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Brantley Gilbert

Brantley Gilbert

never met

and probably

never will

but I went

to see ya still

got up at the crack

parked in a field

and got on a shuttle

thinking how big

and nice it was

had almost an hour

to think that

‘til some guy gets on the bus

and gets on the speaker

and starts off with “sorry …”

something about a police escort

so we all get off

the big, nice bus

and load up

on the small, yellow bus

and I’m thinking

you better be worth it …

and there we are

sardines in a can

chillin half an hour

finally ready to move

and the driver

decides he needs breakfast

and they’re hollering,

“where’s your driver …”

and a guy in the back yells out

“he’s over there getting food,

see that big guy with the white shirt …”

so they holler for him

and he gets back on the bus

and it actually starts moving

bout 20 minutes we’re there

and pull out our paper tickets

and get ‘em scanned

and soon as I see the stage

I’m thinking

it doesn’t look ready … at all

so I ask somebody

“is Gilbert singing on that stage

or the other one”

and the guy points

to the one I’m looking at

the one that’s not ready

so I sit down on this

makeshift step

and about an hour later

I see this guy with paperwork

and a badge and a blue shirt

and I ask him

“do you know when

Brantley Gilbert is gonna sing …”

and he looks down the page

and says, “5:30 …”

and I’m thinking

“5:30 …”

so I sit back down

and bake in the oven

‘cause the guy tells me

once your ticket is scanned

you can’t leave and come back

and yes, this was my first rodeo

and no, I’m not a college kid

so aside from the police

and the paramedics

think I was the only sober soul

5:30 came and went

by that time

I’m sitting under a tent

2 other acts take the stage

first

got showered in beer

and shoved against a wire fence

‘cause the two guys on the cooler

fell off the cooler

and the guy with no shirt

wearing suspenders and a smile

keeps asking for a dance

“can’t you pretend you’re in love with me …”

8:30

there you are

in boxer form

chains banging against your leg

and I’m taking it in …

my CD singer

LIVE

and it was

worth the wait

but only got to hear

your opening number

‘cause I’m a wife and mother

and the line to the bus

was, well, another

so we waited

like cattle

and heard you sing

from far away

and it was

well

worth it

TL

Published inTamiko Lowery