CHESNEY KEITH TOUR

Chesney &friends really wow the house

Friday, April 02, 2004

By Jack Leaver
The Grand Rapids Press

Kenny Chesney hit the nail on the head when he named his latest road show Guitars, Tiki Bars and A Whole Lotta Love Tour.

The country-music superstar returned to Van Andel Arena Thursday evening for a sold out performance that promised and delivered just that -- and a whole lot more.

It's hard to believe that the 35-year-old Tennessee native could improve upon his spectacular sold out concert here last year, but Chesney has put together his best show yet.

While he packed 11,585 fans into the arena last year, Chesney increased those numbers by 489 Thursday night and set a record back on Feb. 13 for the quickest ticket sellout -- fewer than 10 minutes -- for a Van Andel Arena show.

Promoting his latest album, "When the Sun Goes Down," which already has sold more than 2 million copies -- Chesney demonstrated why he has been nominated for three Academy of Country Music awards this year, including top male vocalist and entertainer of the year.

Plain and simple, the show was a boatload of fun, not to mention a fan's dream. Chesney's 21-song, 90-minute

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show featured the biggest hits from his eight-album career. With orange beach balls flying through the air, Chesney opened the show with the melodic hit "Young," from his wildly successful 2002 album "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems."

From there, the singer pulled out one solid song after another, including such fan favorites as the rockin' "Big Star" and his smash ballad "The Good Stuff."

Throughout the show, Chesney embraced the energy from the enthusiastic fans who, at times, sang along so loudly it was hard to hear the singer. Strutting seductively around the stage, Chesney never stopped moving, the easygoing grin on his boyish face a constant invitation to the crowd to party and have a good time.

At times, the singer seemed genuinely amazed at the intense adoration he was receiving, at one point heaving a sigh and remarking, "Did I tell you I loved ya!"

In recent years, many of Chesney's songs have reflected his love of the Caribbean, and the singer used three large video screens to show images of him cruising on his boat or hanging out with friends in exotic locales.

As far as guitars go, there were plenty of them. Chesney's muscular seven-piece featured three exceptional lead players, and, with Australian guitar slinger Keith Urban as one of the opening acts, it was definitely six-string heaven.

Chesney also delivered a big surprise for the Grand Rapids crowd when he brought out a surprise guest: Kid Rock protege Uncle Kracker (aka Matt Shafer) for his encore. Wearing a Hank Williams Jr. T-shirt, the Detroit rock and hip-hop artist joined Chesney to sing their calypso-flavored hit duet "When The Sun Goes Down," and then, much to the delight of the crowd, Chesney traded verses with Uncle Kracker on Shafer's popular rock hit "Follow Me."

The only downside of Chesney's show was having to endure a cover of Jimmy Buffett's "Cheeseburger in Paradise" as the last number before the encore. This way-too-obvious crowd pleaser came at the expense of Chesney omitting some of his best material, such as the magnificent hit "A lot of Things Different" or the standout ballad "Being Drunk's a Lot Like Loving You," from his latest album.

The biggest improvement over last year's show was Chesney's choice of opening acts in Keith Urban and Dierks Bentley. Both have the potential to be superstars themselves and each received a strong welcome from the crowd.

New Zeeland-born Urban is one of the most solid and exciting acts in country, and he kept the energy high during his 11-song, 55-minute set. Backed by a five-piece band, Urban rocked hard while bringing an earthiness to his music by using traditional country instrumentation such as banjo, mandolin and fiddle.

Fleshing out infectious grooves and drawing largely on 1970s pop influences, Urban is like country's answer to Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, incorporating complex and melodic phrasing into his playing. One of the many highlights of Urban's set was his haunting hit ballad "You'll Think of Me," which might qualify as the best breakup song in recent years.

With the formidable task of opening the show, Bentley had a mere 20 minutes of stage time to make an impression. While his set was much too short, the 28-year-old Arizona native was able to demonstrate why he is the brightest new star in country music.

Hobbling onstage on crutches due to a knee injury sustained last week when he jumped off a platform while onstage with Chesney, Thursday night was Bentley's first show since knee surgery on Monday.

With his knee heavily bandaged, Bentley wore gym shorts and apologized for his noncountry attire. "I really tried to get into a pair of jeans," he said, "but, I guess this is the one tour where you can get away with just wearing shorts."

Chesney charms 'em to their feet
Jim Meyer, Special to the Star Tribune
April 5, 2004CHESNEY0405

Twelve-year veteran Kenny Chesney has sneaked up on the mainstream over the past two years to become one of pop music's biggest stars -- and one of its biggest surprises. On Saturday night at the Xcel Energy Center, his appeal was no mystery.

Headlining a triple bill of country-pop hunks including Keith Urban and Dierks Bentley, Chesney swept a predominantly female crowd to its feet with light rockers and sentimental ballads, an occasional calypso groove and lots of classic rock covers to expand the fan base. That may not seem like a powder keg of potential or originality, but Chesney, 36, makes it work.

Critics may knock Chesney for his lack of spark, but he also lacks a big ego and doesn't try to be larger than life. Instead, he's a rare mix of beach bum and gentleman, focusing on good times and good songs with story lines you can believe. It all adds up to an unusual concert vibe that's rowdy yet relaxing, middle-American yet slightly exotic -- and filled with flashbulbs popping.

Before the concert, Chesney showed a video of seaside scenes accompanied by Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry." That intro sent the message that this sensitive ladies' man wanted to take them away to a carefree paradise. Despite taking the stage to the sound of prerecorded AC/DC, Chesney's fourth number, the breezy "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems," was a more typical anthem for the evening. But most impressive was how Chesney switched from the beach to a serious ballad with "There Goes My Life," his massive hit about how fatherhood changes a boy into a man. The well-crafted song brought the party to a brief stop, and brought the crowd to full attention.

With Chesney, it's more about variety than veracity. He blends styles without a strain, which keeps the show moving, but also makes it a little dull in spots. Over a decade into his career, Chesney has a full set of quality songs in all styles, but many are indistinct, and his voice doesn't always carry above the backing of his eight-man band. If Chesney's not always impressive, he's rarely off-putting. Sometimes, that's good enough, and the time seems to be now for Kenny Chesney.

First opener Bentley did a surprise four-song set. The newcomer from Phoenix relies on funny lyrics ("What Was I Thinkin'?"), but they were hard to hear in concert. Urban, a New Zealander, was the man in the middle, literally and figuratively. Known for flashy guitar work and upbeat rockers, he seemed content -- or confined -- to play many long, slow ballads, which nonetheless drew great response.

Jim Meyer is a freelance writer from Minneapolis.

Posted on Mon, May. 03, 2004
A little bit country, a little bit rock-and-roll

By Dan DeLuca

Inquirer Music Critic

Kenny Chesney took the stage at the sold-out Spectrum on Saturday to the dulcet strains of AC/DC doing "You Shook Me All Night Long." During his 90-minute set, he covered Steve Miller's "The Joker," Jimmy Buffett's "Cheeseburger in Paradise," and John Mellencamp's "Jack and Diane."

So how could you tell it was a country show? Well, for one thing, the 36-year-old Chesney wore a black cowboy hat throughout - except for the time he doffed it so excitable female fans could rub his bald head. His band did sometimes employ steel guitar and fiddle on middle-of-the-road ballads and such novelty goofs as "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy."

Despite the hard-partying theme of the "Guitars, Tiki Bars and a Whole Lotta Love" tour, songs such as the sentimental "There Goes My Life" and the buoyant "How Forever Feels" came out in favor of marriage and maturity, in the manner of modern suburban country. (The former was one of many hits performed as segments from their videos were shown behind the eight-piece band.) And the show ended with Chesney and openers Keith Urban and Dierks Bentley keeping to the long-standing country tradition of autograph-signing, even as Chesney's leather-pants-clad guitarist wailed away on Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child o' Mine."

Chesney is an undistinguished singer, and he looked like a dang fool playing awkward air guitar underneath banners advertising rum, a lei around his neck as he showed off his biceps in a sleeveless T-shirt bearing the famed '70s image of Farrah Fawcett-Majors. The sound mix, amped up to 11, also was a mess.

But the performer, whose current When the Sun Goes Down went straight to the top of the pop chart, has hit on a savvy commercial formula by blending Buffett's toes-in-the-sand attitude with homilies to small-town middle-American life. He connects with his fans as a decent guy who, if he had his druthers, would be snorkeling in the Caribbean. And unlike many other male country stars of the post-9/11 era, he doesn't indulge in belligerent flag-waving. He wants to make margaritas, not war.

Urban, the Playgirl-posing heartthrob whom Chesney called "the Australian stud," played a 50-minute set that was nearly as well-received as the headliner's. On the bombastic "Raining on Sunday," the lank-haired singer-guitarist could have been mistaken for Bon Jovi himself, but he mixed such overblown arena rock with impressive down-home picking on acoustic numbers such as "Jeans On" and a truncated cover of Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line."

Chesney's country rocks sellout crowd
By LOUIS HAU, Times Staff Writer
Published May 7, 2004

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TAMPA - The venue was the St. Pete Times Forum. But you might as well have called it the House That Garth Built.
Garth Brooks, the Oklahoma-born Moses figure who led country music into the promised land of the commercial mainstream, hasn't released an album in nearly three years. But his presence was still keenly felt Thursday night in Tampa as the chart-topping trio of Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban and headliner Kenny Chesney strutted their stuff for a sellout crowd of 15,915.
This is definitely not music for your grandma's back porch or some dusty honky-tonk. It's music as large-scale spectacle, meant to be played alongside giant video screens under expensive lighting for the kind of huge, screaming crowds that used to be the exclusive domain of the biggest rock acts. Brooks, of course, blew away such distinctions when he finally made Nashville safe for the suburbs.

Whether the result is still country - let alone any good - is up for debate. For the country music fan who hates most of the insipid twaddle they play on country radio, the answer would probably be a firm no. But it's a sign of how far the genre has developed as a commercial force that heartland rocker Urban and Jimmy Buffett-wannabe Chesney still choose to identify themselves as country artists.

Urban makes for a particularly interesting case. For starters, the guy's Australian. Yet when he sings he affects a Southern twang that's so convincing, you almost feel the Immigration and Naturalization Service ought to issue him an honorary green card.

But his overall sound is mostly middle-of-the-road '70s rock, so it came as a disorienting shock when he sang a couple verses of Johnny Cash's I Walk the Line before segueing into his own But for the Grace of God. And when he picked up an acoustic guitar and took a seat between his dobro player and bassist, the number they played wasn't an old country chestnut but a cover of David Dundas' 1976 pop hit Jeans On.

Then there's Chesney, this decade's most obvious successor to Brooks, with his latest album, When the Sun Goes Down, having debuted in February at No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart. In a refreshing break from those old platitudes about longing for the hills of Tennessee, Chesney's idea of heaven is sunning yourself on a beach in Jamaica, as a pre-performance video showed him doing with Bob Marley's No Woman, No Cry providing the soundtrack.

Chesney's choice of covers was also revealing. Not a country song in the bunch - Steve Miller's The Joker, John Mellencamp's Jack and Diane and, of course, Buffett's Cheeseburger in Paradise.

The pop flavor of both Urban and Chesney's sets were so pronounced that the occasional pedal steel and fiddle that burbled up through the mix seemed like the audio equivalent of a giant flashing sign declaring, "Attention, we are playing country music."

Perhaps someday they'll drop the pretense. But in the meantime, with Chesney still atop of the country-album chart and Urban right behind him, they sure don't seem to have much reason to change.

And that right there shows you how much mainstream country music has changed, for better or for worse.