Kenny Chesney Concert Review Madison WIThe following Kenny Chesney Concert Review Madison WI review was re-printed with permission. As the opening chords of his current hit "Summertime" kicked off his near-sellout show at the Kohl Center on Thursday night, you knew Chesney had finally found the right season to be in town. From "Summertime" to "Beer in Mexico" to "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problems," the show at times resembled a twangier version of Jimmy Buffett's annual pilgrimages to Alpine Valley in East Troy to commune with his Parrotheads. Chesney's current "The Road and the Radio" tour is one of the biggest of the year, in any musical genre, and playing for a crowd of 14,000 or so like the Kohl Center holds is now considered a "smaller" gig for him. No shirt or shoes is no problem for Kenny Chesney. There's no question that Chesney's easygoing sound pulls in both country and non-country fans, although some traditional country fans grouse that Chesney is too lightweight, a tropical smoothie among cold beers. (Note to Kenny: Showing video footage before the show of you hanging out with Sammy Hagar isn't helping.) But Thursday's high-energy show seemed to indicate that Chesney is moving back to more of the pure country sound that he first burned up the charts with. And he remains a truly magnetic performer, totally at ease in front of a huge crowd, feeding off their energy on an uptempo song and holding them rapt for a ballad. For the opening "Summertime," Chesney appeared on a tiny stage at the back of the arena while his band played at the other end, then hopped on a giant swing that conveyed him over the heads of screaming fans to the main stage. It set a benchmark for energy that Chesney kept up for the first half of the show, running back and forth like a bronzed jackrabbit as he sang. He actually seemed a little too wired to slow down and really sell the tender "There Goes My Life" midway through the set. Toward the end of the set, the transition from rowdy party songs to ballads was handled more smoothly, with a show highlight being "Who You'd Be Today," a moving salute to departed loved ones. Chesney told the audience before the song that he was dedicating it to a close friend who had died just three days earlier, and he seemed visibly choked up as he sang. At the other end of the spectrum were three songs Chesney did with a special guest, country-rock rapper Uncle Kracker, including the raucous "Cowboy" by Kracker's old boss, Kid Rock. It was a lot of fun, although it seemed odd to see a former chart-topper like Kracker working for 12 minutes a night on Chesney's tour. Did Kid Rock give Kracker to Chesney as a wedding present or something? Rob Thomas is a reporter for The Capital Times in Madison, WI and can be reached at the following address. E-mail: rthomas@madison.com Published: August 4, 2006 Article reprinted here with authors permission.
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