Concert Review - Sugarland

To preface, my qualifications to write a concert review are a little sketchy. I can count the number of concerts I have now seen on one hand, and to use the whole hand I would have to include Celine Dion's no-show in Las Vegas.

My wife and I attended the Sugarland concert at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee on Friday. Prior to the concert, we dined at the Historic Turner Restaurant across from the Bradley Center. The restaurant was much bigger inside than expected and had quite a crowd gathering as we arrived. We were given an accurate estimate of 20 minutes to wait for a table during which time we enjoyed a cocktail at the bar. We both selected their fish fry advertised as Milwaukee's most famous. We were greeted with 4-5 large pieces of fish, a generous amount of french fries, cole slaw and two small pieces of bread. The entire meal was excellent and would be highly recommended to anyone attending a future event at the Bradley Center.

We arrived at the concert moments before the opening act. As we found our seats, we were pleased at the location in Section 209, Row V with two seats at the end of the row. There was a gentleman seated next to our seats, and as a gentleman myself, I took the seat next to him so my wife could have the end seat. As I sat down, I noticed that this man was seated like a cowboy, with his knees spread about as far as possible, taking up about half the leg room in front of me. Based on how he was sitting, I would have sworn he was 6 foot 10, but later after seeing him he was barely 6 foot. I leaned myself in my seat the best I could and was saved by the two seats that remained empty in front of us for the entire concert.

Matt Nathanson was the opener. I did not know who he was prior to the concert. He interacted well with the crowd and was actually very funny. He made fun of Enrique Iglesias and made use of band members from Sugarland for a few songs. I had a bit of trouble understanding his songs. His last song, "Come on Get Higher", was recognizable and was my highlight of his performance.

Billy Currington followed as opener #2. Now while I know Billy Currington, my only song recollection was the duo he did with Shania Twain, who was nowhere to be found on this evening. Billy put on a nice show, though my wife knew way more of his material than I did. She was actually surprised at how much she knew, realizing that she probably does not know as much Dierks Bentley anymore who we sometimes get confused with Currington. I spent most of the time trying to figure out whether he has a perm or has naturally curly hair. I also found his songs to not be as clear as I hoped.

Sugarland finished off the night and put on an excellent show. They do not use an elaborate set, but have just enough gimmicks to make it interesting. Jennifer Nettles wore a simple ponytail with her jeans and cowboy boots and Christian Bush was in his signature hat. Nettles did also don a sequined red hat for a few songs, which included "Joey". They played all the favorites and I was pleased that I seemed to have at least heard each of there songs a few times. I was also pleased that I could understand Nettles vocals much better than Nathanson's or Currington's. The show was fun and enjoyable. I still think it is a strange to consider them a duo, and I actually wish they would give Bush a few more solo singing parts.

If you are a country music fan and get a chance to see Sugarland, I would recommend it. And if you are heading to the Bradley Center, definitely check out Turner's for a nummy fish fry!!