Month: July 2021

story by Karen Cotton

Newlyweds Gwen Stefani Shelton and Blake Shelton perform at Cheyenne Frontier Days tonight as a surprise to the audience! Blake and Gwen are amazing live! The show was sold out to a crowd of 22,500 people, according to Nicole Gamst spokeswoman for Cheyenne Frontier Days!!! Review coming later! John King was the opening act and did an amazing job getting the crowd ready for Blake! It’s always hard being an opening act. John played his hits and some covers including Upton Funk by Bruno Mars. And Blake was right as he said tonight it is tough to follow an event that Garth Brooks opens but Blake really had an epic show as he sent out the 125th anniversary of Cheyenne Frontier Days. More will come tomorrow as well as a review of Kane Brown, Tiger Lily and Restless Road’s show yesterday. I’m going to add that I really loved Gwen’s sparkly jeans and I want to know where I can get myself a pair!!! I love anything that sparkles 🙂

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According to Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi’s official Facebook page, Sen. Mike Enzi passed away today. My heart breaks for our state and for his family. I went to school with his son, Brad Enzi, at the University of Wyoming. We were in journalism classes together.

I pulled over on the side of the road tonight to record Garth Brooks talking about his Cheyenne Frontier Days concert on Friday. Garth was talking about his experience at CFD and how much he admires his late friend Chris LeDoux. Listen to it on my YouTube channel

https://youtu.be/-FBiBvkqFtw

Today I was fortunate enough to interview the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds at the Loveland Jet Center Airport. U.S. Air Force Thunderbird Left Wing Pilot Maj. Ian Lee’s interview can be found on my YouTube channel. Here is the link to my interview:

https://youtu.be/60PebS9bHH0

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I had every good intention to attend and cover Fort D.A. Russell Days and Susie McEntire Eaton and Mark Eaton’s cowboy church service this weekend. Unfortunately my dog went counter surfing and I wasn’t fast enough to remove some fresh, whole, peaches from my counter before she snatched one and ate it whole, yes, including the peach pit.

She is doing fine so far and won’t require any surgery at this point, but it’s been stressful and tiring as we kept and eye on her and made sure she passed the peach pit. Thanks to Avenue’s Pet Clinic and especially Doctor Hartshorn for keeping track of her progress over the weekend. I also spent a lot of time cleaning my rugs from where she decided to eat the peach and it was a juicy peach. Silly pup had us all worried.

My sincere apologies to the military members at F.E. Warren Air Force Base and Susie McEntire Eaton and Mark Eaton for me missing out on the coverage. Hopefully I can make it up to you all. Thanks for understanding.

I will be attending the plane side interviews tomorrow with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and an article will follow.

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Ned LeDoux and Garth Brooks put on an incredible show tonight to a sold out crowd at Cheyenne Frontier Days 125th anniversary, as they honored Ned’s late father Chris LeDoux. Twenty five years ago Chris and Garth shared the same stage.

Ned LeDoux opened the concert by performing some of his own hits and later on he played a lot of his father’s hits like “Copenhagen,” “This Cowboy’s Hat,” and “Underneath this Western Sky.” When Ned sang the line, “I want to be buried underneath this Western Sky,” he pointed down to the rodeo arena where he and his family had spread his father’s ashes several years ago.

When Ned sings he really sounds a lot like his father. It’s hard to tell sometimes if it’s really him, or his dad, Chris, which is incredible. How fortunate are country fans and fans of Chris LeDoux that his legend lives on with his son. Ned got a standing ovation after his last song. And the stage was set for Garth.

When the vehicle that Garth was in, drove up to the stage, the crowd went wild. Garth opened the show with “Beaches of Cheyenne,” and he played hit after hit. He mentioned that “Calling Baton Rouge” is one of his favorite hits to play as the fiddle player started performing its opening melody. He performed “The River,” and people started turning on the lights on their cell phones and he encouraged them by yelling, “Yeah, light ‘em up!” Everyone sang along with Garth and in that moment the world seemed like it was in perfect harmony.

Next Garth talked about his band member, friend and college roommate, Ty England, who he said taught him how to play the guitar. And Ty proceeded to play the first few chords of “Friends in Low Places.” Garth said his favorite version of “Friends in Low Places” is the live version and having everyone in the crowd sing the words of his song back to him, which they did. He introduced all of his band members and vocalists during the concert.

After getting a standing ovation, Garth told the audience that he compared tonight’s concert as being one of the top highlights of his career, which included being honored at the Grand Ole Opry, performing at the 100th anniversary of the Daddy of ‘Em All 25 years ago with his friend Chris LeDoux, and tonight performing that same song, “Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy,” with Ned and that 2021 topped it all.

Near the end of the show Ned honored Garth with a statue of Chris, “Just LeDoux It,” that Ned said was a gift from his family to Garth. And Garth knelt near the statue when he finished his song, “Good Ride Cowboy.” Garth wrote that song for Chris after Chris passed away from cancer in 2005.

Garth played three encore songs including “Amarillo by Morning” by George Strait and Garth’s new song, “That’s What Cowboys Do,” that he said he normally wouldn’t do because when he goes to concerts he wants to hear everyone’s hits and not their new songs. But the crowd loved it. Ironically it was playing on my Sirius XM Garth Channel radio as I drove out of the stadium with my friend Katie Capron who took the below picture in my car while I was driving.

Story by Karen Cotton, owner of Sweet as Cotton Candy magazine

Tomorrow night, July 23, country music legend Garth Brooks is returning to Cheyenne Frontier Days for the 125th Daddy of ‘Em All. He’s kicking off the outdoor rodeo celebration with a sold out show at Frontier Park in Cheyenne, Wyoming. This is one of the hottest concert tickets out there because last year, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, for the first time in its history CFD was cancelled and large stadium concerts were, too. You could only see Garth on TV and online on his official Facebook page when he performed during the stay at home concerts when the United States and the world was shut down.

Ned LeDoux will be opening for Garth. Ned is an amazing musician in his own right. He will perform his own hits, as well as songs that were made famous by his father. Ned is the son of Chris LeDoux, an award-winning country musician and CFD rodeo champion who passed away in 2005 from liver cancer. Garth mentioned “a worn out tape of Chris LeDoux” in his hit song “Much Too Young” and that helped propel Chris into fame. The two singers and their families were close friends. Garth even tried to donate a portion of his liver to help save his friend, but it was incompatible, according to an article published in The Boot on October, 7 of 2000.

It would definitely be exciting to see Ned and Garth share a duet of “Much Too Young” on the Cheyenne Frontier Days stage in the Frontier Park arena tomorrow night. I also hope that Garth and his wife, Trisha Yearwood, who is also an amazing award-winning country singer, will sing some of their duets. And she would perform some of her hits, too. But it’s not been confirmed if she will perform. Or what fans can expect tomorrow night, which makes it even more exciting for those people who are lucky enough to be legitimate ticket holders.

Beware country fans of people who are scalping their tickets online or in person for over their original price point. It is illegal and Cheyenne Frontier Days has a policy about that, the ticket will not be considered legitimate at the gate. There also a lot of crafty scammers out there. So buyer beware. There are a few legitimate contests for Garth Brooks tickets that are being run by local businesses, such as Gold’s Gym and the COMEA Shelter of Cheyenne. They have shared posts about their contests online on Facebook.

It’s been in the 90s during the day time this week and the Weather Channel is predicting another hot day tomorrow with a possibility of an afternoon rain shower and clear in the evening. But as everyone knows the weather in Wyoming is very unpredictable. So it’s best to come prepared. Tonight it is 75 degrees, but if the wind picks up a light jacket might help keep you warm. Travel rain ponchos are also helpful to have.

And even though cowboy boots are stylish, I’d advise wearing comfortable tennis shoes. You’ll end up doing a lot of walking in Frontier Park from the parking lot to the concert stands and checking everything out that the park has to offer.

Also bring cash, because even though there are usually ATMs at CFD they do charge a fee and some of the food vendors mainly take cash. That may have changed this year, and I will check and update this article if that’s the case.

There is also a first aid station under the grandstands at Frontier Park in case you get over heated, or have a medical emergency while you are at Frontier Park.

I’d also advise bringing ear plugs with you.

Frontier Park also has a clear bag policy that fans must abide by and you can read all about it on their official Website, as well as find a list of daily events by going to http://www.cfdrodeo.com

For more information about Garth Brooks go to his official web site http://Www.GarthBrooks.com

Screenshot image courtesy image of Governor Mark Gordon’s official Facebook page.

According to Governor Gordon’s official Facebook page he is ordering the U.S. and Wyoming State Flags to be flown half-staff statewide from sunrise to sunset tomorrow, July 21st in honor and memory of First Lieutenant Alva “Ray” Krogman.