Chesney show is a wonder under the stars

David Lindquist

September 14, 2008 by David Lindquist

0 votes

Kenny Chesney did his part Saturday night to entertain a capacity crowd of 52,000 at Lucas Oil Stadium, but he couldn't have done it without friendly skies and the building's retractable roof.

Unexpectedly sunny conditions bucked predictions of rain and allowed the top of the new stadium to slide open before Chesney and Keith Urban -- the other superstar on the "Poets & Pirates" tour -- arrived onstage.

A hearty cheer went up, and with good reason. Previous acts LeAnn Rimes, Gary Allan, Luke Bryan and Brother Trouble basically wasted their time because of poor sound in the building.

As music caromed from above, listeners dealt with frustrating echoes.

But in the few minutes needed to open the roof, Lucas Oil Stadium transformed from a warehouse of buyers' remorse to a cathedral of live-music thrills.

Suddenly, sound connected once with ears and then it was free to escape.

Urban capitalized on the change by breezing through 75 minutes of appealing country-rock, primarily showcasing the greatness of 2002 album "Golden Road."

Five selections from "Golden Road" -- "Somebody Like You," "Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me," "You'll Think of Me," "You Look Good in My Shirt" and "Raining on Sunday" -- conveyed the Australian's carefree, serious and romantic sides.

Urban even tailored his guitar solos to fit the appropriate mood -- fiery and rapid-fire for "Where the Blacktop Ends" versus pained and weepy for "Stupid Boy."

Headliner Chesney didn't call on nuance at the beginning of his performance. Instead, he hammered out four party anthems and did no favors to his road-weary voice.

"I Go Back," however, arrived as song No. 5, and Chesney dialed in the relaxed groove that paved the way to playing NFL stadiums. As a textbook example of Chesney nostalgia, "I Go Back" includes a lyrical nod to John Mellencamp's "Jack & Diane."

When Urban played his guitar and Chesney sang about the good old days, Lucas Oil Stadium delivered as a massive setting for magic moments -- under the right conditions.

If a closed stadium is one building and an open stadium is a different building, only one of these should present concerts.

The pre-show show

Hours before Chesney sang inside Lucas Oil Stadium, he played a short unplugged show in an adjacent parking lot.

Several hundred fans caught Chesney's three-song performance at a tailgate party sponsored by XM Satellite Radio.

Wearing a gray T-shirt and a maroon baseball cap, Chesney used a hoarse voice to talk up his "No Shoes" channel that's available to XM subscribers.

His robust baritone was evident, however, during renditions of "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems," new single "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" and the rarely played "Island Boy."

Chase Walden, a 21-year-old resident of Sheridan, said he appreciated the chance to be in an audience just 10 yards away from Chesney.

Walden's ticket for the big show placed him in the second-highest of six seating levels inside Lucas Oil Stadium.

"This is a definite plus," Walden said. "I enjoy being up close like this."

Acoustics issues

"Blow the House Down" was the title of the first song performed at the first concert presented at Lucas Oil Stadium.

But opening act Brother Trouble had little chance of claiming victory against the cavernous hall that doubles as an NFL venue.

The building roughed up the duo's sound, which bounced off the closed roof and wall opposite the stage to echo-chamber effect.

The best seats

An informal survey of the stadium's acoustics revealed the best listening experience in the 300 and 400 levels (seats in the 100s are closest to the floor, and seats in the 600s are farthest away).

Similar to the club level at Conseco Fieldhouse, 300 and 400 feature loud and clear tones because they're in the direct line of fire of the most speakers.

Football fashions

Among concert attendees, University of Tennessee football jerseys affixed with No. 7 and "Chesney" were as popular as Colts jerseys affixed with No. 18 and "Manning."

Kansas resident Donna Grindle said her Chesney jersey was the second she's purchased.

She retired the first shirt in 2006, after the singer autographed it and gave Grindle a bottle of rum at a tailgate party in Columbus, Ohio.

Chesney grew up in Tennessee, where he cheered Peyton Manning during the quarterback's college career with the Volunteers.

By the numbers

The production price tag for the show: $1.4 million, not counting money paid to the performers. The "Poets & Pirates" tour employs 70 crew members, and 300 local workers were hired for this event. Chesney was fined $60,000 for breaking noise-ordinance curfew Thursday night in St. Louis. No curfew applied to the Lucas Oil Stadium show.

Forum: Music

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Lucas Oil Stadium, Chesney

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16 comments

concertfreak1965
concertfreak1965, September 14
0 votes

i dont like kenny chesney and wouldnt have wasted my time there yesterday. i went to xfest and had a blast. buckcherry and puddle of mud were the jam it is ashame that they rose gas priceses to $4.15 a gallon when hurricane ike didnt do much of nothing hope to see you next year at verizon mr.lindquiust now i,m not going to ac/dc nov 3 i,ll watch that show for free on youtube.and tickets are to pricy for that show

yoyobro
yoyobro, September 14
0 votes

Went to the concert and agree with the reporters. Sound was awful for the first performers. But when the roof was open, it was much better. Even in the nose bleeding seats (section 631). Warning: If you attend a concert there again and you sit in that section wear a hardhat, I had a welding rod hit me during the concert. All through through the concert, misc. stuff was falling from the ceiling above.

Besides those problems. I thought Urban and Chesney was great performers. It was great!.

lisascox
lisascox, September 14
0 votes

This was a great night of music! I saw the tour in July at an outdoor camp ground in Ohio, also. I sure wish Uncle Kracker would have stayed in the trailer park! lol Keith and Kenny are such superstars!

vgtlpn2@aol.com
vgtlpn2@aol.com, September 14
0 votes

I am sorry to say we left at arond 7pm after being told there was nothing to be done about the sound system. What a disapointment. Now to hear they were able to open the roof and get a better sound I am more dissapointed. When several had made suggestions at the ticket booth to open the roof we were told they did not have authority to open it and there fore nothing could be done. We waited until 7 and then left. Being there since 4 and not hearing the concert was a big bust. I had my tickets since july and traveled from Dayton so sorry we could not have been told sooner they would open the roof.

flan24
flan24, September 14
0 votes

Big disappointment couldnt make out anything they were saying the whole show, opening the roof didnt take care of the problem..alot of money spent on tickets and couldnt even enjoy the show...should be refunded money but we all know that wont happen...worst indoor concert ever attended...

toddzgrrl02
toddzgrrl02, September 14
0 votes

As if the poor sound wasn't bad enough (we were in the first row in the 600 level) we had a row of drunks behind us who kept sloshing their beer and other various drinks on us throughout the entire concert. Not only did they slosh drinks all down our backs, but they dropped entire cups of beer on the ground to splash down on us and kept us from being able to set anything down on the ground... Security came over once (after we complained) but it continued. Last call should come A LOT earlier when concerts start that early, and as I am quite sure many of the kids behind us were not 21, better ID checks should be going on at these events.

indy4life
indy4life, September 14
0 votes

We bought our tickets the day sales opened to the public. We arrived in the middle of Gary Allen's show and were astounded at how bad the sound was. I can't imagine how those who came for the beginning felt about what they were subjected to for hours. Poor Leann Rhimes' concert was a complete waste of my time but.............the power that be and a VERY patient Keith Urban & company straightened it out. The roof was open and it was obvious that Keith Urban and his band spent the first 20-30 minutes of their time on stage entertaining and communicating with the sound staff. By the time Keith sang his 4th song, the sound was as good as it was going to get....and that was pretty good. Kenny and his band were fantastic and the sound was never an issue while he was on stage. He spent a solid 3 hours on stage, was ringing wet with sweat when he left us at midnight and gave the show of his career........over all glad I spent the big bucks to take my family to the first concert at Lucas Oil Stadium.

nstettler
nstettler, September 14
0 votes

I totally disagree with the positive review of the show. Opening the roof, did nothing for the sound. We sat in section 640 and we could not make out any of the singing, could hear the drums though. We did not make it for the first two acts, so I am not sure, but who were those people that came out before Kenny Chesney? I can't call them a group, sounded more like followers of Charles Manson (helter skelter in there song). We left before Kenny Chesney had finished, since we could not hear his singing. We saw many others leaving the venue early, also. I was told by a vendor that the sound wasn't any better for the opening football game. We will not spend money to attend another concert at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Derk
Derk, September 14
0 votes

I've been to a couple hundred concerts through the years and very few were the same caliber as the Pirates and Poets tour! I have a pretty sensitive ear and could hear the the sound guys doing their best to tweak the sound while the roof was closed. However, something magical happened when the roof opened! I don't think it could've asked for much more from all of the artists. Now I know why Chesney has won entertainer of the year for the last four years!

acorlette
acorlette, September 14
0 votes

I think people went in expecting something grand, thats alot to expect of the first ever concert at Lucas... I knew if they would open the roof that would help some. I have been to 20 or more Kenny shows and this was by far one of the best ever. I was able to attend the University of Tennessee show in June 2003, and this was almost as good as that experience. I had friends in the 600 sections and heard all the same complaints from them about the sound, I bet it was horrible bouncing off the metal roof. Of course not much could be done about that, until they were able to open the roof and window. We need to remember this venue is a football stadium first and foremost, not a concert venue...... One more statement, no matter how good or bad your seats are, these shows are what you make them... I did have good seats (sec 128) and had a great time

kennyfan111
kennyfan111, September 14
0 votes

I read all of the reviews so far and I am not sure if we were all at the same concert. My seats were on the field right next to the sound board where the sound should be the best and it wasn't very good at all. That didn't really matter to me however...I really enjoyed the concert until about an hour into Kenny's set list. I went to the Kenny concert last year at verizon and it was an awesome concert. Last night I am not sure what Kenny was thinking but he should have stuck with his songs and kept the concert a little shorter. I agree with the person who thinks uncle cracker should have stayed home because I wasn't a big fan of his. I am not sure what all of you were thinking that kenny put on a good show...where any of you sober??? I think Keith Urban stole the show.

concertfan
concertfan, September 14
0 votes

I was in section 628. By far the very worst concert ever because of the sound. Never understood one word ANY of them said, even when the roof opened. Drove 4 hours, 125.00 in gas, 140.00 for a hotel room and the concert was terrible. Could have been great, awesome finish by Kenny but I don't think this was Uncle Krakker with him, Wasn't it a band member or something. The band that played before him (mostley Crue) were all his band members or road crew also.
This may be a football stadium first and foremost, but with sound like this, they should never hold another concert here.

j04rod
j04rod, September 15
0 votes

I had a GREAT time BUT Kenney did dissapointed me. He did not sing 2 of his hits "Anything But Mine" and "The Good Stuff"! And when Luke, LeAnn, and Gary preformed the sound was aweful! But when Keith and Kenney sang the sound was a little better. Uncle Cracker was AWESOME!! Other than that I thought the concert was GREAT!! Hopefully the sound gets better so Lucas Oil Stadium can have many more concerts!!

brutus4742
brutus4742, September 15
0 votes

I had and amazing time there. The sound was awful until Keith came on. I couldn't understand what Kenny's crew was saying when they were on. I was sitting in section 642, and while Kenny was performing my parents got up and walked around to see if they could find a better place that we could understand Kenny. They came back and got my friend and I and we moved to around section 635. If you are on the oppisite side of the stage then it was perfect. As long as you're opposite the stage it's GREAT!!! Can't wait to go back! Wish I could've undertood Luke and Gary better!

Cheval
Cheval, September 15
0 votes

I had Floor Sec H, which was pretty much the very center of the field, and although there was a lot of echo, the vocals for all the performers were fairly clear, I didn't really have any problem hearing them. For anyone who missed the opening act, BROTHER TROUBLE, or couldn't hear them because of the sound, go check them out on MySpace, cause they ROCK! Kenny was right on picking them as The Next Big Star winner!!!

bnschultz
bnschultz, September 15
0 votes

I also had seats on the floor and the sound was bad at first but got so much better when the roof was opened. For people who were not in there seats to find out anything about the group Mostly Crew, those are all his crew members that work very hard 7 months out of the year so we all can enjoy Kenny's shows, give them a break it their chance to have a little fun and if you would have been paying attention Kenny did a video intro for them. They started the tradition in Indianapoils 2 years ago when the last show of the tour was here. All of the people that were disapointed in the play list, IT WAS GREAT! Would you not get tierd of siging the same songs over and over agian for 6 months his last concert of the season is the best becasue it is so random you never know what you are going to hear, thats what makes him a great entertainer. And yes I was sober for the entire show.

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