Battling Weather, Bugs And Drunks

Tis the season ... last night Luke Bryan got four songs into his set when the skies opened and the show was cancelled ... happened in the Memphis bedroom community of Southaven at their growing Amphitheatre. Sometimes rain is not a good thing...

With Memorial weekend, here it is, Summer, and touring is well underway ... Overcoming the weather in the outdoor concert season is on everyone's mind ... from rainouts to the iffy weather that scares promoters and public safety workers. More drunks than ever at some concert venues ... They run up onstage, grabbing Luke's butt. Then there's the dreaded bug flying into your mouth while singing story ... that' s coming soon!

All kinds of goofy things from the stage ... weather generated ... stage collapses in Indy and at Camrose, Alberta, the weather watching is more than a pastime. It can be a life or death decision as many Country concert people saw first-hand. Calling a concert has expensive ramifications ...

17 inches of rain overnight in Brenham, TX; a tropical storm headed towards the Carolinas, Hot and muggy and stormy at times this week in Nashville ... The weather gets first attention this time of the year.

The CMA Music Festival is almost here ... the week of June 6th-12th is filled with events for Country fans. Blake Shelton may get the greatest amount of attention if you had to handicap the race going in. Blake will have a #1 song on the radio ... a new exhibit saluting his career at the Country Music Hall of Fame and he will appear at a charity concert at the Ryman ... and will be at the CMA's stadium show Saturday night. Blake may or may not have Gwen around, so lots of action with him this year ... Every year one act dominates the media. Someone new usually breaks out of the pack ... hopefully the weather will cooperate ... this, at times, is a tough event in terms of weather ... Hot and muggy ... usually one night gets rain...

Won't be long before we hear a story about an onstage singer swallowing a bug. It's happened to several ... Dierks Bentley released his new album 5/27 with appearances on The Today show ... got lots of time! ... lots of NY-based media ... then to Louisiana for one of the two huge Country holiday festivals .... The Country 50 is new and the Daytona Speedway is ready ... 45 acts with Willie, Luke, FGL, Aldean and Kid Rock ... Inside the infield of this huge place. It's an experiment that everyone hopes works ... The other NASCAR track that was going to try this was Talladega. The promoters pulled the plug due the rumored lack of sales...

The Bayou Country Festival in Baton Rouge is in its 7th season ... Tiger Stadium is ready and some tickets remain at $50 on the low-end general admission. Luke, Eric, Jason and Dierks are the headliners.

A number crunchers will work the holiday weekend trying to make a deal for Nashville. The ABC show was cancelled and still is ... Can someone like CMT revive the show? It would be expensive and the devoted but small fan base will find CMT to be a huge hero if they can save the show ... Stay tuned.