Chesney ringleads greatest show on earth

Kenny Chesney’s Poets ‘amp; Pirates Tour features only country acts, but it rocked Heinz Field… Kenny Chesney’s Poets ‘amp; Pirates Tour features only country acts, but it rocked Heinz Field like only two other concerts in the stadium’s history – both of which were also headlined by Chesney.

Chesney brought his tour’s 55 semi-trucks and 28 buses to the North Shore for the third time in four years early Friday morning. Crews spent the better half of two days setting up the mammoth stage and 5,000 amps worth of power and sound equipment – enough energy to power a small neighborhood for a week. The concert has become an annual event in Pittsburgh, and it becomes more like a festival each year.

The festivities began late Friday evening at Station Square with a pre-concert party at Saddle Ridge and Chesney’s ‘Next Big Star’ battle of the bands at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Pittsburgh’s own NoMAD – short for North of Mason-Dixon – won the competition and the right to kick off the show at Heinz Field. It warmed up the crowd with its true country sound, which is an excellent mix of classic bluegrass and today’s mainstream country music. Its first single, ‘North of Mason Dixon,’ sounds like a Pittsburgher’s take on Alabama’s hit song, ‘Mountain Music.’

Prior to the show inside the stadium, many local acts were featured on Y108’s small stage outside the main gate and Froggy’s floating stage along the Ohio River.

But the main pre-concert activity was tailgating – and Chesney’s fans are experts.

The cars started rolling in as early as 8 a.m. Some brought sand and kiddie pools to coincide with Chesney’s island-themed songs, some dressed as Pirates, and nearly everyone brought plenty of alcohol – the intensity put even Steelers tailgating fans to shame.

Not even rain could stop the party as the concert started. Fans trickled in as Luke Bryan took the stage and danced around like only a country boy can, singing his Southern heart out.

Gary Allan was up next. His energy rivaled that of the headliner’s as he performed hits such as ‘Watching Airplanes’ and ‘Best I Ever Had.’ He embraced the squall of rain with his hit ‘Songs about Rain,’ and the fans enjoyed the appropriate downpour. Ironically, the rain ceased soon after that song and cleared up for the rest of the evening.

Country diva LeAnn Rimes was next, amazing the crowd – still growing by the minute – with her powerful vocals. She kicked off her set with her upbeat hits ‘Nothin’ Better to Do’ and ‘Family.’ She bounced around the stage until a minor ‘wardrobe malfunction’ encouraged her to calm down her dancing for the rest of the show.

The final accompanying act was superstar Keith Urban. Urban doesn’t need Chesney to help fill venues – he proved as much in November with his own sold-out show at Mellon Arena. The stadium was filled by the time he took the stage, and the familiar acoustic intro of ‘Days Go By’ flowed through the amplifiers.

Urban was energetic and working hard to entertain his fans, even jumping off the stage and wandering over to the stands before running back, slapping hands as he sprinted by.

After an appropriate pirate voice introduction, Chesney finally rose slowly out of the stage to ‘Live Those Songs Again,’ and the roar from the crowd might have been audible as far as Oakland.

The screaming fans never stopped cheering, and they rarely missed a word to his songs. He worked the stage like the superstar he is, proving why he is the four-time winner of ACM’s Entertainer of The Year award. He and his band played 13 fast-paced songs in a row, including ‘Summertime’ and ‘Beer in Mexico,’ before things finally slowed down with ballads such as ‘Better as a Memory’ and the crowd-pleasing ‘Old Blue Chair.’

The one time that the crowd stopped singing along with Chesney was during ‘Back Where I Come From.’ Instead of singing, the fans cheered mightily when his colossal big screen – twice the size of the stadium’s – showed a montage of sights around the city, including photos of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Stanley Cup run.

The front row of the concert became more of a rock ‘n’ roll atmosphere than country -more and more drunk girls continued trying to get closer to the man whose ‘Tractor’s Sexy.’

The security, however, was more than adequate, as none of these people stayed up front for more than a song or two.

Kenny Chesney is a hardcore country singer who put on a great, energetic show, but even more hardcore are his fans. When one woman’s camera died, she offered me $60 for batteries.

Having purchased a pack of AA’s the night before, not only did I witness the biggest and probably best concert of the year, I also walked out with more money than I had when I went in.