NASHVILLE, TN. (BNA Records) - So far, they're selling out in matters of minutes - and second shows are being added anywhere there's an adjacent date. The fever-pitch of ticket sales has been so frenzied, that in an attempt to anticipate need, it's even held up announcement of the second leg of Kenny Chesney's Somewhere in the Sun Tour.
"I wanted to try and not have to keep adding shows after the first one's gone, so people aren't leaving lines, thinking there's nothing," says the reigning Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year. "You know, you think one date'll be plenty - especially in markets where we played before. But this year, that doesn't seem to be the case, which is cool, 'cause we love the energy those fans bring us."
Kicking off with two nights at Columbus, Ohio's Schottenstein Center May 26-27, the second leg of Chesney's Somewhere In The Sun Tour - featuring blazing CMA Horizon winner Gretchen Wilson and Grammy-nominated Pat Green - will run through the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville on August 28. With four double plays already scheduled - Columbus, Las Vegas, Atlanta and Raleigh - Chesney and his team are hoping to avoid some of the last minute second show additions that've marked the first leg of the follow-up to last year's 1.2 million ticket-selling Guitars, Tiki Bars & A Whole Lot of Love Tour, which was outdrawn only by Prince's Musicology Tour.
"It's crazy... but it's good crazy," says the high impact performer. "And when people see this stage, hear this show, I think it's gonna be even moreso. Adding the standing areas this year - which are cut right into where the stage is - is gonna make this show's energy level go up another five notches. It's gonna be a great summer... me and the guys can't wait to get out there!"
With 5 Academy of Country Music nominations - for Entertainer, Male Vocalist and Album of the Year for the CMA Album of the Year When The Sun Goes Down, as well as a pair of Vocal Event nods - and 5 CMT Music Award nominations - for Video of the Year, Hottest, Male and two collaborations, the guy who won the American Music Awards Text-in Favorite Artist over Usher, Norah Jones, Evanescence and Outkast is going to be pretty busy in the coming months. In addition to appearing on both the Academy of Country Music's 40th Annual Awards telecast May17th from Vegas and the CMT Music Awards live from Nashville April 11, Chesney will be making up the opening weekend dates that were re-scheduled following tearing the ligaments in his ankle.
With Be As You Are: Songs From An Old Blue Chair maintaining its sales momentum after debuting at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 - in spite of no single and no tour - and When The Sun Goes Down's yearning "Anything But Mine" hitting the Top 5 on both Billboard and Radio & Records' Country Singles charts, there's plenty going on for the man from Luttrell, Tennessee. But even as the trucks are getting loaded, the trusses put together and the tickets sold, there's still nothing quite like finding a place Somewhere in the Sun - especially when it's somewhere near wherever you are in the coming months.
Kenny Chesney's Somewhere In The Sun Tour
Second Leg with Gretchen Wilson & Pat Green
May 26-27 Columbus, Ohio
May 28 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June 8 Denver, Colorado
June 10-11 Las Vegas, Nevada
June 14 Phoenix, Arizona
June 16 Oakland, California
June 17 Los Angeles, California
June 18 San Diego, California
June 19 Fresno, California
June 21 Salt Lake City, Utah
June 24 Portland Oregon
June 25 Tacoma, Washington
June 31 Peoria, Illinois
July 1 Evansville, Indiana
July 2 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
July 7 Greenville, South Carolina
July 8 Birmingham, Alabama
July 9 Charlotte, North Carolina
July 15 Memphis, Tennessee
July16-17 Atlanta, Georgia
July 20 Albany, New York
July 21 Hartford, Connecticut
July 28 Charleston, West Virginia
August 3 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
August 4 Buffalo, New York
August 5 Cleveland, Ohio
August 11 Virginia Beach, Virginia
August 12-13 Raleigh, North Carolina
August 19 Chicago, Illinois
August 20 St. Louis, Missouri
August 21 Kansas City, Missouri
August 25 Cincinnati, Ohio
August 26 ndianapolis, Indiana
August 27 Detroit, Michigan
August 28 Louisville, Kentucky
