Post by 1kennychesney on Apr 13, 2007 17:13:48 GMT -5
Kenny Chesney Opens Flip-Flop Summer with Omaha Sell-Out
Intensity Levels, Special Guests Hit Feverpitch
Omaha: It was blazing as Kenny Chesney took the stage on the opening night of his Flip-Flop Summer 2007 Tour at the Qwest Center.As he reminded the 17,000+ fans in attendence throughout the night, “It’s been 7 months since we’ve done this…,” but Kenny Chesney looked like he’d just finished headlining an NFL Stadium the night before. “And boy, are we ready to be here.”
“It’s a funny thing,” Chesney said huskily backatge after the show. “As tired as we are when we finish up a tour, we start itching to get back out here almost immediately. “You know, there’s nothing like that energy coming off the crowd – and the folks in Omaha… they are always just soooooo ready. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to kick off this tour.”
With a new video rig that added deph and intensity, a relentless set that started with a 3 week #1 and didn’t slow down to even a mid-tempo for 35 minutes, Chesney was all about leaving the fans breathless with his this year’s decided high-energy show. With three tiers, the standing room only Sand Bar tucked inside the T extension of his stage and the cleanest sight-lines, Flip Flop Summer is 90-some minutes of sheer physicality – as the reigning and back-to-back Academy of Country Music and two-time and current Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year was up and down, back and forth and all over the riser’s of the stage.
“They come to rock, and that’s why we’re here,” says the man who sold 1.3 million tickets last year. “I hope we can start here – which was pretty crazy – and keep building. After all, we’ve rehearsed in Nashville… we’ve set it up in (Lexington’s) Rupp Arena, but even like that, there’s nothing like doing it in front of the fans to know where you can push a little harder., because they will show you where you can give a little more.”
Pat Green set the pace with an exuberant 25 minutes and Sugarland built on the momentum with their mix of unbridled joy and shimmering musicality, Chesney shared his stage with a 4-year old girl who’d rbought a sign asking if he’d give her her first kiss during “Young” and later legendary rocker Joe Walsh – introduced simply as “on guitar… from San Diego, California…” – who not only joined in on several of Chesneys’ songs, but treated the audience to low-flying, ground-rumbling versions of “Rocky Mountain Way” and “All Night Long.”
“Joe Walsh is, simply, rock royalty,” Chesney raved. “To stand there and sing on his mic during ‘Rocky Mountain Way,’ there are no words for that. But what’s even more amazing is that even if some of my audience doesn’t know Joe Walsh, they know his music as part of their DNA. Seeing the fans experience that was cool.”
Before the show, the staff of the Qwest Center presented Chesney with a plaque to commemorate over 70,000 tickets sold in 24 months. With five shows played in the market over the past three tours, it demonstrates the singer/songwriter from Luttrell, TN’s connection to the Heartland and middle Amrica.
“People asked us ‘Why kick if off in Omaha?’,” Chesney volunteered. “Well, not just why not? But look at the fans… look at the way they respond. It was cold when we got here to begin rehearsals… Snowy, frozen. – and those people were ready to get that taste of summer. You know, we wee talking in catering the night before – and me and the guys all said, ‘It’s official. It’s summer – even in the 20 degree chill – because once we drop that scrim for the first time and the tour’s rolling, that’s what our summer is all about! If we can do that for the fans, too… Well, then mission accomplished.”
(Compliments to kennychesney.com)
Intensity Levels, Special Guests Hit Feverpitch
Omaha: It was blazing as Kenny Chesney took the stage on the opening night of his Flip-Flop Summer 2007 Tour at the Qwest Center.As he reminded the 17,000+ fans in attendence throughout the night, “It’s been 7 months since we’ve done this…,” but Kenny Chesney looked like he’d just finished headlining an NFL Stadium the night before. “And boy, are we ready to be here.”
“It’s a funny thing,” Chesney said huskily backatge after the show. “As tired as we are when we finish up a tour, we start itching to get back out here almost immediately. “You know, there’s nothing like that energy coming off the crowd – and the folks in Omaha… they are always just soooooo ready. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to kick off this tour.”
With a new video rig that added deph and intensity, a relentless set that started with a 3 week #1 and didn’t slow down to even a mid-tempo for 35 minutes, Chesney was all about leaving the fans breathless with his this year’s decided high-energy show. With three tiers, the standing room only Sand Bar tucked inside the T extension of his stage and the cleanest sight-lines, Flip Flop Summer is 90-some minutes of sheer physicality – as the reigning and back-to-back Academy of Country Music and two-time and current Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year was up and down, back and forth and all over the riser’s of the stage.
“They come to rock, and that’s why we’re here,” says the man who sold 1.3 million tickets last year. “I hope we can start here – which was pretty crazy – and keep building. After all, we’ve rehearsed in Nashville… we’ve set it up in (Lexington’s) Rupp Arena, but even like that, there’s nothing like doing it in front of the fans to know where you can push a little harder., because they will show you where you can give a little more.”
Pat Green set the pace with an exuberant 25 minutes and Sugarland built on the momentum with their mix of unbridled joy and shimmering musicality, Chesney shared his stage with a 4-year old girl who’d rbought a sign asking if he’d give her her first kiss during “Young” and later legendary rocker Joe Walsh – introduced simply as “on guitar… from San Diego, California…” – who not only joined in on several of Chesneys’ songs, but treated the audience to low-flying, ground-rumbling versions of “Rocky Mountain Way” and “All Night Long.”
“Joe Walsh is, simply, rock royalty,” Chesney raved. “To stand there and sing on his mic during ‘Rocky Mountain Way,’ there are no words for that. But what’s even more amazing is that even if some of my audience doesn’t know Joe Walsh, they know his music as part of their DNA. Seeing the fans experience that was cool.”
Before the show, the staff of the Qwest Center presented Chesney with a plaque to commemorate over 70,000 tickets sold in 24 months. With five shows played in the market over the past three tours, it demonstrates the singer/songwriter from Luttrell, TN’s connection to the Heartland and middle Amrica.
“People asked us ‘Why kick if off in Omaha?’,” Chesney volunteered. “Well, not just why not? But look at the fans… look at the way they respond. It was cold when we got here to begin rehearsals… Snowy, frozen. – and those people were ready to get that taste of summer. You know, we wee talking in catering the night before – and me and the guys all said, ‘It’s official. It’s summer – even in the 20 degree chill – because once we drop that scrim for the first time and the tour’s rolling, that’s what our summer is all about! If we can do that for the fans, too… Well, then mission accomplished.”
(Compliments to kennychesney.com)
lol, If ya'll watch, I'm wearin a green coat, and a cowboy hat.
I am going to watch it again and see if I can see ya 