NASHVILLE, TENN. -- "You go way back there. I can't even see you all," Alan Jackson said as he addressed the crowd between songs.
The country superstar wasn't pandering to the crowd as he performed a free outdoor concert just a stone's throw from Bridgestone Arena, which by then was mere hours away from hosting the first Stanley Cup Final game in Nashville's history. As the Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins were just arriving at the arena in anticipation of Game 3 Saturday night, downtown Nashville had already been rocking for hours.
That tends to happen when the nearby bars, stacked side-by-side along Broadway just a stone's throw from Bridgestone Arena, open at 9:30 a.