Brian’s Backstage Adventures

I have the coolest job in the world and I know it, appreciated it and never will take it for granted. I love that I get to get up and do what I do every day and the people I get to do it with and for. I get to do many very cool things and Friday nights George Strait/Reba was one of the coolest nights of my career, I got to meet Reba!

Backstage is usually one of the most irritating experiences, although it is really cool to meet artists, they are usually set up like a cattle line and very impersonal, Reba was an exception. I got to the Pepsi Center and went to will call to find 2 passes for a special radio reception with Reba following her performance. I walked around wearing mine around my neck thinking I was the coolest guy in the arena, I felt like Wayne and Garth did in Wayne’s World.

Lee Ann Womack opened the show and was outstanding aside from the fact that her vocals got buried in the mix, which happens all the time to the opening act, then Reba hit the stage with “Can’t Even Get The Blues No More”. What a show! I had never seen her before and was just blown away at her voice and presence. She cruised her way through hit after hit and was joined onstage by Lee Ann Womack for the duet “Does He Love You” which brought the crowd to its feet. Another unexpected treat was when she was about to do “I’m A Survivor”, the theme to the Reba TV show, her co-star from the show Melissa Peterman, who played “Barbara Jean” showed up onstage to antagonize Reba. It was such a hilarious skit, poking Reba with a foam Nuggets finger and so on, it was great entertainment.

We were waiting for her last song because we were told to meet on the floor in front of section 142 at the end of the show. When “Fancy” started we worked our way down through the drunken cowboys shouting “WOOOOOO HOOOO” and got where we were told to meet. We were ushered into a room where her record label guy told us to wait and relax and Reba would be in shortly and to help ourselves to the chocolates and water and wine that was laying out for us. I ate a chocolate and stole a napkin that said “Reba” on it. We were standing there joking around when in walks Melissa Peterman who said that our room was lacking in jell-o shots and that she knew there were some in Lee Ann Womack’s room and that she should steal some for us. We agreed. I do not drink but figured there is always room for a jell-o shot with “Barbara Jean”, so I did one. After the tray of jell-o disappeared, she thought it would be funny if we were all standing with our hands on the wall like we were being frisked when Reba walked in, so we did and Reba was quite amused. She was even more kind, sweet and beautiful in person than I could have imagined. There is a reason she is as successful as she is, she treats people so kindly, it is not an act, that is Reba. I visited with her about her son Shelby and his racing career and bored her with stories of my grandson. I was a fan of the Reba the singer and performer before, now I am a big fan of Reba the person. Did I mention I love my job?