George Strait Concert Opens New Dallas Cowboys Stadium

George Strait Concert at Dallas Cowboy Stadium - June 2009
George Strait Concert at Dallas Cowboy Stadium – June 2009

George Strait showed up and in typical fashion just killed it last night at the venue opener for the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington, TX. Joined by country music stars Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton and Lee Ann Womack, King George took the stage around 9:30pm and delivered a fantastic 105-minute performance to a sold-out stadium. I have seen estimates on the number of tickets sold, and it is somewhere in the vicinity of 60,000.

Until George Strait took the stage, the roof of the stadium remained closed. From early reports, the acoustics in the stadium started off echoey but got extremely clean and sharp by the end of the show (yeah, they are fine tuning that place, but it’s definitely awesome). And with the roof closed, the stadium retains pretty much every last drop of sound. When Mr. Strait took the stage, he got the crowd to chant, “Jerry, open that roof!” And as any good story ends, the crowd won. Jerry Jones probably loved seeing a crowd in such good spirit, and with the flick of a switch on a $1.15B stadium, the roof opened up.

George Strait on the World's Biggest HDTV at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX
George Strait on the World’s Biggest HDTV at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX

As reported a couple of weeks ago, one of the coolest things at this stadium is the $40 million Mitsubishi HDTV. Everyone was wondering if this HDTV would be used at the concert. The answer was a resounding YES!. This massive HDTV provided a crystal-clear image of George Strait and all the other performers to everyone in the stadium, even the fans in the nosebleed section. I’m not sure if there is a bad seat in that new Cowboys stadium.

Despite reports of the possibility of massive traffic congestion and other problems that go along with a brand new 3 million square foot venue, the show went off with relatively few problems. I have seen reports of parking being in the range of $30-$60, and there was even reports of an eBay scam for fake parking tickets. Also, t-shirts were on sale for $30. And you had better hit up the ATM machine if you wanted to stay hydrated – bottled water was going for $5.

Jerry Jones Dancing with former Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson
Jerry Jones Dancing with former Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson

Probably the one of the biggest surprises was the appearace of Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones in a suite. Together. Getting along. When the crowd saw them on the big screen, it took a second to figure out who it was. But then a loud cheer rang out. Cowboys fans love themselves some Jimmy Johnson. And from my perspective, it’s good to see these two guys making friends. It’s been long enough. Glad to see it.

Well, I’ll leave you with some more pictures from the George Strait concert at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium (source):

New Dallas Cowboys Stadium - Arlington, TX
New Dallas Cowboys Stadium – Arlington, TX
A View from inside Dallas Cowboys Stadium at George Strait Concert
A View from inside Dallas Cowboys Stadium at George Strait Concert
George Strait performs at Dallas Cowboys Stadium (June 2009)
George Strait performs at Dallas Cowboys Stadium (June 2009)
George Strait with his signature Taylor Acoustic Guitar
George Strait with his signature Taylor Acoustic Guitar

Enjoy!