ATTEMPTED STALKING
Complete with the directions from the attendant at the hotel’s front desk, I started on my journey. I was about to attempt
stalking Kenny Chesney (which would be the one and only time). The directions were very concise and easy to follow. As I
neared the venue, the Wicomico Civic Center, I was already feeling a little nervous. I went straight into the parking lot and
promptly tried to drive around the building. With just one turn, I couldn’t go any further. Immediately in my sights were
three 18 wheeler’s and that did me in. There’s no way I could even consider going ahead with this ruse. Kristin’s
first tip in stalking was to pretend like you belong there. Yeah right! I didn’t belong. Shoot, I was driving around in my
Explorer with New York license plates. Could I be any more obvious.
With that, I turned my car around since I wanted to drive along the front of the building. There was an alley way on the other
side of the building where all the buses were parked. I scoped out Kenny’s right away. The one in the “YOUNG�
video. That’s when I began to feel like I was going to need my puke bag. This happened as soon as I saw that bus.
I needed to calm down. I needed to call Kristin, but I didn't have her work number. So, I called some of my other friends at
work. I told them what I had done. One of them immediately started to cluck like a chicken. That's right, I was a chicken and
proud of it as I was already headed back to the hotel. After I hung up, I was feeling like a coward. So, I turned around and
headed back to the Civic Center. As I passed where the buses were parked, I drove very slowly. I went past the building and
wound up just driving around the whole block. I was a huge failure. Kristin will have to give me first hand lessons in stalking. I
couldn’t follow her written instructions. I need someone to be like a personal trainer.
DINNER BEFORE THE SHOW
Steven and I went to Bob Evans for dinner before the show. One of the waitresses there was working out at her gym earlier in
the day. There was a man there who had a camera crew around him. She didn’t know who it was at the time. Well, it turned
out to be none other than Kenny Chesney. She said that he was two treadmills away from her. She didn’t recognize him
without his black cowboy hat. He was wearing a bandanna on his head instead. She also didn’t realize how short he really is,
but she said he was built. She found out when she was home and saw something on the news about him being in town. She
blew her big chance. She didn’t have to stalk.
GM CARD PROGRAM
They were asking everyone, over 18, to fill out an application for a GM credit card. If you did it right there, they would give
you a Kenny Chesney CD. It had a few songs on it. I don’t know which ones, but Sara Evans and Carolyn Dawn Johnson
are supposed to be one it also. You can’t buy the cd in any store. There were a few GM booths around for you to fill-out
the survey to be entered to win backstage passes. I believe there were four winners. They announced the winners after Carolynâ
€™s set and before Sara came out. So, you would miss some of Sara’s show if you were to win these passes, which would be
fine with me. Give up some Sara to meet Kenny. That’s a no-brainer.
THE SHOW
The show started on time with Carolyn Dawn Johnson. She did about five songs. It was a typical Fan Fair set, very quick.
She did a good job. The crowd was very attentative to her.
Sara Evans was next, of course. She did all her hits, and did them quite well. There was some talk about her maybe making her
family a little bigger. There might be some truth to that. She appeared to me to be about two months pregnant. She also sat
twice during her set. She did a cover song of the Go Go’s, We Got the Beat. There was one guy up front who really had the
beat. He was dancing all over the front. Sara seemed to get a kick out of him, as did the crowd.
KENNY’S SET OMG
Well, there’s always music playing while the crew rearranges the stage. The last song that played before the band and
Kenny came out was AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long�. You just knew that Kenny and the boys would be
coming out. He made a big entrance. Very different from the concert I saw last year. Definitely a very exciting entrance. All of a
sudden a curtain came down, but all you could see was his shadow. Very nice. When he came out on the stage and the lights were
on him, he was wearing light tan colored jeans with a light blue sleeveless shirt.
He opened with YOUNG. It was absolutely amazing to see him do this song in person. He did a great job with it, and so did
the band. He sang just about every song off the Greatest Hits CD. Naturally, he didn’t do “Because of Your Loveâ€�, â
€œBaptismâ€�, or “For the First Timeâ€�. He did a medley of his slower songs. I enjoyed the medley much better this time
than last summer. Last summer he seemed to rush through them. At this concert he gave them a lot more of what they deserved.
Before he started to sing “I Lost It� he said that this song is for anyone who has ever been in an on and off relationship. He
seemed to be very emotional while singing it, this night.
I enjoyed the sound from this show much better also. I don’t know if it’s because this show was indoors compared to
the one outside during last summer, but I could actually hear his words. The first time I saw him do that Conway Twitty song, I
had no idea what he was saying. After reading a post on the fan forum, it was then that I understood why everyone was
screaming so much. The way he moved during that song was interesting, very interesting. He didn’t let me down this time.
It was the moment I’ve been waiting for since August. Although, I enjoyed it much more knowing what he was saying. I do
have to add that the man is a big TEASE.
Kenny only did two songs from his soon to be released CD, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems. “Young�, he opened
with, and he also did “Live Those Songs Again�. This was the first time I heard this song. He did a fine job with it. It
sounds really good. It’s a fun, summer type song. It sounded very Jimmy Buffet-ish. He had lots of fun with it. Kenny
really had the crowd into the show the whole time, and not just the girls. The guys were really into it, too. He had to stop
himself from telling everyone to take off their shirts. And their shoes. He was talking about the name of the new CD and was
trying to tell everyone to leave their problems at the door when they came in for the show. When he realized what he was about
to say, he stopped and sort of chuckled.
For the first time I heard Kenny do the ZZ Top song, “Tush�. I finally realized that I knew the song. Just didn’t
know the name. He did a great job with it. He said when the tribute album for ZZ Top would be released. I believe he said in
June. Not exactly sure on that, though, sorry. Kenny closed his set with “How Forever Feels�.
When he came out for the encore, the first song he did was “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy�. When he was done
singing that, he had this towel that he was using to wipe the sweat off himself. He used that same towel to cover the front pants
at the end of the tractor song. Not everyone got this joke of his, but quite a few did. He is a funny man. It’s good that he can
poke fun out of himself. The joke was that the opening night of this tour the seam of his pants ripped right by his crotch.
The next song he did for his encore was a song originally recorded by the Georgia Satellites. I don’t remember the name of
the song, but the best line from it goes like this “Don’t hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself.â€� If you donâ
€™t know what song I’m talking about, you will know it when he sings it. Kenny really had a good time with this song. Did
I mention that he is tease? Travis Tritt also does this song in concert. Kenny did an excellent job with it. The last song he did
was John Mellencamp’s “Jack and Diane�. What an awesome performance by Kenny.
THE BAND
Nick seemed to be having some technical difficulties, but was able to pull through and did a fine job as usual. He has a lot of
fun out there. Jim Bob who is usually seated through most of the show playing the Steel Guitar, was up on his feet a lot. He
even had a guitar solo. He did an excellent job. In the past, I thought that Wyatt played just the keyboards, he had a whole piano
out there. Sean was reliable as usual. Plus, Kenny’s known him the longest out of everyone in his band. Tim and Clayton
were both awesome on the guitar.
NEW STUFF
There were three video screens set up, one on each side of the stage and one in the middle. The screens on the sides of the stage
show whoever is on the stage at the present time. This is good for anyone who is sitting way in the back. Plus, there’s a
screen in the middle where they video clips and they also show they guys on stage. It was very neat and nicely done. He didnâ
€™t have any video screens when I saw him in August.
And for the big news. CMT taped everything. They are having a new Kenny special. There was a guy constantly on
the stage filming. At one point, early on in the show, he actually chased Kenny around stage. It was pretty funny. Then, at
another point, Kenny grabbed the camera and filmed the audience. He told everyone half-way through his set what CMT was
doing. I’m sure Cherly will let us know when this will be aired. I can’t wait to see it. Someone will have to tape if for me.