The Yellow Door Life

The first time I heard Morgan Wallen was only because he released a song with Florida Georgia Line. And I listened to anything they put out. 

I liked his sound though and began to follow his developing career and fell in love with the music of this heartbroken kid from Tennessee. 

Just like all the things that have become a part of my life over the years, I didn’t know the impact Morgan’s music would have on me. 

Fast forward to March 2nd, 2023 and that now superstar kid from Tennessee announces he’s putting on a free concert at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville the next day in honor of his One Thing at a Time album release. 

Well gee. 

Now, I saw this announcement that morning after having just been at the Carrie Underwood concert the night before. And me being insane decided to go for it. All I had to do was drive to Nashville, get to Bridgestone, and wait in line for free tickets. The tickets went on sale at 10 and it was 8:30. I figured I had this in the bag.

(This is one of the stories where Emily’s judgment is totally impaired by sleep deprivation and general exhaustion). 

I grabbed a to-go breakfast and hopped in the car. 

Destination: Bridgestone Arena. 

Again. 

I should have known when I was driving down Demonbreun and saw people waving tickets in their hands that a whole lot of people had seen the announcement, many of which lived in Nashville, and got in line as soon as they could. 

I was still waiting in line to park.

I made my way into Music City Center and spent a solid 15 minutes frantically trying to find a spot, pulling into a compact car space (and determining once and for all my SUV is not in fact compact), and finally landing in a space that I would not regret parking in later. 

I got out of the car and watched as people literally sprinted from the parking garage.

Another thought I didn’t have.

I’m not exactly someone who can jog very well, let alone sprint, so I accepted my limitations and made my way as quickly as possible to the arena. 

I got to the arena a few minutes later and could not for the life of me figure out where the end of the line was, and no one in line knew where the end was. Thousands of people just walking around the building hoping they are in the right place to get tickets. 

I circled around the entire arena trying to find the end of the line before figuring out it was about 20 feet from where I started in the first place. 

I claimed my spot in line, albeit only a bit annoyed, and waited. 

Yoga pants.

Hoodie.

No make-up.

Wild hair. 

I must have looked all sorts of crazy, but I didn’t have time to get fancy, my boy was giving away free tickets, so I stood in that line looking like some kind of Troll doll and owned the heck out of it.

As we moved around the building, I kept hoping all the news crews wouldn’t catch me on camera. 

Look ma I made it on the news for trying to get free Morgan Wallen tickets. (I can still see her eyes rolling now). 

The line moved further on and I began to observe the people who were as nutty as me on this fine Thursday morning. 

People had their babies in strollers, dogs on leashes, and significant others who were either really excited or annoyed to be there. 

Many folks had clearly left the office to be there and were on client calls, typing emails on their laptops, or joking with their coworkers who had also just dipped out of work.

Hey, It’s Morgan. I ain’t judging. 

After an hour of people watching and circling Bridgestone Arena, I started to make friends with the people in front and behind me in line. We joked about whether or not we would actually get tickets. We laughed at all our stories of how we got there and cringed at the people who were getting into fights in line over this. 

We waived at the cars who were filming us while blaring Morgan on their stereos. *Real creative by the way.* I just know I’m on someone’s TikTok somewhere looking like a hot mess.

Two and a half hours passed and I wondered if making this drive was worth it.

Dozens of people passed us waving their tickets around. One guy just straight up said he would sell his pair of tickets for $200 to the first taker. 

Then a man comes walking down the street announcing the tickets are gone and we all need to go home.

I’m sorry, what did you say?

Go home folks, tickets are gone. 

I couldn’t believe it, neither could my line friends. 

We all just kind of looked at each other, shrugged, and then kept walking. I had to get back to my car which involved finishing the current lap around the arena, and as I finally passed the doors where the tickets had once lived, I felt defeated, but I was also glad I tried. 

I watched as hundreds of other folks like me walked away from the arena disappointed and tired. 

I got back to my car, pulled out of my normal sized parking spot, and waited as dozens of other cars did the same. 

Eventually, I got to the booth and paid for my parking. The nice man working asked if I had gotten tickets, and I sighed and said no. He told me he was sorry and to have a good day anyway. 

I left Nashville and drove home. 

Later that night, Morgan announced he was so overwhelmed with how many people showed up to get tickets that he would live stream the free show on his socials. 

Heck, it made the whole ordeal in Nashville almost seem worth it since I would at least get to watch the show. 

I tuned in on Friday night and enjoyed Morgan singing his songs to a dark arena. 

He may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I love his talent, his way with words, and his honesty. And I love how a single artist can bring thousands of people together to share a single moment in the dark. 

That’s the thing about music. It has a way of healing us and bringing us all together. 

I was suddenly reminded that my crazy attempts to see my favorite artists hadn’t gone as planned so far this year, but just like with Jordan Davis I still got something for my effort. Jordan gave me a single song up close and Morgan gave me a whole live streamed concert. 

Now, as much as this Morgan experience has put me off of trying to attend free shows EVER AGAIN, it only made me want to see him live even more. 

Thanks to his vocal rest, yes I believe it was actually VOCAL REST, he rescheduled a show that I wouldn’t have been able to go to otherwise. So come November, I’ll get y’all a blog all about it.

Told y’all I’d be back in Texas soon 😉 #AustinorBust