Well this past weekend was absolutely incredible. Everyone there had a great time. I am definitely looking forward to doing it
again, like in 55 more days. My concert buddy, Jen, and I went to two shows in Pennsylvania this weekend, Hershey and
Scranton. Both shows were terrific.
It all started after the four and a half-hour drive that we had to Hershey Park on Friday, traveling from Long Island. After we
parked the car, we immediately headed on over to the venue site. We just had to see if we could see anything, naturally. In our
attempt to circle the venue, we walked past this entranceway. While walking past there, I heard someone call my name. No, it
wasn’t Kenny, but it was a friend. Thanks to this friend, I got to meet Steve Marshall, bass player in Kenny’s band.
Since he wasn’t working, I had no problem going right up to him, shaking his hand, and introducing Jen and myself. We
chatted with him for a bit. Unfortunately, we were planning on going in the amusement park there, so I didn’t have the
picture that I took of him to sign. That was okay, though, I was thrilled just to meet him.
We were planning on meeting some other friends there, Sue and Judy. They were stuck in traffic traveling from Maryland. So
we decided to kill some time by going some rides. Our first stop was the Comet, which is a rollercoaster. Bad idea, which I
believe, was mine. Jen, I am still very sorry for even suggesting that. After that rollercoaster we decided to take the rest of the
afternoon slow. We went on the Skyview, the Monorail, the Ferris wheel, and the music express. We did manage to have fun and
no one tossed any cookies.
Then it was getting close to show time. We did some tailgating to unwind and wait for our friends who were still stuck in
traffic. They did arrive about 20 minutes before showtime, and as soon as they did we headed on in to the Star Pavillion to find
the nearest GM booth so that we could all sign up for a chance to win backstage passes to meet Kenny before his set.
By the time we got to our seats, Phil Vassar was already well into his set. He seemed to have the crowd pretty well pumped.
He puts on a good show. He’s very energetic, like Kenny. He sounded very good and he had a fine band backing him up.
The next act was Jamie O’neal. She does a good job. She did Arizona, Natural Woman (I believe that’s the title, it was
originally done by Aretha Franklin), and she closed with Frantic, which she dedicated to all the single mothers in the audience.
That is a really good song.
Then it was time for Montgomery Gentry, but before they would come on, GM would announce the evenings’ winners for
the backstage pass. Would you believe they called my name? That makes three times in four months that I got to go back stage
and meet him. I couldn’t have been more thrilled. It was already a great weekend. Our friend Sue that we were waiting for
also won. That meant that the four of us would go back together. So, there we all are, waiting all the way in the back of the venue
to go and meet Kenny. We were just standing there. When I noticed someone walking in the crowd, it was Tim Hensley. Instead
of panicking or not saying anything, I totally stopped him. It was so great. As most of you know, I’ve really wanted to meet
him and get him to sign that picture I took of him in Connecticut, which he did and he thought it was a cool picture. Judy and Sue
had something for him to sign, too. Plus, we all had our picture taking with him, and I told him that I had really wanted to meet
him and was glad that I spotted him walking. He had to get going, so we didn’t get to chat too long.
Meanwhile, Kenny was waiting for us backstage. I try to prepare ahead of time something to say to him. I don’t want to
just stand there with my mouth open, gaping, like I did at our first meet and greet. So, this time, I had a picture of me, standing in
front of NBC Studios taken on May 15. That was the day that Kenny was scheduled to be on the Conan O’Brien show. My
friend Patty and I re-arranged our schedules for that day so that we could be there for him, to cheer him on. I’m sure most of
you already know that he was home sick that day instead. Well, I did show him the picture, and I did tell him why I was there.
He appreciated the fact that we went there. He was too cute. Since it was Jen and I backstage at the last show in Trenton, NJ in
April and I stood next to Kenny then, I let her stand next to him for the picture. This rubbed off on Sue, because she did the same
thing for Judy.
After we were done backstage, we got back to our seats to see the 10 minutes of Montgomery Gentry’s set. They do such
a great job. They feed off of each other so well. At times, Eddie would just stand there and watch Troy working the audience.
You could see Eddie standing there with the biggest smile on his face. They put so much into their performance. Since I was still
buzzing about being backstage, I don’t remember what songs I watched them perform. The last song they did was Hillbilly
Shoes. Plus they did two songs from their yet to be released new album. Both sounded very good. One Eddie sang and the other
T-Roy sang. Before Troy started the new song that he did, he went over the chorus with the crowd. All I remember is “Hell
Ya�. That is going to be a good song for them. They really did a great job.
Then the moment we were waiting for Kenny. Well, I didn’t travel all those miles to see the other three acts. The usual
happens, the crew leaves the stage, the lights go dim, and there’s that AC/DC song, Shook Me All Night Long. At this point
you know it’s coming soon. Then that Prince song, then She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy, and then… that Kid Rock song
(Cowboy baby). I have no idea what the name is, sorry. Then band comes out. Then you can hear Sean start playing the drums.
You can tell that it’s YOUNG right away. Then the light shines on that screen, and then suddenly, Kenny’s silhouette
appears. He starts singing. The first verse is done. And then, POP there he is. Wearing his Red tank top, and his painted on
jeans. What a thrill, it was much better than that ride on the Comet earlier in the day.
He put on an amazing show. He could do no wrong. He performed all the songs that he’s been doing all year. Plus, he added
Big Star and The Good Stuff. For some reason, he didn’t do the Conway Twitty song. There seemed to be some sort of
problem. He was waving his hands and signaling to the guys in the band during I Lost It. Then they went right into How Forever
Feels. At this point, I turned to Jen to say no Twitty with a big frown, but at least he did some (and I mean some) two-stepping
during How Forever Feels. That was the last song before the encore.
Before he came back out, you can hear the tractor revving up. He always seems to have so much fun performing this song. I have
to be honest; I enjoy watching his performance for this song. Then the band goes right into the next song, Keep Your Hands to
Yourself. Clayton does his big solo before they actually start this song. He went all over the stage, getting the crowd all rowdy.
Just like Kenny says in the beginning with that GM commercial, “You can sit in your seat, or you can get ROWDY with the
rest of us.� I’m not sure what song it was, but to me it sounded like a Van Halen song, just can’t place the name, but
Clayton actually sang a few lines from it, after being egged on by Kenny. Now, you all know that Clayton isn’t my favorite,
but he was darn cute when he sang. He had the cutest smile on his face, and the crowd went nuts. Then Kenny went right into
Keep Your Hands to Yourself. Naturally, he ended with Jack and Diane. When he was done singing, he signed some autographs
from the stage. All in all it was a great show. How could it not be? It was Kenny.
Doesn’t end there, we were taking our time leaving and chatting to people who were working or anyone that would listen.
Then something interesting happened, this cart goes by and it’s carrying Kenny’s basketball net. Not something that
should get anyone’s attention, but it did get mine. I even took two pictures, but unfortunately they didn’t come out. I
guess it’s not as photogenic as Kenny is. Then we did some driving. At this point in time I can say or ask why did we turn
around at exit 98? We should have kept going all the way to Scranton.
Well, the day started terrifically. After the four of us stayed in the hotel room, with only one bed, that I had reserved over two
months ago, Sue’s car wouldn’t start. She got a jump from someone and then took her car to the nearest repair shop to
have her battery replaced. That’s the biggest fear with traveling so far away from home for some concert, car problems.
Luckily, that was just a minor glitch. While checking out of our hotel that morning, the clerk asked me if that was I at the Kenny
Chesney show last night. Apparently she heard my name called as a GM winner. Small world, or should I say town. She’s
the one who checked me in and checked me out.
After making a quick stop along the way at a Cracker Barrel, my favorite place to stop while traveling, we made it into Scranton
by 1 PM. We immediately went to our hotel to drop off our luggage. As it would turn out, Sue and Judy made it into town about
an hour before us. I’m not sure how that happened. I was so excited when I saw that the hotel had a pool. After sweating so
much yesterday, I was dying to go for a swim. We settled on taking a nap instead. We didn’t get too much sleep the night
before, and we knew tonight wouldn’t be much better.
We probably made our way up Montage Mountain around 4 PM. We needed to do some tailgating once again. There were
quite a few people they’re doing the same. Plus, there was a lot of shade there. Unlike Hershey the day before, I really, and I
mean really, enjoyed myself this time while tailgating.
The local radio station, known as the frog, was having a frog contest. Go figure. Whoever came dressed as the best frog got to
go back stage and meet Kenny. I have pictures of two of the contestants. They were the only ones I saw. I had lots of fun
talking to them. Amazing what you can do with a little shot of courage. The one guy had his wife paint him green and her sister
was holding a sign that read: We think our froggy’s sexy. Sounds familiar, right? He won and got to meet Kenny, but he
wasn’t allowed to bring a guest.
When we were done tailgating, we started our walk up to the entrance. Along the way, I spotted Tim Holt. I had to tell him
how much I’ve missed him at the merchandise counter and how much I’ve missed talking to him and Darryl. We all took
pictures with him. He was very nice, and I was a little buzzed. Can anyone guess what we did next? Here’s a hint GM.