Kenny Chesney Indianapolis Review

Well we're home from a weekend in Indianapolis, IN. We're every single form of tired that you can imagine – tired, exhausted, drained, and then some – and that can only mean one thing: the weekend was AWESOME!

The events got started on Friday evening when the Hard Rock Café hosted a pre-concert party with a performance by Brother Trouble. As we told you, Brother Trouble won the national talent competition, "The Next Big Star," and were awarded the opportunity to open the last 3 shows of the Poets & Pirates tour in addition to their opening for the tour at Nashville's LP Field back in July. The fans arrived early to form a line before the Hard Rock opened to make sure they had a spot inside. When we arrived, they were just opening the doors for the fans and there was already talk of being at capacity, so it was a good thing folks showed up early!

Before going into the Hard Rock, we were met by the owners of "The Next Big Star" competition, AbiJack Management. After chatting with them for a while and learning what a huge success this competition has been, we headed over to visit with Brother Trouble on their tour bus. We cannot say enough wonderful things about the boys of Brother Trouble…Mark & Jason are two of the nicest, most humble people and are so thankful of this opportunity. We conducted a videotaped interview with them including a special tour of the tour bus that was theirs for the week as a prize of the competition. We will be posting that for you later on this week.
After some more visiting and chatting, we headed inside the Hard Rock Café to enjoy the evening. The place was packed with country fans full of energy and anticipation of not only this great evening of music, but of the next day's final show of Kenny Chesney's Poets & Pirates Tour. To the delight of the crowd, Mr. Chesney made an appearance before Brother Trouble's performance to present them with their $25,000 prize money check. A very hoarse Kenny chatted with the crowd about the talents of Brother Trouble, presented the boys their check, posed for pictures with Brother Trouble, and stayed to sign autographs before heading out for the evening. The crowd was delighted at his appearance and it was a perfect adrenaline boost for the crowd to get geared up for Brother Trouble's performance.
Once the boys of Brother Trouble took the stage, they ROCKED the Hard Rock Café in downtown Indianapolis! Not only are the guys talented musicians, they know how to get a crowd fired up and rockin'…the crowd stuck right along with them until their performance was over, dancing and singing along with the music. The boys made a lot of new fans this weekend, and they are only beginning…we think you'll be seeing and hearing a lot from these guys in the future!
We woke up Saturday to overcast skies, but in true Kenny Chesney concert style, the clouds parted and the masses of fans were greeted with sunny skies for the entire day – it was only natural for the sun to be out on the last day of the summer tour! The parking lots were filled with tailgaters who were fully equipped with their music, food, drinks, grills, and pools. They had come for a fun time, and their tailgates were outstanding! For those folks looking to take a break from the tailgating, XM Radio had a stage setup in the parking lot where they were broadcasting live, with performances by Brother Trouble, Luke Bryan, and the man of the day, Kenny Chesney. All 3 acts gave the crowd a fun, music filled afternoon and it was a special treat for so many fans to catch such an intimate performance of these guys.

When it was time to enter the stadium, we were immediately impressed at what a beautiful facility Lucas Oil Stadium is. As you probably know, it is the brand new home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts and this was the first concert to ever be held there. There were some issues with the sound during the show – folks that were seated in the back or up high complained of echoing and not being able to understand the words. After LeAnn Rimes' performance, the retractable roof to the stadium was opened and that was said to have relieved much of the noise issue. Being that it was the first concert, it was a learning experience for members of the venue staff and we're sure that the folks at Lucas Oil Stadium will have the sound issues corrected before the next concert!

As they did at the Hard Rock Café and XM Radio stage, Brother Trouble rocked the house during their show opening performance. It was such a thrill for these two brothers to play their music at such a great facility filled with so many country music fans. They were simply honored and we can't wait for more fans to discover their talent!

Up next was Luke Bryan, and in true Luke fashion, he pumped up the crowd with his energizing performance. Of course Luke is a great singer, but we think his biggest gift lies in his ability to entertain a crowd, and he definitely did just that! We heard nothing but great things about Luke Bryan from the members of the crowd surrounding us. Everyone seemed excited to see and hear more of this rising star in country music.

Gary Allan was the next one to take the stage, and what a crowd pleaser he was! Gary has a lot of fans and they made it known that they were happy to see him on the bill. Gary belted out hit after hit and the crowd sang right along with him!
Fresh off a bout with tonsillitis, LeAnn Rimes was the next one to hit the stage with her amazing vocals. LeAnn seems very sweet and it is so obvious that she enjoys the fans. She was very interactive with the crowd – shaking a lot of hands and even taking time during her songs to sign autographs. It was nice to see someone so appreciative of the fans support.
Keith Urban was the next one to delight the crowd with his seemingly never-ending set of hit songs and spectacular guitar playing. Hit after hit, not after note, the fans cheered in support and appreciation for the talented Australian. Keith experience one minor unexpected event during his set when members of Kenny Chesney's crew bopped out onto the stage dressed in Kangaroo costumes, playing the guitar, and waving the Australian flag. Keith actually stopped singing because he was laughing so hard and then proclaimed to the crowd "it's like the last day of school out here!"
When it came time for the main event of the evening, the crowd was READY! When Kenny Chesney arose from the stage, the stadium full of 52,000 people exploded into cheers that never stopped until after midnight. Noting that it was the last show of the tour, Kenny told the crowd early on that they'd be doing things a little different that night.

Naturally Kenny stuck to the normal set with his own hits like "Summertime," "Beer In Mexico," "How Forever Feels," and "I Go Back," but at the time when a normal show would have ended, he broke out into so many of the bands favorite cover songs. They jammed out to "Rocky Mountain Way," "Blister In The Sun," "Dixieland Delight," "You Never Even Called Me By My Name," "With or Without You," and many others. Kenny often shared the spotlight and microphone with talented members of his staff and crew, and was also joined on stage by Keith Urban for a duet of "Take It Easy."

As tired as Kenny was getting, (he sat down a couple of times on the stage to catch his breath and momentum!) it was clear that he intended on leaving every ounce of energy that he had out on that stage.

When the fiddle finally fired up to Kenny's hit "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy," the crowd knew that this was the end of the 2008 tour. Kenny used this song as a fun moment to bring back Luke Bryan to the stage to sing along with him.

At the end of the song, still not wanting the party to be over, Kenny was joined on stage by many staff members, crew members, friends & family for pictures, hugs, and one final farewell to this highly successful tour.

Kenny was given two banners by fans down in the Sandbar to wrap up the show and the crowd roared in agreement when Kenny held them up to read "Thanks Kenny for a GREAT summer!" and "Love you Kenny, can't wait 'til next year!" It was a great idea by just a few fans, but it was a sentiment that was echoed by thousands!

We were fortunate enough to spend some time with a lot of great people this weekend and we want to thank everyone for making us feel so welcome…the folks at AbiJack Management, Corona, Hard Rock Indianapolis, XM Radio, as well as the entire teams of people with Brother Trouble, Luke Bryan and Kenny Chesney are all a class act, and we'd like to extend a big THANK YOU! Kenny Chesney has certainly surrounded himself with a respectful gang of people in every area and we don't want that to go unnoticed!