Since he's as hot right now as he's ever going to be, since I really like his last two albums (When the Sun Goes Down and Be As You Are (Songs from an Old Blue Chair), it seemed like I had to go see Kenny Chesney when he came to town this time around. The fact that both Gretchen Wilson & Pat Green were opening for him made it seem like an ideal bill. And when I heard that his concert is running about 4 hours long, well that makes the dollar per hour cost come out at about $15 per (when you include ticket charges and parking). Such a deal!
The good news is Kenny's concert is just hit after hit after hit. The bad news is Pat Green goes on 10 minutes before ticket time -- therefore I only saw three of his songs. And Gretchen was great -- sounds and looks just like you'd expect -- except her new songs she debuted I thought were pretty mediocre. One -- about a Skoal can ring -- reeks of John Rich -- I assume he co-wrote it. Another called Politically Uncorrect -- about how loving the bible and the flag is Politically Uncorrect -- was shocking. Another namechecks Paris Hilton. Need we say more?
And Kenny sounded terrible. I blame the sound in the venue, although it wasn't a problem for Pat Green and Gretchen. Only on the few slow songs that he did did his voice sound anything like it does on record. Maybe he was just overabusing his vocal cords, but the sound mix certainly didn't do him any favors.
He enters the arena riding a swing over the audience -- which I'm sure he thinks is high entertainment, but just seems like an idea that Garth Brooks rejected as too tame and instead decided to fly over the audience.
Absolutely no mention of Renee -- but that you have to give him credit for.
Uncle Kracker did come out to do some songs with him, and Kenny seemed to enjoy that.
Overall, both he and the audience had a good time. But it wasn't a concert to die for. And you didn't miss much if you missed it.
Here's the review from our local paper:
Too big for his britches
Kenny Chesney's rock-excess trappings may be an outgrowth of his stardom, but they are a poor fit for his country sensibilities.
June 20, 2005
Entertainer of the year is the most coveted award in country music, but is that the best thing for a musician to aspire to?
Take Kenny Chesney, the reigning title-holder at both of the major country academies. The Tennessean's concert at Staples Center on Friday was so fixated on entertaining the packed arena that it didn't have any room to breathe, and no way to touch the heart.
Chesney, who came to the attention of the non-country world with his surprise marriage to actress Renée Zellweger last month, made his entrance after an audio-visual buildup worthy of KISS, riding high above the audience on a swing that carried him from the rear of the arena and deposited him on the stage.
From there it was exaggerated, bigger-than-life gesturing as the hip-swiveling, high-fiving, teeth-flashing, kiss-blowing dynamo and his band scampered around ramps and platforms.
This has been Chesney's approach since he hit the big time a couple of years ago. It distinguishes him from more stationary peers such as Tim McGraw and Alan Jackson, and since it made him country's biggest box-office draw last year, he obviously sees no reason to tinker with it.
It makes him the ultimate illustration of the personality crisis country music has been suffering since the early '90s, when Garth Brooks shook everything up by harnessing the genre's traditions to rock-show scale.
Brooks was able to retain country's core elements amid the spectacle, but those who followed were less successful at combining the flash and volume with the plain-spoken intimacy and blue-collar sensibility that defined country for decades.
Chesney's music itself was more disconnected than ever from country roots, betraying no flavor except arena vanilla. As a songwriter, he often tries to tap that legacy on his records, but he rarely allowed himself to display it on stage. There was a good half an hour of calisthenics before he finally stopped and actually focused on conveying a lyric, on "The Woman With You," a tender and detailed portrait of a multi-tasking spouse.
There were a few similar moments, but overall they were swamped by the overkill Chesney's abundant energy was channeling into evoking a spirit of camaraderie and escape, tied to a prominent Caribbean imagery in song and visuals that made him seem more Nassau than Nashville, like a supercharged Jimmy Buffett. With his reveries about carefree days and parties at night, he seemed to be creating some epic kind of beer commercial.
Along those lines, Chesney likes to go for the casual moment, and he's been known to let his pal Peyton Manning, the football star, join the band on stage with an unplugged guitar. In that spirit, he unwisely turned over an extended stretch late in the set to Uncle Kracker, who might be a good buddy and a fun duet partner (on Chesney's hit "When the Sun Goes Down") but is an awful singer and hapless performer.
The sad thing is that Chesney actually went to the trouble of writing and recording a low-key, intimate album of personal reflections and character sketches. But he released "Be What You Are" this year as a low-key side project and performed only one song from it Friday, an acoustic version of "Old Blue Chair."
It's too bad he doesn't have enough faith in his artistry or his audience to risk being touching rather than entertaining for more than a few minutes.
Maybe Chesney feels a little heat on his heels in the form of Gretchen Wilson, who preceded the headliner after an opening set by rock-leaning Texas singer-songwriter Pat Green.
Not only has Wilson matched the 3.5 million sales total of Chesney's "When the Sun Goes Down" album with her debut "Redneck Woman," but she's also stirred up the status quo by presenting a proudly rowdy alternative to country's demure divas.
Wilson was straightforward and feisty as she celebrated the traits and values of the marginalized redneck lifestyle, and she was confident enough to ask the audience to listen to a couple of songs from her next album. One, "Ain't You Glad They Ain't All California Girls?" got a cheer when it took a dig at Paris Hilton.
Now that's entertainment.
