My Trip to the Grand Ole Opry
My Trip to the Grand Ole Opry
A few years back I spent four wonderful days in Nashville, the home of country music.
As soon as I arrived I asked the concierge in the hotel what he recommended and, as I'm sure you can guess, at the top of the list was a visit to the Grand Ole Opry. Luckily, my hotel was very near to the Opry Mills Shopping Center so it was only a short walk over to the Opry House itself.
On arriving at the box office I discovered that the show was going to be a live radio broadcast so not only would I get to experience the Grand Ole Opry itself, but I'd be present at a good old fashioned live broadcast.
That night I arrived about thirty minutes before everyone else and so sat soaking up the atmosphere as the seats slowly started to fill up.
The auditorium is huge. Apparently it holds an incredible 4,400 people. I had a great seat in the lower level and quite near the center. The audience was made up of the widest range of people imaginable. There were young children with their parents, elderly couples, teenagers, and judging by the accents people from all over America and from around the globe. It doesn't matter whether your rich or poor, black or white, young or old - the Opry is something that can be enjoyed by everyone.
From the moment the show kicked off I was in seventh heaven. I lost count of how many acts came on and every single one of them was superb. There was everything from Bluegrass through to New Country and the performers were almost as diverse as the audience.
One thing that quite surprised me was that you were actively encouraged to take photographs. So instead of being bombarded with messages along the lines of "No Flash Photography Allowed" you were being told to go to the front of the stage if you'd like to take a photograph. I made my way down to the front on a couple of occasions and was thrilled when the performers came over and posed for me right in the middle of their act.
Something else that really put a smile on my face was that in between the acts the advertisements that were going out live with the broadcast were performed live too, which was something I hadn't been expecting.
If you're ever in the Nashville area and want a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours entertainment I can't recommend the Opry highly enough. It's a real American institution that will prove enjoyable even to those who might not normally be country music fans and provides good, clean entertainment for all the family.
Over the passed few days I've been putting up some Grand Ole Opry broadcasts and judging by all the e-mails I've received these have proved to be very popular.
These recordings were made at the Ryman Auditorium, which is where the Opry was based before it moved to the current location. The day after I went to the Grand Ole Opry I visited the Ryman. All being well I'll put up a small editorial next week of my trip to this wonderful place.
In the meantime I hope you enjoy the shows that have been uploaded so far. I'll do my best to keep them coming.
Happy listening my friends,
