A Little Bit Country

Monday, at around 2 pm, I got a call from my client's mother. I thought that she might be rescheduling our session for Wednesday since it's March Break, and they may have made plans. Nope! Instead, it was a wonderful invitation for me. My client is a seventeen year old girl with Down's Syndrome, henceforth to be referred to as The Future-Mrs-Keith-Urban (no, I don't do music therapy with Nicole Kidman, but as my client says: "If it doesn't work out, I'm available!"). Anyway, she loves going to concerts, and has seen Keith Urban twice, and several other artists as well. Her parents are very supportive, and her father also enjoys country (that would be NEW country, not country and western). The Future-Mrs-K.U. had been counting down the days until she was to see Johnny Reed, Terri Clark, and Brad Paisley. Well, it turned out that her mother and brother decided not to attend, and they offered the tickets to me. I offered to pay, and my offer was firmly declined. With very little time to arrange things (the concert started at 7:30), I called my friend, Harmony. She happily accepted, and off we went to meet the Future-Mrs-K.U. and her father.

It was the coolest thing to sit next to the Future-Mrs-K.U. Even though she has Down's, she is very high-functioning, who is quick to express her opinion (and she has quite a few), and she is very passionate about her interests - skiing, swimming, art, Oprah, Dr. Phil, and country music. We were in row K, so quite close to the floor seating, and about halfway from the stage. The Future-Mrs-K.U. was singing along, and dancing in her seat, and giggling at some of the strange get-ups the country fans were wearing (we may have a lot of country fans in Canada, but it isn't that often you see that many cowboy hats - and really bad western shirt/dirndl skirt combos - in the Nation's Capitol!).

Harmony and I really enjoyed the opening act, Johnny Reed - he's Canadian, though I think he's a Scottish transplant, because he has a Scottish accent. We were really there for Terri Clark, though. She rocks! She is a real woman, who looks like a real woman (unlike Shania, who is great, but looks like the fantasy of most men I know, my husband included), and tells it like it is. "Girls Lie, Too", and "I Just Wanna Stay Mad For Awhile" had most of the women in the audience laughing and singing along.

Then Brad Paisley came out. And so did his fan club. We were seated two rows above these four girls who looked cute in their jeans and trendy tops (I'm pretty sure I saw the orange smocked baby-doll style top in the Victoria's Secret catalogue), and their straw cowboy hats (just like the one G bought in Austin when she was asked "why are you dressed so weird" - she would've fit right in here). Anyway, these girls were IN LOVE with Brad Paisley, and Harmony and I felt bad for the poor young man who had been dragged along with them. First we thought he might be just as big of a fan, but then we realized that he was someone's boyfriend, and the designated driver. We also noticed that these girls were smart. They had bought a couple of beer from the concession stand, but I think that was so that they would have the correct plastic beer cups. Their beer cup (clear plastic) never seemed to stay empty for long, though they never left their seats. Then we saw one girl pull out her very large purse, hold her glass nearby, and come back with a full one. Too funny - I can't believe they didn't get caught! The show Brad Paisley put on was good (I'm not that familiar with his repertoire, though I did know a couple of songs), but the Fan Club was highly entertaining!!!

Overall, it was a great evening, especially because it was so last-minute and unexpected. Turns out that the Future-Mrs-K.U. had insisted that the tickets go to me. I don't think she knew how precious of a gift it was for me to experience the concert with her. Keith Urban doesn't know what he's missing.