Supernatural and Radio Company Take Nashville 2022!

Supernatural and Radio Company Take Nashville 2022!

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Welcome to Part 2 of our Nashcon coverage with lots of pretty pretty pictures courtesy of Prior Studios. I was so happy to have Kim, my partner in crime, back with me at a con. And we all benefit from the photos she was able to take. I had to have a cold drink beside me to post this article, and it’s winter on the East Coast of the US…

So here we go with Part 2, starting with Sunday, J2 day! The boys looked fine fine fine at the morning gold panel in gray (Jared) and ivory over plaid (Jensen) and those long long legs.

They wasted no time in getting to the banter that we all enjoy so much.

Jared said that he had been excited to wear a scarf yesterday.

Jensen: You live in a bad place to have a scarf fetish…

They love to reminisce about their time on Supernatural and I am unspeakably grateful that they want to keep talking about it as much as I want to keep hearing about it.

Jensen: We were full on kleptomaniacs on Supernatural.

Jared: We got little gift packages from Props…

I don’t think we STILL know everything that they ended up with when the show wrapped – and good for them! Look how joyously unrepentant they are.

Jared: I stole…uh, that is, two things went missing from Bobby’s house. I have the Samulet, and an army man from the car.

Jensen: Jared and I snuck in and went full Sam and Dean…

I love it. Can you just imagine the two of them being all sneaking, channeling their inner Sam and Dean? Good for you, boys! I am so glad that Jared has the Samulet, that warms my heart.

They also were remembering the early episode Wendigo, when the actor who was playing Roy was all gung ho to be set on fire and then was suddenly screaming “Put me out!”

Jared and Jensen at the time: What have we gotten ourselves into?

Fifteen years later… lol

Amusingly, a fan asked them to help name her expected child.

Jared and Jensen: Dean…Dean…Beau…Beauregard… lol

(Why do so many of their characters have the same names tho?)

Somehow this also involved Jensen confessing that “I spit all over when I do it” and Jared saying yep, that just happened and not really minding at all.

Jensen to Jared (fondly): You’re an idiot…

Jensen took the time to affectionately rib Jared about a habit he always had on Supernatural when he was in Jensen’s trailer.

Jensen: You were reactivating your gum…on my table???

They never fail to find ways to act out moments from filming Supernatural when they’re onstage – this one was a stunt with Jared playing the part of guest star James Marsters.

Director Jensen (aka Action Ackles) engage!

We also got a little scoop – Jensen was headed to LA to shoot a video game.

Jared (mischievously): So that means he’ll be in a green skin tight suit… I’ll tweet his location… lol

We are unfortunately still waiting…

They were adorably stumped by the question of what dead people would they want to chat with.

It was an awesome gold panel – but honestly it always is. These two never ever disappoint!

In between the gold panel and their afternoon panel, we were treated to a Ruth Connell panel.  I adore Ruth – her chapter that she wrote for Family Don’t End With Blood is one of my very favorites. I could listen to her talk all day, and in fact when you read her chapter, you can hear it in her lovely accent!

Ruth told some great stories.

Ruth: One time I ended up onstage with Gil McKinney and someone else I’d never met on the show, in some kind of bondage scene…. You had to be there…

I was there in fact, and it was pretty funny and I have no clue how it happened but all of them just sorta went with it anyway. Cons, man.

She also told the hilarious story of when she and Rob tried to get out of the line to get into Versailles so they could get back to do a convention they were booked at (which you’re not allowed to do) by pretending to be sick – Ruth was so good at it that she even fooled Rob!

Rob: I totally bought it! She’s a great actor.

She is, and the two of them are adorable.

Ruth too reminisced about the good times on the set of Supernatural, and how much the lead actors made it such a great place to work.

Ruth: When everyone on set is tired and crabby and they bring pizza but you’re still filming, and Jared stops production to get you pizza because he’s empathic…

Awww Jared, so sweet. I love how much this cast still loves each other.

We also got a Samantha Smith panel.

Sam: Who here just binged the entire 15 seasons in four months or less?

Answer: A LOT of fans in the audience! Props to you all, that’s a lot of TV in four months!

A fan asked what advice she’d have for Meg Donnelly, currently playing Mary Winchester on The Winchesters prequel.

Sam: Well, she doesn’t need advice on playing Mary, but  – don’t question it, embrace it. It’s real.

Favorite episode?

Sam: ‘The Raid’, because Mary was the boss. She was thrown when she came back from being dead, but she found her footing in that episode.

The J2 main panel kicked off with their traditional leap and fist bump, Jensen now sans the ivory jacket.

After some stretching, of course.

I actually caught the jump on my phone, which never ever happens. Probably Kim sitting next to me taking actual good photos made my phone get temporarily competitive, which will probably never happen again…

The boys confirmed that for the holidays, Jared and his family are headed to Australia and Jensen and his family are headed to LA. (We’ve now seen some photos and it looks like the Padaleckis had a blast)

This panel was just as much fun and also just as emotional as the gold panel.

Jared: Love you, Jensen.

Jensen: Love you.

Me: (melting in my seat)

Perhaps the highlight of the panel for me was when they asked this question:

Jared and Jensen: Would anyone be interested in us playing Sam and Dean again?

Crowd: ROARS

Jensen: Well, we have news.

Crowd: can hear a pin drop

Jensen: We want that too!

BOYS. Don’t get my hopes up like that! But I love love love that they want it as much as most of us do.

They both joked about getting older (while aging beautifully imho)

Jared: I was always the youngest, now at 40 I’m supposed to be the older and wiser one!

Jared and Jensen are always happy to answer questions about what both the fandom and they call “the barn scene” in the series finale, one of their favorite scenes ever – and one of the most emotional they ever did. Although they said they usually ran dialogue together before an episode, it was impossible for them to practice the dialogue before the day they filmed the barn scene, with all the emotion behind the words. (I think the fact that they ad libbed some of that dialogue ended up making that scene even more powerful).

Like everyone who has ever worked on Supernatural, both Jared and Jensen always have so many positive things to say about the show and its writers, cast and crew.

Jensen: We had a big playground to play in, and the writers trusted us to say what felt natural.

Some of those ad libs were my favorite parts of the entire show. They both laughed as they remembered the time that Jensen ad libbed “Sonofabitch!” and totally broke Jared.

Gag reel gold.

They also, as they often do, got a little naughty – something that I always appreciate in their panels.

Jared: I’m into pun-ography.

He looked at Norton accusingly.

Jared: No rim shot?

Jensen (smirking): We’re going down south…

Lol

There were also plenty of dad jokes, which were just as lame as they should be – and which both Jared and Jensen enjoyed far too much.

Jensen and Jared are both great storytellers, which is another thing that makes their panels so much fun to watch. Jensen told a story of when his inner Dean came out unexpectedly, Jared looking on as transfixed as the rest of us.

They said again that they understand that art, including a television show, is always up for interpretation – both have said repeatedly that’s A-okay with them.

Jensen: We make art, and we don’t tell people how to interpret it.

Jared: And the critics also shouldn’t say no, this is what this means – it means to you what it means to you.

If only fandom could be as A-okay with everyone’s different interpretations!

All too soon it was time for the last question.

This lucky fan was also a very good sport…

Also, her expression is all of us, tbh.

This last question was priceless, and the perfect way to close out cons for 2022,  because not only did Jared and Jensen both hold their mics up for her like they delight in doing, but everyone on the stage did the same – it was a hilarious moment that felt like a perfect illustration of the reciprocal relationship between the cast and the fans of this little show, and put a huge smile on my face.

A final verse of the Last Question song with Rob, and the traditional Jared and Jensen fist bump, and that was it for Nashcon 2022.

https://twitter.com/FangasmSPN/status/1604587990558601216?s=20&t=9kGNaqK2G0qqPAALW_JQHg

Jared and Jensen, as always, took time to thank the fans before they left the stage – which was extra emotional because this was not only the last con of 2022, but also the last of the “Official Supernatural Conventions”. Other than a long-rescheduled San Francisco con, next year will be “Creation Tour featuring Supernatural and other J&J Projects”. Which is awesome but not quite the same, and I can’t help but grieve cons that were devoted only to my all-time favorite show.

My heart…

Sunday night was time for hanging out in our hotel room with good friends on zoom and in person, and the next day I said goodbye to Kim – but it wasn’t the end of my Nashville trip, because Monday was Radio Company’s very first concert at Analog! I had dinner with my friend Karla at a Mexican restaurant (yum) and then we joined the line to get in.

I wasn’t in a hurry since I had a seat in the balcony, but there was some disorganization that delayed things and I ended up getting to my seat just in time for Louden Swain to take the stage!

There isn’t a bad view in the gorgeous and intimate venue, and I was thrilled with my balcony perch, surrounded by lots of SPNFamily friends, including @dgray3994 and @phoenixfire2912, who contributed some of the beautiful photos you see here, since all I had was my phone to film with. My friend Liz, hard at work helping run the stage for the show, also contributed a few here that she snapped in between making sure everything ran smoothly – and it did!

Swain killed it, as we knew they would, and we all sang along. They played a mix of their classics and their new music, and both looked and sounded beautiful – including Mama’s Jam with Rob on the drums!

As you can see, the lights were gorgeous and the room itself was beautiful – what an awesome venue Radio Company picked for its debut concert!

And then, after a short break, it was time for Radio Company to make its live concert debut. To say the energy and anticipation was off the charts is not an exaggeration – we were all practically vibrating with excitement! I know Jensen was nervous, as he always is about doing something a little outside his comfort zone and caring about doing it well, but damn, he and Steve and their amazing band of backup players and singers absolutely killed it!

When they came onstage, Jensen wearing that maroon suit that we saw him in at an awards show years ago (when Danneel was expecting their first child) and his hair still gloriously long, the place erupted in both applause and actual screams. I tweeted at the time, ‘this place is having a breakdown ngl’. It was!

 

There’s really nothing like being in the audience at a live concert when everyone is that into it – it’s infectious, an overload of emotion that sweeps you up in it and makes you euphoric like few things can.

I was also overwhelmed with a surprising sense of pride. I vividly remember the first time I was there to see and hear Jensen sing in front of an audience – a long ago Toronto convention when he came back onstage after the day’s events were over, carrying a guitar, and sat down and sang for us. There were only a small number of people still in the ballroom (someone clued me in to come back or I would have missed it) and we sat on the floor mesmerized while he pushed through nerves and sang and played.  I was there when he did an intimate little ‘concert’ with Steve, and one with Jason Manns, at a con – actually a Nashcon – where they sang and played for a group of about 20 people, for maybe an hour. I happened to be in the green room after that first one, and Jensen asked me nervously if he’d been any good. Not false modesty, genuinely asking. I told him he was amazing, and that he should definitely keep doing it.  The evolution from those early anxious times to that night he came onstage at the SNS in Vegas and turned into a fucking rockstar in front of all of our shocked and overjoyed faces, belting out Sister Christian like he’d been doing it all his life – it was incredible.

And now, this.

I had tears in my eyes for half the show because it felt so good to see how far he’s come, and how much both he and the entire audience was enjoying themselves.

I’ve been a fan of Steve Carlson’s music since 2007 when I discovered him through the Supernatural fandom, so this show was a double treat. He even did my favorite from those early days (because it’s also Jensen’s favorite), the haunting Pinata Novia.

Countless fans were able to witness the whole show on Stage It too, and that video is vastly superior to mine (as are others taken by fans on the floor), but I’ll include a few little video clips here because from the balcony you can really hear the audience go crazy. In a good way.

All My Livin’ Time

Drowning

Liz got an incredible photo, I think during that song.

Photo @paleonut

The master himself, Chris Schmelke, was also there taking photos, which of course are incredible. I’ll include one of those here too that he tweeted.

Photo Chris Schmelke

Jensen took the time to chat between songs, joking that his new memoir was to be titled ‘Waiting on Steve’.

Poor Jensen, after years of it being ‘Waiting on Jared’, it’s now volume 2, same theme.

 

Speaking of Jared, he was on his way to Australia, but still got a mention onstage as Jensen started sweating copiously and needed a towel.

Jensen: I’m turning into Jared!

The hotness was our friend, however, because it prompted Jensen to take off his suit coat, leaving him in a just a black tee and his suit pants and I am absolutely certain that no one was complaining about that!

City Grown Willow turned into a singalong with all of us joining in on the infectious melody of the chorus.

 

Many of us have a soft spot for Jensen singing ‘Angeles’ after the video he made of it, partly filmed by Jared on the Supernatural set, so I wasn’t the only one extra emotional for that song. He sings it so beautifully and Steve’s playing is equally beautiful.

 

Steve told the story of how he had the idea for the music and film ‘Different Town’ and they played that one too, which I also love.

Their band and backup singers were amazing, and Sheree Smith brought the house down when she took the lead for one song.

We also got Jensen replaying a fun night of improv music they’d had, sitting on a box and playing it as percussion. It was….aesthetically pleasing.

Jensen played guitar again for ‘Quarter To’, looking every bit the musician. Every bit.

The singalongs may have been my favorite part – it felt like such a communal joyous experience. I’m so grateful.

 

Sounds of Someday is one of my favorite Radio Company songs, so I’m really glad they did that one live – and it was amazing, such a perfect showcase for Jensen’s smooth as honey voice, and the woman playing strings making it even more beautiful.

Billy Moran joined in on guitar and made the crowd go extra wild – go Billy!

They treated us all to a brand new Radio Company song, “Right Kinda Trouble”, everyone rocking out and when is the new record coming out again???

They finished with a version of ‘That’s All Right” that you could not sit still for (and neither could they). Jensen had to get the ‘last word’ with that big finish!

Steve and Jensen both thanked the band, the back up singers, and the fans, Jensen giving heart hands to everyone and including us up in the balcony.

I left Analog on such a high – pretty sure most of us floated out, clutching our commemorative posters and feeling incredibly lucky to have been there. I had a chance to chat with Steve Carlson a bit, remembering those very early days when I used to see him play in LA in the early days of Supernatural when Jensen and Danneel were often watching and listening right along with us. I told Jensen that he kicked it in the ass (not that I had any doubt that he would) and that I hoped this would be the first of many Radio Company live shows.

Congrats to all the talented musicians who made the show so incredible!

photo @paleonut

Fingers crossed we get many more! For now, this was an amazing way to end 2022 – wishing everyone a very Happy New Year and a happy and healthy 2023.

– Lynn

You can read Jensen and Jared’s perspective on

fandom, Supernatural and how the show and

the fans changed their lives too in their chapters

in Family Don’t End With Blood and There’ll Be

Peace When You Are Done – info and links at:

4 thoughts on “Supernatural and Radio Company Take Nashville 2022!”

  • Aaawe Lynn, our boys have grown up so gorgeously handsome and still to this day ,do not disappoint!
    I will love them always.
    I PRAY they continue with the cons until the day come where I can, one, afford a gold ticket, and two, my health gets better.
    I’ll not only get to meet my real life heros, but you as well!

    Reply

    • My husband and I got up in the middle of the night to watch the concert live on StageIt. It was well worth it! And I agree, it is wonderful to see how much Jensen has grown in confidence as a singer and musician.

      Reply

  • Ooh I did not realize this was the last SPN Con! Just as my heart was breaking I was glad to read on that the guys will still be doing cons through Creation to promote other platforms the guys are working on. So they’re not totally going away!
    The first RadioCoMusic concert was more than I could’ve expected! Here’s to more of them in 2023 🍾 🥂
    Thanks to everyone for the great pics and ti you Lynn for your wonderful articles and videos! Much love to you all and my you have a very Happy and healthful 2023!❤️❤️❤️😘✌️

    Reply

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