I never attended the very first game at Target Field, so when I found out that Tim & Kenny were playing the very first concert I knew I had to be part of it.

I got to Gate 14 (Kent Hrbek’s #) 3 hours before the gates opened. I was the only one at that gate for a long time. I thought it would be a straight shot right down to the field, but I had to walk around to another spot to get down to the ground. I walked as fast as I possibly could without running. When I got to my spot I was 3 people away (the 4th) from the outer t of the left sand bar stage. I didn’t leave my spot for anything. I sweated so much I never needed to make a bathroom run and go in & out of sand bar for anything.

Someone dropped a beer before Jake was even on and it spilled onto my legs. I’m grateful I only got a couple of little cold beer splashes – no puke or pee. There were port-a-potties on the field so I think they all went there to do those. I had my 1 allowed bottle of water and it turns out you weren’t allowed to bring food, UGH! I had to throw it all away before I went in. I was unable to get food or drink at all during the show cuz people didn’t like to move much in sand bar. Once the show was ending I dashed up to an open concession stand and paid $5.25 for a bottle of Gatorade just to chug it down. The lack of food and inability to replace what I lost to sweating made me feel almost ill by the end of Tim’s set but I held out ’til the end of Kenny + Tim and mom still had a granola bar left so I ate it. We stopped at McDonald’s so I could get food & more to drink.

I was in the sand bar from when the gate opened through the whole show, like heck I was gonna let anyone get in front of me! People tried during Tim & Kenny but we expanded our elbows out as much as we could, there was just NO ROOM for them to step up. If you want a close spot in the sand bar, don’t be drinking beer all day and get there immediately when the gates open and STAY PUT. I was able to stay close to my Kenny friend Kristi I met at the Fargo concert the whole night cuz we were there first right after the VIPs. There were no open spots in the left sand bar at the stage so I got as close as I could. The VIP ruins the experience for those who can’t afford to spend $1,000 to be in the sand bar a little early. Next time I do sand bar it will be at a smaller show (with air conditioning) and I will be there when the gates open and be stage side.

I saw Mom before she saw me, I took my hat off & waved it so then she was able to see where I was. I gave her money to get me some merch but the tables were swamped, guess I’ll just have to enjoy my Kenny stuff I ordered and relive it through the photos I took. I wasn’t able to get a full field shot in my rush down to sand bar so Mom took one. I’m giving her credit so I can borrow it into my own photos.

Overall, it was a great and historical night being part of the first ever concert at Target Field! The ground was covered with a combination of plastic/metal stuff. There wasn’t much delay between acts. Jake mentioned being the first to play a note at the first show, they were all on fire with energy to burn to make the first show of the venue a memorable one. I remember watching Kenny jump up in the air a couple of times! There was a guy in the sand bar section in front of me wearing a McGraw jersey so Tim pulled him up onstage & hugged him.

When Kenny went off the stage I thought Grace would come out with him for You & Tequila, but nope. They went right to “Feel like a rock star” and Tim joined him onstage at the end of the song (I hear he walked through the crowd). Then they went into Tractor, Indian Outlaw (Kenny sang buffalo briefs – I had to take a super short video clip of just that. It’s been my favorite line of that song for 20 yrs.) We still remember seeing them as fledgling new stars 20 years ago and it was fun seeing them onstage together again.

I realized I forgot to take my battery powered little fan but there was a decent breeze blowing that kept it somewhat comfortable in the 87 degree heat. Tim and Kenny were sweating just a couple songs into their set. I sang along to so many of their songs that I had to buy a Gatorade at a still open vending spot after the show and chug it & take ibuprofen to be able to walk. I was able to wiggle a little in sand bar so that saved my ability to walk up 1 level of stairs at the end. I left as they started doing autographs, I just wasn’t close enough – no pics of the guitar recipient. My phone was dying but Mom and I were able to text a little (too hard to hear on voice calls). I made my way out of Target Field just before 11 pm (noise ordinance) and noticed a helicopter overhead spotlighting, so I was like “They got me!” haha! Once I found my way around to the stairs to where we parked & met mom we were out of there in less than 30 minutes, and only paid $5 to park. We thought it would be more than that. We drove all the way to Mom’s and got in around 2 am, I could hardly walk at all.

When I woke up this (Monday) morning I could hardly get off the couch. I was crawling like a baby cuz it’s all that worked for me before I was able to take more ibuprofen, then I was able to shuffle walk a little, then it got better where I could walk almost normally. I’m exhausted so I’m gonna get myself cleaned up & call the bus so I can go to Pizza Hut for supper this evening, I like to sit and be waited on after a crazy day.