thompson square, darius rucker, and lady a, oh my!

i promised the deets, and here they is! it was a magical night. one on which grimy downtown was transformed by an unrepresentative amount of blonde people in cowboy hats wandering down figueroa street. our own entrance into the staples center was magically serenaded by thompson square performing their hit, are you gonna kiss me or not? which was an exciting welcome, but not as exciting as the ushers waving us further and further down the arena until we were right up against the stage on the floor! by the time our glorious climb down to our wristband-necessitating area was complete, thompson square was waving goodbye ridiculously nearby and my panic at this unprecedented closeness to darius rucker began to set in. i was one of those people you hate standing behind at concerts because they won't stop moving and screaming and throwing their hands up in the air.

darius looked adorable in his john lennon "give peace a chance" t-shirt and silver alligator boots. "i'm just a little boy from south carolina playing at the staples center in los angeles, so i'm gonna have a little fun tonight!" he announced. pish-tosh, i said. you're not a little boy from SC, you're motherf*ckin' hootie!! he played all his hits and then some, including hootie and the blowfish favorites and prince's purple rain, which he dedicated to the lakers. i know i tweet-promised i'd touch him, but he wasn't too big on coming over and reaching down to us too often. he seemed kind of shy in that sense, which is what makes him so lovable. so i forgive him.

i had barely regathered my wits about me when the lights dimmed and lady antebellum images adorned the giant screens above the stage. the sold out crowd went wild as they opened with we own the night. can i just repeat for the millionth time how gorgeous lady antebellum is (are)? all 3 of them are ten times prettier in person than they already are on tv and in print. i couldn't believe it! charles is HOTTER THAN A STEAMY GEORGIA AFTERNOON IN JULY!! is that a thing? i've never been to georgia but i channeled my inner blanche devereaux for that one. i mean, just LOOK at them:

and here are charles and hillary doing their signature why-won't-they-just-kiss-already singing pose yet again:

they even brought ryan from one republic out to sing his disney theme song good life with them, which i thought was going to be the pinnacle of my aural excitement, but then they brought all the openers back out for a complete bluegrass session RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FACE at the end of the catwalk! i tried to touch them all, i tell you! but they kept JUST missing my hand for some crazy fifty-year-old man's in front of me. if anyone was paying attention to me, i'd be pretty embarrassed at this barrage of country rejection, but alas, did i mention who all was up on stage at this moment!?

and so went my participation in the biggest night in country music to come to los angeles.  SO. EXCITING. hope you liked the pics, kiddies! for some more lady a love in the form of swooning over hillary scott's rockstar-chic ensemble, head on over to happy as annie.