LOGOstephaniecasher

Soul2Soul Summer ~ 2007

by Stephanie Casher on August 14, 2007

Well, Soul2Soul Summer #3 has officially come and gone, lol. As most of you know, I’m pretty much obsessed with Tim McGraw, LOL, and when he hits the road, you can bet I am not far behind. This time, due to finances and a decision to use my summer vacation time a little differently ;-), I had a very scaled back tour — only three shows, and mostly local. But it was still the BEST time, and I have many wonderful adventures (and pictures), to show for it.

My first show was in San Diego on August 2nd, and I was lucky enough to be selected for the backstage pre-party before the show. This is an opportunity for fans to see Tim and Faith up close and personal in a more intimate venue, and even ask them a few questions. Though it was wicked hot backstage, it was still a cool enough experience. The friend I made in line snapped this pic of me with me and “The Man” :-)

The show itself was Awesome. I think the setlist for this year’s was waaaay better than last year’s tour, and I especially enjoyed having “She’s My Kind of Rain”, “Everywhere”, and “For a Little While” back in the show, instead of “Angel Boy” and “Unbroken”, which I’ve never really cared for. “The River and Me” was also a much appreciated new addition, as that song just freaking ROCKS live. Faith also put “Stronger” in her set, which I think is one of her best songs ever. Why it was never released as a single, I will never understand. She also covered ABBA’s “The Winner Takes it All” which was awesome, and the most visually stunning piece of her set with the monster disco balls casting stars all over the arena. And the two of them opened the show with an amazing cover of Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars”, which I just could not get enough of… I swear, the lines “If I lay here… If I just lay here…” have been in my head for weeks, LOL.

The following day I headed out to VEGAS (again) to see the show (again) and meet up with my McGrawGirls. For me, after all these years of touring, the best part of the tour season isn’t even seeing Tim and Faith anymore, to be quite honest. What I really look forward to is meeting up with all my Girls, friends I’ve met on the Board at mcgraws.com, and catching up. Last year we had some massive McMeets in Dallas, Nashville, and Vegas, where we did some major bonding and major partying. Couldn’t wait to see everyone again!

My sidekick for the weekend was Jen, who flew in from Colorado for the event. The last time I’d seen Jen was in 2003 when we spent 7 hours on a sidewalk together outside the Whiskey in West Hollywood waiting to get into a Bread and Water show, lol. But it was like no time had passed at all, and I picked her up from the airport and we headed immediately to the Luxor Buffet (YUM!) to stuff ourselves and catch up on lost time. :-) Spent the rest of the night conserving our energy (we were both coming of sleepless nights the night before) and donating to the casino, lol, and more girl talk. God how I love Girl Talk!

The next day, we had a grubbin’ breakfast at the Sherwood Cafe, then laid out by the Excalibur pool before hitting up the spa. A lovely morning of girlie pampering, and oh so relaxing… It actually felt like a real vacation! Then I picked Iris and Karen up from the airport, and we met up with Wendy and Michelle for dinner at the Excalibur Buffet :-) More chatting, laughing and catching up. The start of what would turn out to be an amazing evening…

After dinner we headed over to the MGM, which is where the show was taking place. Randomly we wandered into a ballroom right outside the Garden Arena entrance, where Halfway to Hazard was just finishing up a set. Halfway to Hazard is an up and coming duo that has been opening up the Soul2Soul tour all summer. Their debut album just came out on Tim’s new record label, and it’s pretty good! Anyway, the boys were kind enough to pose for some pictures with us :-)

I love meeting famous people :-)

Since we had some time to kill before the show started, Jen and I decided to go get a drink and do a little gambling. So we found a cute little lounge near the casino, put some money into the video poker machines, ordered our free drinks, and got to gambling. This time we actually WON some money (Yay!), which put us in a super good mood! But gotta finish those drinks cause we got a concert to see!!!

The show was awesome, of course. Faith had gotten sick in San Diego, so they had to cut the show short and I missed out on all the closing duets. But I got to see them in VEGAS and it was amazing. They sang “Shotgun Rider”, “It’s Your Love”, a rocking rendition of Bryan Adams’ “It’s Only Love”, before closing the show with “I Need You”. The chemistry and love these two have between them after eleven years of marriage is totally inspirational. The two of them on stage together is just magic, and even after all these years, it never fails to bring tears to my eyes…

After the show, everyone made their way to the designated meeting spot for a massive Vegas McMeet!

Can you believe we all met on the INTERNET over the course of the past seven years?!?!. I can’t even tell you how many life-long best friendships have been born on mcgraws.com, but it is a really special thing. The common ground we share in our obsessions with Tim and Faith has provided the foundation for something very real to develop, and I love each and every one of these ladies with all my McHeart!

After the group picture extravaganza, we all went our separate ways, some needing to eat, others needing to rest their feet. Jen and I headed over to the Ghost Bar at the Palms Casino to meet up with Wendy, Michelle, Danna, Kristin, and Belly to drink and party the night away. Okay, the Ghost Bar is now officially my FAVORITE club/bar in Vegas. It’s on the roof of the Palms Casino, off the strip, and has the most amazing view of the City. And the bartenders make the strongest freakin’ drinks! We had the best time hanging out, getting our drink on, chatting and laughing and fighting off boys, LOL. Jen and I literally stayed til they closed the place down, and didn’t get back to the room until 6am… I’m telling you, you’re not experiencing Vegas unless you’re coming home when the sun comes up :-)

Now driving back to San Diego on 5 hours sleep, with a hangover, was no fun, but it was worth every moment of day-after discomfort. We had the best time!!! I mean, I had just done Vegas a few weeks before with the Casher Men, but this time, with my Girls, it was just waaaaaay more my kinda party. The most fun I’ve had in a really long time. (Jen, I just gotta send you a very special shout-out for being the most awesome travel partner — having you to run around with made everything 20 times more fun! “Get out of my head!!!” LOL We definitely have to do that again soon, xoxo :-)

Closed the tour a week later in Anaheim… The last show of the tour is always kinda sad, but I take comfort in the fact that I have many memories (and pictures and video ;-) that will allow me to re-live Soul2Soul3 for years to come… Once again, thanks to all my Girls for to laughs and good times, and you can bet I’ll be seeing you next tour!

Full Set of Pics in the Soul2Soul Flickr Album

Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post:

Next post: