Tanya Tucker Black Hills Rodeo Concert

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Concert Photos

Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo - Rapid City, SD

January 29th, 2010

No copyin' of photos without permission -- Photos and review by Bob S. (MN)

Tucker Family Tears Apart South Dakota

I left for South Dakota on 01/28/2010. My first stop was to pick up Dorin in Hutchinson, MN and then start the road trip to Rapid City. Dorin and I made pretty good time. It took us about 10 hours to get to our hotel. We got in at about 10:00 pm. We had dinner and turned in for the evening.

The next morning I opened the curtains to our room and saw a bus pulling into the parking lot….hmmmmm…could it be? Could Tanya be staying at the Radisson too? Dorin and I got ready and went down for breakfast. As we were finishing a familiar face walked into the restaurant. It was Jack. We signaled him over and said Hi. He asked us how far we traveled and after we answered told us we were quite the dedicated fans.

I believe the hotel opened a private room for Tanya and company to have their breakfast.

Dorin and I got ready to do a little bit of our own touring. We wanted to go check out the concert location before the show and to see if there was going to be a Meet ‘n’ Greet. The arena complex in Rapid City was much bigger than I expected. On one end of the complex was the actual rodeo. According to the news, this rodeo is a make or break-it event for Rapid City and the arena. It is also a 10 day event. Tanya’s concert was on the other end of the complex. Between the two ends there were vendors set up selling everything from horse trailers to cowboy boots. Dorin and I made our way through the crowd to the concert area. The stage was on one end of the ice arena and the seats were above. There was a small dance floor in front of the stage. Dorin and I were very happy that we purchased floor seats. We found out that there was not a Meet ‘n’ Greet scheduled. Bummer.

We then left and drove out to Mt. Rushmore. It was a beautiful 39 degrees that day so I had opened the sunroof on my car to take in the fresh air. When we got to Mt. Rushmore, there were about 6 people in the entire park. It was pretty cool. I had not been there since I was a kid.

We bummed around there for a while and then headed back to the room to take have lunch, take a quick nap, and get ready for the show. When we got back up in our room, we noticed that the bus was gone. They must’ve headed over to the venue to get ready.

Dorin and I drove to the concert. The parking lots were full. We ended up parking about 3 blocks away at the high school. We waited at the doors as they were getting ready to let folks in to the arena. We noticed they were selling Tanya’s t-shirts, but did not see Jim or Virginia. Finally they let us in and Dorin and I found our way down to the main floor. To our wonderful surprise, we were able to stand right next to the front of the stage…..WA HOOOOO!!!! The stage was big and there was a huge jumbo-tron behind it. Now that we had our spots, it was just a matter of waiting. We were about an hour early, so we had a bit of time to kill. Finally, the band came out and the announcer from the rodeo came out to do promo spots for the rodeo and to introduce Tanya. What was really cool is that the concert was also being televised on the Jumbo Tron monitor. What wasn’t so cool is that they said no flash photography was allowed. Oh oh. I took my big flash off and went with the built-in on my camera…..I think the pics turned out ok.

That wonderful familiar music starts…..”Some Kind of Trouble” and out comes our girl looking sexy in black pants and a black Sturgis shirt with her name rhinestoned down the sleeve. I have to say, Tanya looked wonderful as she came strutting out. We could feel every step she took on the stage. It was pretty awesome.

Please forgive me; I did not get a set list so I will not be able to give you all of the tunes. However, the set list is very similar to the last concert reviewed earlier this year. Tanya did sing Hanging In and then greeted the crowd. She said she was just getting over the flu and still wasn’t feeling the best and asked the crowd for forgiveness if she didn’t sound great. I will have to say that if Tanya didn’t mention that she was just getting over the flu, no one would’ve been the wiser. She was in top vocal form! Tanya did I’ll Come Back as Another Woman and a couple of other tunes. While she was working the stage, when she stood in front of Dorin and me, we waved and she looked down and pointed at us smiled and gave us a wave. She recognized us.

After about 5 songs, she said she had some special guests with her. The first special guest was Cali Tucker. Cali came out looking hot hot hot and strapped on a bass guitar. Her first song was the CCR classic Born on a Bayou. Cali rocked it out of the arena. Then Cali did the LeAnn Rimes classic Blue. The girl has range. She was very impressive on both tunes. Tanya came out and did another tune and then talked about how 20 years ago she had her first child. You could tell that Tanya is a very proud mother with her introduction of Presley. The first thought in my head was it was hard to believe that Presley is already 20. Presley came on the stage looking drop-dead gorgeous. Tanya’s little girl is all grown-up. Presley’s first song was an original tune written by Grayson. I do not remember the name, but I have to say that Presley’s performance was flawless. Her voice is very strong and you could tell that she was very proud to perform her brother’s tune. Then Presley performed the tune that she had co-written. It was the same song that she performed at the Malibu Music Festival where she took first place. Presley did another knockout performance. Tanya came back on the stage and hugged her baby girl. Tanya explained that Layla was not able to make this trip due to school. Then she started talking about Grayson. Grayson came out and wow. Grayson is very tall. Grayson strapped on a guitar and proceeded to sing one of his own original tunes. I had never heard Grayson sing. His voice, in my opinion is a cross between Bruce Springsteen and Greg Allman. His songwriting is very impressive as well. Grayson’s second tune, to my surprise, was Greg Allman’s "I’m No Angel." This song was a perfect pick for his voice. Grayson’s stage presence also reminded me of a young Bruce Springsteen. The proud mother Tucker came back out and gave her boy a hug. Then Tanya did the tune Little Things. I have to say, I absolutely love that song. She followed that with Two Sparrows in a Hurricane. Tanya also performed What’s your Mama’s Name and Blood Red and Going Down.

Tanya talked a little bit about recording My Turn. I happened to have it with me and waved it in the air. Tanya came over and took it out of my hand and started talking about how it was a thrill record the wonderful tunes on the CD. She brought the CD back and then started singing Love’s gonna live here with one of the band members. Then she did the George Jone’s tune as well as Rambling Fever. Rambling Fever is my favorite off of the My Turn CD. She does a great job with it live in concert. Tanya then talked a bit about getting back in the studio and recording some new material. WA HOOOOO!!!! New original Tanya Tucker music! I hope that happens soon. Cali and Presley came back on stage and took their place behind two open microphones. Down to my Last Teardrop was the next tune, followed by Lizzie and the Rainman and Find Out What’s Happening. Cali and Presley were having a fun time as the back-up singers and Tanya was in top form. Tanya then talked about how she and the family were heading to Haiti to see what they could do to help. Tanya talked about how it is good to give back and encouraged everyone to give back in whatever way they can. Then she started singing Amazing Grace and slid right into Delta Dawn. The whole audience sang along to Delta Dawn. It was amazingly awesome. All the kids came out and the Tucker clan took their well deserved applause. Then the whole family left the stage hand in hand.

The crowd cheered and chanted TANYA TANYA TANYA, but she did not come back out.

The concert was awesome!!!!!!!! Dorin and I had a great time! The whole show was just over 90 minutes. It was a wonderful showcase of Tucker Family talent!

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