TAKE US BACK TO TULSA

Part of the fun of attending George Strait concerts is connecting with other fans. Annette keeps up with many on the George Strait Junkie and GS Fan Club Facebook pages, but it doesn’t take social media to recognize them in person. In Pawhuska, a gaggle of gals from Texas wore matching Strait Down 66 shirts they had made up especially for the concert, complete with glitz and glitter. Day Four of Lucy and Ethyl’s Route 66 adventure began with breakfast at the Pioneer Woman’s Mercantile seated next to this lively group.

By the time we got to the Friday night concert, Annette had hooked up with several  Junkies she knew from Facebook, some wearing GS tees, others GS hats, all excited to see each other and The King. 

Like us, many of them were staying at the DoubleTree in Tulsa, about a block from the BOK Center where both concerts were held. While waiting in the hotel lobby for the shuttle to take us to Dilly’s Diner, we met a husband and wife from Hot Springs, Arkansas, who sat with us on the shuttle and during our midday breakfast. She was hoping George would sing “Cross My Heart” that night. It was played at their wedding 17 years ago and she had never heard him sing it in concert.

  Asleep At The Wheel opened for George both nights, which tickled me because I had never heard them in person. Their western swing rocks, but I fell in love with a plaintive, love-gone-wrong song by the late Guy Clark called “Dublin Blues.”

George put on a great two-hour show, singing about 30 of his hits. He did a two-song tribute to the late Merle Haggard and closed the set with “Unwound.” He didn’t disappoint the woman from Arkansas, either, and next day on Facebook she was trying to find someone who had recorded him doing her wedding song. I hope she does.

George always comes back for an encore. This time he did four more of his songs and two Bob Wills ditties, “Take Me Back to Tulsa” and “Milk Cow Blues.” He closed with a few lines of “The Cowboy Rides Away.” When he asked his audience to come back Saturday night, a woman near me said, “Who goes both nights?” Uh, we do, lady.

Saturday we had another midday breakfast at  Dilly Diner in Tulsa’s Blue Dome District. The latter is named for an old service station/garage that has a blue dome on top and resembles a mosque. It’s empty now, but the city can hardly tear it down because the arts and entertainment area is named after it.

We had purchased VIP tickets that included a concert poster and a buffet dinner with open bar for the second night. Even drinks made with Codigo 1530, the expensive tequila brand in which George has a business interest, were included in the price. Jared Tyler entertained. I had never heard him before. He was good, especially with my glass of wine, and better still with the Codigo Italian margarita. I bought his two CDs.

George’s concerts were sponsored by the Hard Rock Cafe and were the first in a series to celebrate the BOK Center’s 10th anniversary. Hard Rock had a photo booth at the VIP dinner with a blank backdrop, but when the picture came out of the printer, it appeared as if you were standing next to George onstage. They printed two copies of each photo and texted you a copy. They also handed out tee-shirts, sunglasses, ear buds and koozies. 

Annette and I had seats one in front of the other Friday night, but Saturday night we were on opposite sides of the stage. We’ve found that we can get better tickets when we buy singles. A man seated near Annette proposed to his wife while George sang, “Check Yes Or No,” handing her a piece of paper that said, “Will you marry me? Check yes or no.” She checked yes.