Monday, September 29, 2014

Lewisville Western Days Festival 2014

Can we say Hell of a Weekend?!?!YES we can! This weekend was a very active, exciting, and fun. We did so much that I'll be breaking it into two posts so be sure to come back next weekend for the finale of this weekends post!

What did we do and how did it all come into play? Well, earlier in the week Charles from the Protectos LEMC called and asked what we were doing Saturday night. "Not a thing" I responded. Then he asked if we wanted to go with him and his wife to the Lewisville Western Days Festival. He had extra tickets if we wanted them and he knows Kevin Fowler who was performing and we could meet him after the concert too! Well hell yeah we wanted to go! Who wouldn't?! Unless you don't like country music I suppose. A nice ride, nice festival, nice concert, good friends, an all around good time!

We met up Saturday evening and rode to Texas Roadhouse for dinner to begin the evening. Then we headed to the festival and because we were on bikes we found free parking right outside the entrance gate. HA! we didn't have to hike for miles to get to the festival! We were scanned for weapons and security gave Margaret a hard time about her camera. They tried to tell her professional grade cameras with removable lenses were not allowed in the event. We persisted that it wasn't a professional camera even though it was an SLR and they called a manager over to make the decision of whether we could take it in or not. The manager came by and after all the crap they gave us said there were no restrictions on cameras. Now that the camera gestapo let us through we began cranking up the media capturing. This was an arts and craft festival as well as live music. Craft booths were humming with activity and vendors promoting their wares. Lots of kid stuff too but we kind of veered away from all of that.


99.5 The Wolf Country Music Station was set up next to the main concert stage. They had a gigantic display was showing different activities of the festival. When the concerts were live they showed the concert on the screen as well for those that couldn't or didn't want to get up close to the stage. We signed up for prizes and personal meet and greets with Thompson Square who was also playing Saturday night. As usual, we didn't win anything, we never do, it's just how it goes with us.

There were a couple other smaller concert stages scattered about the festival grounds to keep you entertained with live music as you meandered about. We had some beers and some rum shots from a local rum company. They handed out those green glow sticks so we all grabbed one. I wrapped mine around the brim of my hat figuring this was all part of the entertainment and why we were here! There were lots of fried foods which we didn't eat but wanted too. Funnel cakes are a favorite of ours but we didn't want to put our bodies through the withdrawals from the fry and the sugar in them so smelling the things had to do. We met quite a few people that Charles and Janet introduced us to. They seemed to know half the people we passed by in the festival! I'll never remember all the names but if they read this then I want to say again "It was nice meeting you!"

Later in the evening when dark fell Thompson Square performed. We had never seen them before and it was an incredible show. They are very good artists and their music is wonderful. We managed to get into a couple different places up pretty close where we could even see the expressions on their faces. I took some video with the GoPro and because I'm on the tall side I was able to set the camera on manual settings using the Time Value setting and manually adjust the shutter speed. The pictures came out wonderful and I hope you'll enjoy seeing them. The GoPro clips are short but they were just for short segments to enhance and give an idea of the concert performance.


Next up to close out the concerts at the festival was Kevin Fowler. We have never seen him before so I was happy to get up as close as we were able so as to get some good media of his performance.  I have heard a couple of his songs and like them but did not expect the show he put on for us! He is a self professed beer band, not a romantic, and his music is energetic. Thompson Square was a good show for sure, but Kevin is a much better entertainer. He was funny, energetic, lively, and he knew how to motivate and engage the audience. There was much more cheering, hands and arms uplifting, screaming, and singing when he performed. All in all I enjoyed his performance far more. When Kevin Fowler finished I felt fulfilled. I know that sounds odd but his show was so good that when it was over there was a complete sense of satisfaction from it.


Charles bought Margaret a Kevin Fowler T-Shirt because she is working on getting her CHL and Kevin Fowler signed it for her. The picture below will explain how that is significant. After the show Charles and Janet introduced us to Kevin and we were able chat with him for awhile. Not only does he put on a great show hes a down to earth guy off stage as well.


Unfortunately the evening had to come to a close, and as with anything your having a good time doing, it ended too soon. Time accelerates when your having a good time, and slows when your not. We parted ways soon after leaving the festival and headed home. It was almost 2 AM, the roads were nearly clear, it was cool but not cold, no wind, clear skies, we took the George Bush Tollway most of the way home and since its a toll road it was even more deserted than other highways. The rumble of the Harley's under us was soothing as we cruised at a steady 75 mph for the hour ride back home. It was an absolute perfect afternoon and evening and we'll not forget the good time we had with good friends.

Thank you Charles and Janet for inviting us and having a great evening together.




Lewisville Western Days Festival 2014 Video





No comments:

Post a Comment