5 years ago today, I made the greatest decision of my life while my wife made the biggest mistake of her life...and said "I do." For our anniversary, I made the ultimate sacrifice. I went to a country music concert. Now, ever since I was 16 years old, I had a commitment to myself that basically stated that my first concert would be a Tool concert. I am now 26 years old. My first concert wasn't Tool. Heck, it wasn't even rock! It was Rascal Flatts. Country. My nemesis. Amazing what love will do.

Funny thing is that the same year I made the decision for Tool to be my first concert was the year Rascal Flatts started out, which we found out last night.

Now, I know everyone is wondering, "So, Chris, how was it?" It's hard to quantify my thoughts in one sentence so I won't. Instead, I'll break down the concert and talk about it's highs and lows.

The first opening act was Chris Young. He did 'standard' country music with a strong twang and upbeat rhythms. I appreciate any artist if they can prove themselves and he was very talented but I just didn't care for his music because it was standard country. Country fans will love him though and he will be a star.

The second opener was Kellie Pickler, an American Idol finalist. She was clearly having trouble with her earpiece as she was constantly fiddling with it. I thought she had a decent voice but she didn't impress me until she sang the song "Didn't you know how much I loved you?". The song is a i-loved-you-but-you-screwed-up song. It didn't even strike me until it really started swelling and the bands guitar player really started shredding. Heavy drums (I'm a drummer) and shrieking guitar got my attention; go figure. The only disappointment to this song was hearing the chorus 30 times.

The headline act, Rascal Flatts, came on after Kellie. I don't know names to their songs and I had to even look up to make sure their name was spelled "Flatts" and not just "Flats". They opened with pyro, which is always a good thing! They were incredibly fan-friendly and frequently shook hands, gave high-fives, and even snapped photos while performing on stage. They were constantly compliementing the great state of Oklahoma and the city of Tulsa, going as far as to say "Oklahoma is the greatest state we've ever had the privilege to play in!" They had a great stage presence. The stage had 6 sliding video panels with amazing visuals that came in and out throughout the show and one massive video panel behind band as the main backdrop.

"What about the music, Chris? You hate Country." Well, ya I do. It's been the one genre that has eluded my eclectic ears. But, after the concert I really had to think about that. Rascal Flatts was definetly a country group but only a little bit. Their upbeat songs definitely felt like harmonious Bon Jovi songs complete with driving drum beats and heavy guitar. Speaking of the drummers, this dude was great. Not standard 4/4 boring up/down/up/down beats. He really brought his game. Too bad he was in a corner where I could barely see him!

Near the end of the night, the guitar player played an amazing solo of The Star-spangled Banner. I was impressed that some people still stood up while others seemed oblivious to the respect that song should be held at. As his rendition ended, they went directly into their finale, and the only song I knew by heart, "Life is a Highway". They did an amazing job on this song and really ultimately won me over by this two-song combination. They let the song build and build and build and totally jammed out. They said their thank you's and the stage went black. The audience screamed and cheered. Suddenly the 6 video panels came to life with an little animated dude. The animated character humorously played bits and pieces of several classics including Thriller, to which he danced to. Stage goes dark again.

Panels open for our encore. Now, up to this point I was impressed and would've left as a happy guy having survived 3 hours of country music and enjoyed the majority of it. But, they must've sensed some rockers in the room because their encore consisted of "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas and even "Free Ride" by the Edgar Winter Group! That's when I thought, "Alright, you guys win." After they finished, they played a new song, "Summer Nights" which included Kellie and Chris.

So as for the music, I have to admit, with complete defeat, that I actually enjoyed the show, the music, the talent. I still can't concede that I like country music, as the majority of it still passes by me with little thought but I will concede that I am a closet Rascal Flatts fan based on everything I saw tonight. I may not be their primary target but they certainly earned the respect of this Oklahoma boy.

Oh, and I've been married for 5 years! Ya! ;)