Packer Nation parties into the night!

Packer Nation parties into the night

Sept. 9, 2011 |(12) Comments

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11 a.m. Friday
PACKER INSIDER
Tom Silverstein, beat writer
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Green Bay - It was rock 'n' roll and green and gold as a National Football League spectacle touched down in Titletown USA.

The Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers were back on the field for their regular-season opener against the New Orleans Saints Thursday.

On a night when a championship banner was unfurled and Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr carried the team flag, the Packers defeated the Saints, 42-34.

It was a magical night inside the stadium as thousands of fans flipped cards to create images of the American flag. Later, they spelled out Go Pack Go.

Packers fans jammed almost every nook and cranny in and around Lambeau Field, tailgating before noon, lining up for a concert in the afternoon and roaring through the night.

They transformed Armed Forces Drive into a raucous concert venue. The NFL said 50,000 fans turned out to listen as Maroon 5, Kid Rock and Lady Antebellum belted out hits beneath blue, sunny skies.

Even if you didn't have a ticket to the game, you had to be here to celebrate, not just a team, but a town, the smallest home in the NFL.

"It's like Summerfest and the Super Bowl," said Paul Vandenbush of Brookfield.

He was at the concert and the game with his mom, Donna, who has held season tickets since 1957.

"Section 133, Row 49, Seat 5," Donna Vandenbush said, reeling off a seat that is a family heirloom. "I've missed two games since 1957."

"I lived two blocks from the old stadium," she said of the Packers' long-ago home. "We used to sneak under the fence on the north side of the stadium. There was a loose board there that every kid in Green Bay knew."

Those days are long gone.

This opener was a high-tech carnival with quite a soundtrack.

The 2011 NFL Kickoff Concert was set on a stage at the corner of S. Oneida St. and Armed Forces Drive. Fans spilled out in front of the stage and behind it, with Lambeau Field providing the perfect backdrop.

"I'm going to go and say today and from now on, Go Pack Go," said lead singer Adam Levine of Maroon 5. The band played a scorching four-song set punctuated by the smooth "Moves Like Jagger."

With his band packing a wallop of a back beat, Kid Rock's blend of rock, country and rap turned the crowd on during a high-energy, extended set that included hits "Bawitdaba" and "All Summer Long."

"I know this is a family show," Kid Rock said at one point. "I'm doing the best I can."

He played guitar, drums and a baby grand. He poured a little bourbon and lit up a cigar. And he poured himself into the music, mixing "Cowboy" with Waylon Jennings' "Good Ol' Boys," even pulling off Sly and the Family Stone's "Everyday People."

Kid Rock may not suit everyone's taste, but, the man knows how to work a crowd and work a song.

Lady Antebellum's harmonies and radio-ready mix of country and pop provided a perfectly pitched finish to the main concert. The four-song set showed off the group's strengths, the harmonies of the playful Hillary Scott and the soulful Charles Kelley, and the intricate playing of instrumentalist Dave Haywood.

"We Owned the Night" caught the mood of the crowd. Sure, it was a love song. But it had some soul and some bounce.

"When the summer comes around, and the sun starts sinking down, I still remember you," they sang as the sun began to set.

Perfect.

There was joy throughout the day and throughout the town.

The grills were sizzling, fans drinking and everyone was ready for a party.

"The Packers are like family," said Karen Vansistine, who was celebrating her 64th birthday with her twin sister, Sharon Bauknecht. They were sitting on the bench in the shade at Bart Starr Plaza, which was transformed into a football fantasyland for the afternoon.

"We just wanted to be a part of the history," Vansistine said.

Dan Henein and his friend Michelle Grohall were planted near a huge inflatable Wheaties box set up in the Lambeau Field parking lot. Why? Because Aaron Rodgers was on the front and Clay Matthews was on the back.

The friends each snapped photos of themselves in front of a larger-than-life image of Rodgers, the Packers' quarterback.

"It's got Super Bowl written all over it. Why not?" said Henein, who is from Orange County, Calif., and became a Packers fan a few years ago when he decided to ditch the Raiders.

Not all of the thousands who turned out for the concert, pre-game festivities and game actually planned to go inside Lambeau Field.

No tickets? No problem. Paul Stutleen and Jeff LaFleur were about as close as you can get to Lambeau Field, sitting in comfy lawn chairs outside a tricked-out truck painted in Packers colors watching a TV hooked up to a generator.

"Usually I get tickets for free but I didn't this time," said Stutleen, of Green Bay, who hadn't decided whether he would watch the whole game from the 14-inch TV sprouting rabbit ears.

"But the bars are so packed and the beer here is reasonable. Plus I'm close to the bathrooms," he said gesturing to a row of portable toilets.

Cryss Kraning wasn't getting in to Lambeau Field either. But she came to the stadium to listen to the music. She also wore bright green and gold bedroom slippers, a recent birthday gift from her son. In fact, Thursday was the first day she wore them.

"They said to come in comfortable shoes," Kraning said, swaying to the music of Lady Antebellum. "I had to be a part of this."

There were even fans dressed in Saints shirts. Blair Taranto Jr. flew from New Orleans to Green Bay on Wednesday with three buddies.

He had never been to Lambeau Field.

"Ever since I was a little boy, it's one of the top five places I've wanted to visit," said Taranto.

He and his friends met Packer fans at the Stadium View on Wednesday and struck up an unlikely friendship. They ended up tailgating together and planned to continue the party at a local tavern after the game.

"I was expecting the worst," Taranto said. "But Packers fans are the greatest fans."

 

 

 

More photos, videos

Go to jsonline.com/packers for photos and videos from the pre-game parties and concerts right through the game.