was into her concert but I could tell that it was really a KU crowd. Carrie has definitely grown as a performer and her multiple outfit changes and props were very cool as were her video backdrops for her songs. She did most of the songs off her "Carnival Ride" album and her singing of "I know you won't" brought tears to my eyes. She was amazing. I can't wait to see her in concert again.

I'm also a big fan of Keith Urban and knew his concert would be like a rock concert. He didn't disappoint. From his intro to the HD camera following him overhead (which put the video onto a big screen behind him), it was a really good and fun show. I didn't realize that Keith is a outstanding guitar player. That totally impressed me. Halfway into the show, he and his bandmates walked up the ramp that led way out into the audience and he brought his band to the people! That was way cool! They did a bunch of his biggest hits there in what came across as a very intimate setting in an arena. By this time Keith had the crowd eating out of his hand. He went back to the mainstage and played a bit before actually getting off the stage to sing and play among the audience. VERY cool!! The crowd was going crazy as he walked among them and walked up to the lower level to play. THEN out of nowhere, he took out a marker - signed his guitar and gave it to a shocked fan! WOW! That was so cool! Like I said, I've been to dozens of concerts and I've never seen any artist do that! It was a great concert and I would love to see both of them again. I hope they make a DVD of the concert because I would love to get it.