Thirty seven. People ask me all the time, "How many concerts do you see?" Which can eithercome off sounding vaguely disapproving (as if covering concerts is not real work) or genuinely interested in this gig of mine.Anyway, this year, my tally was 37. I'm a lucky, lucky girl. Even more so because I didn't just stay in one place to see them.I caught a few in Las Vegas, a bunch in Chicago and even a couple in Nashville. It's damn near impossible to narrow them downto a Top 10 list, but if you had a gun to my head, these would be the ones I'd choose.
1. DierksBentley (Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, April): The fans who wanted front row access to this show had to be standingin about two feet of water. That's love. Plus, he played all his best songs, plus a couple of GeorgeStrait 's ("Ocean Front Property" and "All My Ex's Live in Texas.")
2. CarrieUnderwood (Ravinia Festival, Chicago, September): She had a full band plus a full orchestra backing her, and as if thatwas not spectacular enough, Underwood was self-deprecating, loquacious and cheerful all night long. Ihighly recommend this special show if she does it again this summer.
3. KeithUrban (Municipal Auditorium , Nashville, June): Technically, this was not a concert. It was a rehearsal. ButUrban was playing guitar and singing , so to me, that constitutes a show. He did some a cappella on "PutYou in a Song," an acoustic "Making Memories of Us" and then on a smaller stage about three inches from my face, "You'llThink of Me" and "Days Go By." Then he talked about how much Waylon Jennings ' "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" resonates sodeep with him. That resonated deep with me.
4. LeAnn Rimes (Joe'sBar, Chicago, August): She spent the bulk of the night absolutelynailing old-school country music , which she described as a lost art. So MerleHaggard 's "The Bottle Let Me Down." Waylon and Willie 's "Good HeartedWoman" and even her old "Blue" sounded fabulous. Plus, Rosie O'Donnell was there. Which was cool.
5. TaylorSwift (Allstate Arena, Chicago, August): It's almost belittling to call this a concert. It's more like a Broadway spectacularthan anything. That said, when Swift satdown alone with her ukulele and charmingly strummed her way through "Fearless," everyone seemed to remember that, "Oh,yeah. This is country music."
6. The Band Perry (Hard Rock Café,Nashville, June): When I love an album, there's nothing I love more than hearing it live for the first time. Sothis tiny show was the perfect way to really revel in all The Band Perry's songs. And I loved what Kimberly Perry hadto say about their journey to the top. "There's a saying in Nashville that one song can change your life," she said. "I didn'tknow if that was true until the last 12 months, when a three-and-a-half-minute piece of music we wrote in our basement madeit." The song, "If I Die Young," kind of changed mine, too.
7. Tim McGraw (First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Chicago, July):Broken foot? What broken foot? McGraw's show-must-go-on attitude made this two-hour show oneof the best concerts of his I've seen. And I'm not ashamed to say, I've seen a lot of them.
8. EricChurch (Joe's Bar, Chicago, November): There were six of everything -- songwriters, guitars, stools and microphones. Churchwas one of those songwriters, and the other five were the finefolks who'd helped him write the tracks on his latest album, Chief . Songwriters are the reason I love country music,so to have so many greats on one stage took my breath away.
9. Bob Seger (Allstate Arena, Chicago, May): I left my notebook at home for this one, so all I have is my memories of the nonstop hitsthat made up his two-hour concert and from the indelible mark every one of his songs left on the teenaged me. The show mademe feel like I was in a cornfield in a Chevy in 1962 trying to lose my awkward teenage blues.
10. MirandaLambert and Pistol Annies (Joe's Bar, Chicago, June): This was thefirst time I'd seen Lambert's new all-girl trio, the Pistol Annies, with their vintage country sound and storytelling songs. And what a firstit was. "Better Days," "One's Drinking, One's Smoking, One's Taking Pills" and "Boys From the South" topped my list ofnew favorites from the night. And it was nice to see Lambert back on the stage where, as she said, "They booked me when Iwas nobody."
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