House of Blues - Myrtle Beach, SC on November 30, 2001

The last day of November dawned in southwestern VA and it was a rainy, yucky day, but I knew I was headed to not one, but two Marty Parties and nothing could dampen my spirits! The rain finally cleared out but it was still overcast during the whole six- hour drive to Myrtle Beach. We reached the outskirts and saw a temperature reading of 79 degrees!!!! WOW!!

We drove to the House of Blues mid-day to check out the venue and see what time the doors would open etc. Went to the restaurant and spoke with someone there and were told the line would probably begin to form about 6 or 6:30 with the doors opening at 7. We went and found a place to stay for the night, this was a great time to visit the rates were VERY reasonable. Changed clothes and headed back to the House of Blues for dinner and the show.

Visited the gift shop. I wanted a souvenir plus I needed a short sleeved shirt for the following day! I wasn't expecting it to be that warm and obviously was not prepared. We spoke with the clerk and guess who we missed by less than ten minutes????? You got it!! Marty was there and we just missed him! Went over to the restaurant and they offered us some specials that if you ordered them and kept your receipt you could "pass the line" when the doors for the show opened. That meant if you had your dinner receipt even if the line was really long we could go in front of the other people. Couldn't pass that up didn't want to take a chance on not having a good seat!

After dinner we sat on the porch of the building where the show was to be held. Several people lined up behind us and we all just visited together. Margie B. saw Gregg and Steve in the gift shop and went to speak with them for a few. Gregg came over and talked and signed my Mom's get well card for her. Finally the doors opened and we were the first in! I asked one of the staff if we were allowed to stand in front of the stage. He said "yes" so we knew where we wanted to be when Marty came on! We sat at the back of the dance floor with some new friends while the opening act played. Then it was almost that time.

Gail (from SC, can't for the life of me remember her last name) was there as well, and we were all kind of waiting for someone to make a move to the front of the stage and no one did so the three of us took center stage!! And NOBODY else followed us!! We didn't care, we figured Marty would look out and see the three of us and said "Look at these idiots! LOL!!" or "The rest of ya'll get down here". Sure enough he told the rest of them to come on down.

No pictures were allowed which was really too bad cause they would have been great!!! I was right in front of Marty and could read his set list so I knew what was coming up next! I'm sure no one expects me to remember the set list, or at least I hope they don't. I do remember them starting with "Hillbilly Highway", others along the way were "Hey Baby", "The Whiskey Ain't Workin' Anymore", and "Honky Tonk Crowd." He threw some oldies but goodies out at us too, "Okie from Muskogee" and one I LOVE to hear him sing -- "Dark as a Dungeon".

There were a few youngsters in the crowd one little girl was up leaning against the stage and I saw him give her a big ole grin! There was also a seven year old boy there by the name of Daniel, who was a fiddle player. He was invited up on stage and was he ever decked out and ready to play! Had the white shirt, cowboy boots and sunglasses all!! Marty grabbed his flat top guitar and asked him what he wanted to play he said "Stinkin' Blues", I believe, and Marty said "go to it"! He did a fine job and was quite the entertainer! Marty said he was Myrtle Beach's answer to Billy Gilman!! After he played the one song he just kept standing there so Marty asked him if he wanted to play another one, he said yep! Said he was gonna do something Charlie Daniels couldn't do! He broke into "Old Joe Clark" and as he played he would bend over frontwards without missing a note! His glasses kept falling and Marty kept trying to help him put them back on, it was cute!

All too soon though, "Hillbilly Rock" was played and after a couple of songs in an encore it was over! There was no announcement that there would be a meet 'n greet, but the few fan club members that were there stuck around. Some people had backstage passes and we kept asking the staff if he was gonna meet with the fan club. After some run around and some not nice people, we were asked to go outside and wait by the bus. It was a beautiful night and warm so it was nice to wait out there. Met Steve for the first time and had him sign the card, Brad was on the bus and appeared shortly. Talked to him some and got him to sign the card. Gregg was in and out so we got to visit with all the guys. Seemed like we waited quite a while for them to come out but we didn't leave. Finally they appeared with Marty in the lead, he handed off some of the stuff he was carrying and came over to the fans. Did the usual hugs and howdys all around, he gladly signed the card for Mom and told me something to the affect that I was a good daughter! Stayed around and took some pictures for other people who had come to visit, then it was time for them to hit the road to Winston-Salem and us to hit the hotel.

Another GREAT show and of course, great visits with everyone! Couldn't wait for Saturday to arrive to go see that hockey game and another concert!

Review by Serena Wimmer, Copper Hill, VA