Post by BeachTenant on Jun 12, 2008 6:41:20 GMT -5
Concert Preview: 10 reasons why Kenny Chesney is the summer's biggest tour
By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Glen Rose ~
Kenny Chesney returns in all his glory to Heinz Field Saturday.There is one stadium concert planned for Pittsburgh this summer and it's not Bruce, the Stones or U2.
It's country superstar Kenny Chesney, returning to Heinz Field Saturday for the third time in four years. Over the past six summers, Chesney has sold a million concert tickets each year, and last year's 2007's Flip Flop Summer Tour was the second biggest tour behind the Police.
Just how did Kenny Chesney get so big? Let's count the ways.
1. He paid his dues.
Unlike, say, Garth Brooks, who was practically an overnight success, Chesney did it the old-fashioned way -- and people kind of like that. Chesney worked his way through the ranks, starting out playing bars nightly for tips. His first album, on the soon-to-be-defunct Capricorn records, sold a mere 10,000 copies in 1994, and he didn't have a No. 1 single till his fourth album, with "She's Got it All."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kenny Chesney
With: Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes, Gary Allan and Luke Bryan.
Where: Heinz Field.
When: 4 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets: $69-96; 412-323-1919.
The Buildup
10 a.m.: Parking lots open.
Noon: Sarah Marince on the FROGGY Floating Stage.
1:30 p.m.: Fabulous Gunsligners Floating Stage.
2 p.m.: Heinz Field gates open.
3 p.m.: Heidi Newfield (Trick Pony) in Coca-Cola Great Hall.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in 1996 and '97, he could be found in these parts rockin' the county fairs. Then, he got a glimpse of his future in 1999, when he turned up on the undercard of the George Strait show at Three Rivers Stadium with the Dixie Chicks and Tim McGraw. Two years later, he and McGraw were road buddies, hitting the Post-Gazette Pavilion, where the late PG country music critic Jerry Sharpe wrote that when he came back for an encore, "the crowd was so wound up that yells and applause drowned out the words to the song."
2. He rode the horse.
Chesney wears the hat, but he never was a cowboy. His dad was a school teacher, his mom a hairdresser and Kenny, after playing wide receiver on the high school football team, came out of East Tennessee State with a degree in marketing.
But on June 3, 2000, in Buffalo, Chesney turned into an outlaw Lone Ranger. Outside of Ralph Wilson Stadium on the Strait tour, Chesney asked a Deputy Sheriff he could sit on his horse. Next thing you know he was riding off into the near distance and into country music history. He and McGraw, who got into a "fracas" with police, were both arrested and fined, but it was a small price to pay for a part of his legend.
"Odd as it sounds, that incident really put his name out there with the country audience," says Frank Bell, vice president of programming for Froggy FM.
3. His tractor's sexy.
Bruce sang about a Pink Cadillac. Prince sang about a Little Red Corvette. Chesney sang about a John Deere.
It only went to No. 11 on the country charts at the time, but 1999's "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" is the signature song of Chesney's career. Songwriters Paul Overstreet and Jim Collins nailed the regular-guy ethic of country music with lines like, "Well, she ain't into cars or pickup trucks/But if it runs like a Deere man her eyes light up," and then Chesney delivered it with his buttery croon.
"It was a really big breakthrough record for him," Bell says. "And he was smart. He hooked up with a producer named Buddy Cannon in Nashville and Buddy... I have so much respect for his ability to find great songs for his artists to perform. And then they had a whole string of hit records."
4. He's out of room for trophies.
Are you an inspiring country artist who dreams of winning the Entertainer of the Year award?
You better wait till Chesney gets out of the way. He's won the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008, tying Garth Brooks' record at four. He's won the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year in 2005, '06, '07 and '08, placing him just behind Brooks and Alabama for those trophies.
Not only does he have the hardware, the critics have his back to some degree.
Asked if he is a quality artist, country music critic and historian Rich Kienzle says, "He can be. I thought the current album, 'Just Who I Am,' included some high-quality songs like 'Wild Ride' and 'Demons.' He's less impressive when he leans on the mediocre hack songs that flow out of Music Row or invokes Jimmy Buffett, who's still alive and well. When he sets his mind on doing first-rate material, however, he can stand with the best."
5. He owns country radio.
Not literally, but give him a few years. In the meantime, here's a number for you: Chesney has had 24 straight top 10 singles, a record for an artist this decade. The latest is "Better as a Memory," which is climbing toward No. 1.
Says Bell, "Most country stations will be playing a Kenny Chesney tune every one to two hours. That's a lot."
Along with the new ones, his catalog is still popular. "We probably play 12 Kenny Chesney songs or something like that."
6. He's a little bit rock 'n' roll.
Like the new breed of country artist -- be it Brooks or Brooks & Dunn -- he grew up listening to rock as much as country, and that's evident by the country-rock and pop element in this songs.
"He's got clear, charismatic youth appeal that makes him Nashville's answer to Barack Obama," Kienzle says. "He's less of a modern traditionalist than [Alan] Jackson, Josh Turner or Brad Paisley, for sure."
In talking about his success on radio recently, Chesney said, "I look at the songs of Springsteen, Mellencamp, the Eagles, Jackson Browne, Van Halen ... what they meant to me. That's what I hope this music means to other people."
Sure enough, there will be Eagles and Mellencamp fans in the house on Saturday.
7. He comes to party.
When he played that show here back in 2001, the crowd went wild when Chesney slipped a little "Margaritaville" into his "How Forever Feels."
Now, Chesney's concerts are the country music answer to Jimmy Buffett's Parrothead drinking parties, only with Cruzan rum banners and straw cowboy hats. It starts as early as 10 a.m. in the parking lots and carries on till the last song, as noted in Feedback letters to the PG complaining about the rowdiness.
In a strange twist for a country artist, Chesney's even adopted the island lifestyle of Buffett, settling in the Virgin Islands, an upgrade over Tennessee.
8. He has a wild card.
Chesney's caravan doesn't rival Ozzfest or Warped for number of acts, but that's not the idea. Chesney handpicks a few top acts to help draw a crowd and then throws in a wild card.
In the maiden voyage in 2005, it was Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson and Pat Green, with a dose of rocker Uncle Kracker. When the tour returned to Heinz Field in 2007, Brooks & Dunn, Sara Evans, Sugarland and Green were along for the ride, then Joe Walsh suddenly appeared to jam out "Rocky Mountain Way." This time around, Urban is back, with LeAnn Rimes, but Pittsburgh, for better or worse, is forced to live without screecher Sammy Hagar, who played some earlier dates.
9. He delivers live.
Chesney isn't just the figurehead at the top of the bill -- like, let's face it, Ozzy sometimes is -- or a laid-back host a la Buffett. He leaves no doubt that he's the star, and his fans respond with full participation, including lyric-shouting.
"I'd put him on a par with the Stones, U2, Springsteen and all the stadium shows I've seen," Bell says. "He puts everything he has into his act on stage. The man works like crazy."
10. He's free of scandal
OK, there was the horse. But that was just good ol' mischief and no one really got hurt.
The only other blip on his radar screen was that quick tabloid marriage to Hollywood sweetheart Renee Zellweger that was promptly annulled on some weird "fraud" allegation. Beyond that, no drug busts, DUI's or other salacious episodes to tarnish his all-American image.
By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Glen Rose ~
Kenny Chesney returns in all his glory to Heinz Field Saturday.There is one stadium concert planned for Pittsburgh this summer and it's not Bruce, the Stones or U2.
It's country superstar Kenny Chesney, returning to Heinz Field Saturday for the third time in four years. Over the past six summers, Chesney has sold a million concert tickets each year, and last year's 2007's Flip Flop Summer Tour was the second biggest tour behind the Police.
Just how did Kenny Chesney get so big? Let's count the ways.
1. He paid his dues.
Unlike, say, Garth Brooks, who was practically an overnight success, Chesney did it the old-fashioned way -- and people kind of like that. Chesney worked his way through the ranks, starting out playing bars nightly for tips. His first album, on the soon-to-be-defunct Capricorn records, sold a mere 10,000 copies in 1994, and he didn't have a No. 1 single till his fourth album, with "She's Got it All."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kenny Chesney
With: Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes, Gary Allan and Luke Bryan.
Where: Heinz Field.
When: 4 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets: $69-96; 412-323-1919.
The Buildup
10 a.m.: Parking lots open.
Noon: Sarah Marince on the FROGGY Floating Stage.
1:30 p.m.: Fabulous Gunsligners Floating Stage.
2 p.m.: Heinz Field gates open.
3 p.m.: Heidi Newfield (Trick Pony) in Coca-Cola Great Hall.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in 1996 and '97, he could be found in these parts rockin' the county fairs. Then, he got a glimpse of his future in 1999, when he turned up on the undercard of the George Strait show at Three Rivers Stadium with the Dixie Chicks and Tim McGraw. Two years later, he and McGraw were road buddies, hitting the Post-Gazette Pavilion, where the late PG country music critic Jerry Sharpe wrote that when he came back for an encore, "the crowd was so wound up that yells and applause drowned out the words to the song."
2. He rode the horse.
Chesney wears the hat, but he never was a cowboy. His dad was a school teacher, his mom a hairdresser and Kenny, after playing wide receiver on the high school football team, came out of East Tennessee State with a degree in marketing.
But on June 3, 2000, in Buffalo, Chesney turned into an outlaw Lone Ranger. Outside of Ralph Wilson Stadium on the Strait tour, Chesney asked a Deputy Sheriff he could sit on his horse. Next thing you know he was riding off into the near distance and into country music history. He and McGraw, who got into a "fracas" with police, were both arrested and fined, but it was a small price to pay for a part of his legend.
"Odd as it sounds, that incident really put his name out there with the country audience," says Frank Bell, vice president of programming for Froggy FM.
3. His tractor's sexy.
Bruce sang about a Pink Cadillac. Prince sang about a Little Red Corvette. Chesney sang about a John Deere.
It only went to No. 11 on the country charts at the time, but 1999's "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" is the signature song of Chesney's career. Songwriters Paul Overstreet and Jim Collins nailed the regular-guy ethic of country music with lines like, "Well, she ain't into cars or pickup trucks/But if it runs like a Deere man her eyes light up," and then Chesney delivered it with his buttery croon.
"It was a really big breakthrough record for him," Bell says. "And he was smart. He hooked up with a producer named Buddy Cannon in Nashville and Buddy... I have so much respect for his ability to find great songs for his artists to perform. And then they had a whole string of hit records."
4. He's out of room for trophies.
Are you an inspiring country artist who dreams of winning the Entertainer of the Year award?
You better wait till Chesney gets out of the way. He's won the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008, tying Garth Brooks' record at four. He's won the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year in 2005, '06, '07 and '08, placing him just behind Brooks and Alabama for those trophies.
Not only does he have the hardware, the critics have his back to some degree.
Asked if he is a quality artist, country music critic and historian Rich Kienzle says, "He can be. I thought the current album, 'Just Who I Am,' included some high-quality songs like 'Wild Ride' and 'Demons.' He's less impressive when he leans on the mediocre hack songs that flow out of Music Row or invokes Jimmy Buffett, who's still alive and well. When he sets his mind on doing first-rate material, however, he can stand with the best."
5. He owns country radio.
Not literally, but give him a few years. In the meantime, here's a number for you: Chesney has had 24 straight top 10 singles, a record for an artist this decade. The latest is "Better as a Memory," which is climbing toward No. 1.
Says Bell, "Most country stations will be playing a Kenny Chesney tune every one to two hours. That's a lot."
Along with the new ones, his catalog is still popular. "We probably play 12 Kenny Chesney songs or something like that."
6. He's a little bit rock 'n' roll.
Like the new breed of country artist -- be it Brooks or Brooks & Dunn -- he grew up listening to rock as much as country, and that's evident by the country-rock and pop element in this songs.
"He's got clear, charismatic youth appeal that makes him Nashville's answer to Barack Obama," Kienzle says. "He's less of a modern traditionalist than [Alan] Jackson, Josh Turner or Brad Paisley, for sure."
In talking about his success on radio recently, Chesney said, "I look at the songs of Springsteen, Mellencamp, the Eagles, Jackson Browne, Van Halen ... what they meant to me. That's what I hope this music means to other people."
Sure enough, there will be Eagles and Mellencamp fans in the house on Saturday.
7. He comes to party.
When he played that show here back in 2001, the crowd went wild when Chesney slipped a little "Margaritaville" into his "How Forever Feels."
Now, Chesney's concerts are the country music answer to Jimmy Buffett's Parrothead drinking parties, only with Cruzan rum banners and straw cowboy hats. It starts as early as 10 a.m. in the parking lots and carries on till the last song, as noted in Feedback letters to the PG complaining about the rowdiness.
In a strange twist for a country artist, Chesney's even adopted the island lifestyle of Buffett, settling in the Virgin Islands, an upgrade over Tennessee.
8. He has a wild card.
Chesney's caravan doesn't rival Ozzfest or Warped for number of acts, but that's not the idea. Chesney handpicks a few top acts to help draw a crowd and then throws in a wild card.
In the maiden voyage in 2005, it was Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson and Pat Green, with a dose of rocker Uncle Kracker. When the tour returned to Heinz Field in 2007, Brooks & Dunn, Sara Evans, Sugarland and Green were along for the ride, then Joe Walsh suddenly appeared to jam out "Rocky Mountain Way." This time around, Urban is back, with LeAnn Rimes, but Pittsburgh, for better or worse, is forced to live without screecher Sammy Hagar, who played some earlier dates.
9. He delivers live.
Chesney isn't just the figurehead at the top of the bill -- like, let's face it, Ozzy sometimes is -- or a laid-back host a la Buffett. He leaves no doubt that he's the star, and his fans respond with full participation, including lyric-shouting.
"I'd put him on a par with the Stones, U2, Springsteen and all the stadium shows I've seen," Bell says. "He puts everything he has into his act on stage. The man works like crazy."
10. He's free of scandal
OK, there was the horse. But that was just good ol' mischief and no one really got hurt.
The only other blip on his radar screen was that quick tabloid marriage to Hollywood sweetheart Renee Zellweger that was promptly annulled on some weird "fraud" allegation. Beyond that, no drug busts, DUI's or other salacious episodes to tarnish his all-American image.
