(EBM) Five weeks of lining up lighting cues... playing with the set list... pulling out some old favorites... working out a couple surprises... tweaking the video for the screens... and mostly, having fun honing one of the tightest, high-energy playlists in the nation, Kenny Chesney called it a wrap twelve days before his Sun Goes Down 2024 Tour kicks off at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium. With the show already selling out - and more tickets being found and released all day Friday - the man the Minneapolis Star Tribune calls "country's king of stadium concerts" is fired up about getting his summer started.
"The third happiest day of the year is when we load out of rehearsals," says the East Tennessee songwriter/superstar, "because it means we're ready to do the single greatest thing in the world: rock No Shoes Nation. Every year, it's the small tweaks that can give us pretty major rewards when it comes to reaching the people all the way back beyond the pirate ship at Raymond James! And that's a very good feeling to have, knowing what's ahead.
"And having had my biggest show there last time we played, the idea we were having to find more tickets for No Shoes Nation... That says they're gearing up to come hard, too. It sets a bar for how we wanna bring the music, and after missing a year, we're gonna try to bring some very serious heat."
Having spent last summer doing the more stripped down I Go Back 2023 Tour of those arenas and markets where he first rose to major headlining status, the only country artist to be on Billboard's Top 10 Touring Artists of the Last 25 Years for the past 15 years is ready to gear up the major parking lot parties, stadium-sized guitar parts and an exchange of energy like no other.
"Last year's tour really reminded me of the power of so many of the songs I've written or found and recorded," Chesney says. "In an arena, it's more intimate - and there's room for the song to breathe and come back to you. In a stadium, what you get back is all the energy, all the voices, all the excitement. So I think Sun Goes Down will have some of that nuance in the songs to go along with all of the power and love coming off our stage."
Running through an unprecedented three nights - August 23, 24, 25 - in what has become a No Shoes Nation tour-ending tradition at Foxborough, Mass.'s Gillette Stadium, the man the Wall Street Journal called "The King of the Road" is ready for action. In training since the top of the year, he's just wrapped "the most fun year of rehearsals ever - and can't wait to play."
Kenny Chesney's Sun Goes Down 2024 Tour
with Zac Brown Band, Megan Moroney & Uncle Kracker
April 20 Tampa, Fla. - Raymond James Stadium
April 27 Charlotte, N.C. - Bank of America Stadium
May 4 Minneapolis, Minn. - U.S. Bank Stadium
May 9 The Woodlands, Texas - The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion^
May 11 Arlington, Texas - AT&T Stadium
May 16 Hollywood, Fla. - Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino^
May 18 Atlanta, Ga. - Mercedes-Benz Stadium
May 25 Landover, Md. - Commanders Field
May 30 Syracuse, N.Y. - Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview^
June 1 Pittsburgh, Pa. - Acrisure Stadium
June 6 Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio - Blossom Music Center
June 8 Philadelphia, Pa. - Lincoln Financial Field
June 13 Maryland Heights, Mo. - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre^
June 15 Chicago, Ill. - Soldier Field
June 20 Noblesville, Ind. - Ruoff Music Center^
June 22 Milwaukee, Wisc. - American Family Field
June 27 Darien Center, N.Y. - Darien Lake Amphitheater^
June 29 Cincinnati, Ohio - TQL Stadium*
July 6 Kansas City, Mo. - GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium
July 11 Boise, Idaho - Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater^
July 13 Seattle, Wash. - Lumen Field
July 16 Salt Lake City, Utah - America First Field*
July 18 Wheatland, Calif. - Toyota Amphitheatre^
July 20 Los Angeles, Calif. - SoFi Stadium
July 24 Phoenix, Ariz. - Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre^
July 27 Denver, Colo. - Empower Field at Mile High Stadium
Aug. 3 Nashville, Tenn. - Nissan Stadium
Aug. 8 Columbus, Ohio - Historic Crew Stadium*
Aug. 10 Detroit, Mich. - Ford Field
Aug. 15 Bangor, Maine - Maine Savings Amphitheater^
Aug. 17 East Rutherford, N.J. - MetLife Stadium
Aug. 23 Foxborough, Mass. - Gillette Stadium
Aug. 24 Foxborough, Mass. - Gillette Stadium
Aug. 25 Foxborough, Mass. - Gillette Stadium
* Megan Moroney and Uncle Kracker only
^ Megan Moroney only
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