Nostalgia Alert: Legendary Events at Billings’ Shrine Auditorium

Have you seen those commercials on TV where they show people becoming just like their parents? Well, that is exactly what I'm doing. I feel compelled to tell my daughter which businesses used to be where a new one is now. That is quickly followed up with a story about the time that I was in there with some person that she has never heard of. She's always quite impressed.

So, yesterday as I was dropping her off at the Shrine for a volleyball camp, I was telling her about all of the things I had experienced in that building.

I saw a Willie Nelson concert there in 2005. Still have my ticket stub. More accurately, I HEARD a Willie Nelson concert from the beer garden outside. It was close to a hundred degrees that day and the gym was hotter.

I also saw Keith Urban there. It was right as he was starting to get famous. He put on an amazing show. Trick Pony opened the show. This was right before their band broke up and the lead singer, Heidi Newfield, went solo. I didn't attend but Bob Dylan played there in 2000.

My daughter found it funny that Paul and I hosted a cooking show there. For a few years, we packed the place for our "Taste Of Home" cooking shows.

The Cat Country All-Stars played there. I attended brew fests and gun shows in that building. I've also danced in there. I even went to a wedding there that had an awesome reception downstairs.

But the thing that finally impressed her was when I told her that I got to ride an elephant there one year when the circus was in town. She doesn't know anybody else with elephant riding experience.