Raleigh, NC. (Top40 Charts/ RCA Records) - While
Kenny Chesney and his no holds barred
Poets &
Pirates 2008 Tour was rocking the West Coast, then packing in just over 40,000 at the University of
Phoenix Stadium in Phoenix, country music fans in Raleigh, North Carolina were letting their preferences be known. Having been the victim to fence-cutting when even record crowds weren't enough, Chesney watched tickets for his Aug. 22 show disappear in just under an hour - prompting the addition of a second date at the Alltel Pavilion the following night.
'The fans in Raleigh are so hardcore,' Chesney laughs. 'They never cease to blow our minds with how hard and how fast they respond to us and this music... Every year, I think that's the last time we do a double, and then the following year, we sell that first date out even faster. I mean, it's been that kind of year everywhere we go: fast, furious, wildly fun, so I don't know why it surprises me.'
With The Los Angeles Times writing, 'it's so abundantly clear how much of himself he invests in every performance and The Orange County Register offering, 'he is committed to wringing every ounce of excitement from every song,' Chesney's Staples Center show leaned a bit more towards the commando Keg In The Closet shows with guest turns from Uncle Kracker and Kid Rock on their signature 'When The Sun Goes Down,' 'Drift Away' and 'Cowboy,' as well as bar-room classics ranging from The Allman Brothers' 'Midnight Rider' and David Allen Coe's perennial 'You Never Even Called Me By My Name...' He was equally on fire in San Diego , prompting the San Diego Times Union to proclaim, 'Entertainer of the People... It was a show that seemed, for two energy-filled hours, to make local concert goers forget about rising gas prices and declining home values.'
Having blown into Phoenix with red rocker Sammy Hagar, Brooks & Dunn, and Gary Allan in tow, it was a boys night out in a big way - demonstrating the one night only nature of the Corona Extra presents Poets & Pirates Tour. Though each of the 14 football stadiums is its own unique experience, Chesney says of Phoenix, 'I was thinking about the places I used to play there... the Old Tucson .... And man, we've come a long way, but in a weird way, those fans are so alive, it's still like we're back in that place.
'When you get a crowd like we had Saturday night, they are so right there at the tip of our fingers, it's like a room of a few thousand: you can feel each and every one of them. It's hard to describe.'
Having set his sites on 14 stadiums in markets like San Francisco, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Boston - where he sold out his 4th year in a row in less than 15 minutes - Chesney's will to bring fans' lives, loves, moments, memories and discoveries provides a physical touchpoint and absolute celebration of all that life has to offer.
With 'Better As A Memory,' the fourth single from his solid platinum Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates hovering around the Top 5 - and 'Never Wanted Nothing More' and 'Don't Blink' already spending 6 and 5 weeks at No 1, along with the George Strait Vocal Event 'Shiftwork' - Chesney remains the soundtrack of an awful lot of people's coming of age and finding their way.
