Itsy Bitsy Poets and Pirates

Not that a ton of you follow this blog... but in the event you check back every now and then (Link), then please accept my apologies for taking four months to update... Let's talk about Kenny Chesney!

We weren't gonna go to 08 Poet's and Pirates Tour. Tickets were over priced, the UofP has had terrible acoustics at the football games we've gone too, and really we only wanted to see Kenny and kinda Sammy Hagar. (The rest of the line up was Keith Urban, LeeAnn Rimes (sp?!), and one other one hit country wonder who's name totally escapes me now.) BUT... the week before the show, the ticket prices dropped (ticking off all the people in our section who paid double what we did!). A quick phone call to James and Megan, and we were in.

Weather was great the day of, and called for tailgating. James' Dodge Ram 1500 set up great with a grill and the Red White and Blue flying in the desert wind. Food for the day was pork ribs and burgers. Activities were country sing alongs and football... (see video)

In addition to James and Megan, we were joined by Tim (from the AHA) and Corey, and made new friends Leonard (who became Lester, Leroy, Larry, and Louie as the day went on) and his girlfriend. After about four hours the eight of us ditched the flip flops for boots and headed into the show.

The stadium website said Sammy Hagar was not doing a set... they were wrong, cuz he was on stage singing when we walked in. Not that I saw any of his show because I spent the better part of an hour waiting to buy two beers... the crowd was massive - lines were awful. From what I heard from the drink line, I didn't recognize any Van Halen, which was a bit of a let down.

By the time I got back to the seats, they were setting up Keith Urban. I'm gonna stand corrected on this one... Keith Urban put on a good show. I didn't know all the songs, but I do remember thinking that he was rocking pretty good, and had everyone on their feet for ninety minutes. I might stop skipping stations when he comes on the radio from now on.

Our seats were 100 level, 20 rows deep looking over the crowd at the stage from the back of the floor. If I'd have tried to bum rush Kenny, I would have been exhausted by the time I hit the sound booth. BUT, the stage was massive. Easily took up the width of the football field.

Finally the lights went down and there was some pirate cackling and chains and an animated kenny flag waving on the jumbo tron... then the world's shortest country star came on. I have no idea what the opening song was, but throughout the night, he rocked out "Beer in Mexico," "Shift Work (with no cameo from Hagar or Urban)," "Fast Forward," and "Don't Happen Twice." "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem" did it's job, and truly made the 40,000 people there feel like they were far away on a beach. It was cool. Uncle Kracker made an appearance for "When the Sun Goes Down," and they parlayed that into his song, "Follow Me" which the crowd sang in acapella at one point. He slowed it down for "Don't Blink" and "Better as a Memory."

My personal favorite on the night was "Back Where I Come From." He spliced in some local Phoenix footage on the jumbo tron during this one, and everyone got all jacked up even though no one that lives in Phoenix is actually FROM Phoenix. He closed with "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy."

The show was definitely huge, the lights were great, the jumbo tron did it's job, and Kenny put it all out there to really make us enjoy every minute. If I had it to do over again, I would have wanted seats on the floor, closer to the stage. Kenny was seriously a tiny dot over 110 yards away. The U of P Stadium is a terrible venue. I've been to two football games there, and now one concert... the cement just echoes the sound in every direction, and even with the roof open it makes clarity hard to find.

In another four months or so, I'll tell you how great the Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw, and Brooks n' Dunn Shows were!!!