Concerts I wish I had attended: Chris Ledoux

In August of 1998, Chris LeDoux performed at the local county fair. That is the first concert I regret missing.

The year before, my cousin and I had attended one of his concerts in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and had loved every second of it. The only regret from that concert was not catching one of the roses he threw out into the crowd.

In Cheyenne, my cousin and I had been within thirty feet of the stage. It was awesome, and I wanted the same experience again. Except, now I was married, and this time it would be with my husband.

... I would be able to dance with him, the love of my life, instead of some drunk, who happened to be standing near by ...

I asked my love to take me, and he agreed, but said we would have to sit in the bleachers due to his broken foot. I did not think sitting on cold bleachers would be worth the ticket price, so we stayed home.

Three or four years later, Chris was back. Again, for some dumb reason (probably money), we passed up the opportunity to see him perform a bit of magic. We reasoned that he came through the area often enough we would be able to catch a concert the next time around. We promised ourselves that we would go, and I began setting money aside for an all-out date, complete with overnight baby-sitting.

However, there would be no next time. Chris LeDoux passed away in March of 2005, from a rare form of cancer. He was 56 years old. Husband to one woman, father of five. 1976 world champion professional bareback bronc rider.

I will probably always kick myself, for not going when I had the chance.

While in college, I had the opportunity to set up for a Newsboys concert, in exchange for free admission to the concert. After spending the day hauling stage pieces and equipment, I decided not to attend the concert, but spend a quiet evening backstage watching a little girl, who belonged to a member of Plank Eye, one of the cover bands.

While I was enjoying the child's company, the truck driver of the stage crew found me, and we began talking. She told me of the different bands the stage crew had worked with, and the different attitudes musicians had about themselves and their importance. There were not many of them that had impressed her. In fact, only two did she speak of with pleasure: Metallica and Chris Ledoux.

Metallica had given her, and all the stage crew members, nice leather jackets. She had found them very respectful.

Chris Ledoux had involved them in several pranks to be pulled during different concerts. Most were pretty innocent, but one had gotten the stage crew in trouble with their boss.

Chris had requested use of the confetti shooters, and filled them with horse apples from the corral. These, he shot out over the crowd during the concert.

She couldn't stop laughing at the memory.

Even my children see the folly in passing up a Chris LeDoux concert. They often chide their father for not taking me when he had the chance. They love his songs. Chris' memory lives on.

The boys want to hear of cowboys, rodeos and pranks. They enjoy the songs of true love, and dream of having a wives that will help them to achieve their dreams. I may have introduced the children to Chris' music, but they fell in love with it on their own.  Blue Eyes and Freckles is their favorite song by Chris.