Sorry for not posting this sooner. The wi-fi at my hotel was down last night. That’s right, I’m staying in a hotel. Not a tent or RV over at the Soo Pass Ranch. I’m working, OK?

On Day 1, the weather was perfect. About 80 and sunny in the afternoon. Neal McCoy sure played a lot of oldie covers including “Okie from Muskogee,” “You Never Even Call Me by My Name” and “The Banana Boat Song” (Day-O). Taylor Swift may have sounded a little pitchy at times but she connected with the crowd, which packed the concert bowl, which doesn’t often happen during the sun-drenched hours. Jason Aldean rocked the house. I dug his cover of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.”

Of course, I spent some time with the partiers in the campgrounds. Joe Kittell from Wahpeton, N.D., is my new best friend. Dude knows how to party. Maybe Rascal Flatts should write a song “Partying in Daylight” for Joe and his happy campers.

I did get to speak to Rascal Flatts before their set. Nice guys. Loose, quick wits. Gary LeVox has a wristwatch that’s serious bling. So serious that Hopalong Cassidy from Froggy, the Up North country station, asked him about it during the Jumbotron interview that all 48,000 festgoers saw.

I have to admit that up close Joe Don Rooney has the glazed-over eyes of a new dad who hasn’t slept much in the past two months. He did have a photo of his son, Jagger Donovan, affixed to the body of his guitar onstage.

Also talked to Taylor Swift on her bus. You’ll read more about her and Rascal Flatts later in the Strib. You know they’re coming together Oct 10 at Xcel Energy Center. RF promises a whole new show from the one that came to St. Paul last October. Their closing set on Thursday at We Fest was certainly a visual feast. Good times.

After the music ended, I headed back to my hotel to watch a preview DVD of Toby Keith’s new movie, “Beer for My Horses.” Problem was that it was a faulty copy, so I missed about one-third of the audio on the film. But got the essence of it cuz I’m interviewing Toby today on the phone; he’s coming to the State Fair on Sept. 1.

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 9:12 am and is filed under Concerts, Main, We Fest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.