Pictures and Video taken by Gabe Zaldivar.
The liquor was flowing as were the familiar hits reaching the myriad fans stuffing the beautiful Fillmore hall at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Punta Cana. Lost in the mob of Lady A faithful, it was near impossible to refrain from tapping a toe, smiling and getting lost in the sounds of a concert in paradise.
Life brought me from Los Angeles to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on Sept. 26, visiting the resort thanks to Hard Rock and its All-Inclusive Experience. What made the truly wonderful all the more special was visiting to take in the coinciding Lady A Getaway, an event geared to sate country music fans as well as provide the popular band a way to kick off the release of its fifth album, 747, which dropped on Tuesday.
Let me say that I am not a fan of country music. That isn't to say, however, that I dislike it at all, just that I haven't been exposed to too much of it in a live setting. However, I have seen bands that I love, ahem Mars Volta, disappoint at a concert, so I was prepared to welcome the inverse of that scenario.
Thank you Lady A for that and then some.
The itinerary called for a double dose of the multi-Grammy Award winning band, starting with a VIP acoustic concert which you can see in the photo above, taken this past Sunday.
There is always a point in a night's events when you know the fun will be provided like beer rushing from an all-inclusive tap. The band was vibrant, humorous, bubbly and excited-all sentiments not lost on an audience more than willing to catch the bug.
The party moved from the quaint confines of a special pre-concert event to the hall that would be the apex of an already fantastic weekend. When most of the time is spent working a tan and mass consuming calories, the need to get on up and dance is necessary-at least that's what seemed to be the case for the teems that crowded the hall and waited for the band with eager anticipation.
One such fan was perhaps more anxious than others. Kayla Woodson was pulled on stage, yielding an unexpected and brilliant performance from the peanut gallery.
Here is a portion of that moment:
Woodson, for her part, remains incredulous:
I incidentally ran into Woodson and her mother later that night and they were beaming, meandering about the resort in what I would refer to as pleasant floating rather than simple walking.
The rest of the crowd had to settle for a concert that punctuated the holiday in the only way an exciting live concert can. To the very end, Lady Antebellum continued with the hits and new songs to appreciate anew.
And then they dropped a cover in the form of Avicii's "Wake Me Up."
Getting away is as simple as that; distancing oneself from the comfort zone we build most of the year.
While most of the crowd was there to take in a familiar band, I had the rare, and as it would turn out, fortunate status of knowing little of where the night or the music would lead.
By the end, I was in the same exact place as other loyal Lady A fans, leaving to the exits, sad that the concert was over.
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