Kenny Chesney Talks Sphere Las Vegas Residency On The Tonight Show
(EBM) Sometimes when you've got good news, show up and share it with the world. For Kenny Chesney, notoriously circumspect about everything except his music, being only the sixth band - behind Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees U2, the Eagles and Dead + Company, plus jam force Phish and electronic artist Anyma - to bring their iconic sound to Vegas' Sphere was a strong reason to go to New York to talk, instead of play, music.
Having made the Sphere announcement at the start of "TODAY"'s 8:30 a.m. half hour, the East Tennessee songwriter/superstar stopped in at "The Tonight Show" to talk what made him take on the challenge of being the first country artist to play the groundbreaking venue, the fact he'd not seen a concert there before signing on and several good friends who share his penchant for creating and playing songs that touch people where they live, but also where they feel most alive.
"The great thing about Jimmy," Chesney said about the host, "is he's so musically curious, he always takes the conversation places you don't see coming. Lots of people have asked me about the story Taylor told in TIME, but he wanted to know if I recognized her massive impact when she was 17... Lots of people have asked about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame performance for Jimmy's induction, where I sang with James Taylor and Mac McAnally, but he understood what it meant to me on a soul level, and wanted to talk about how much we all miss him.
"That's the reason when we made the decision to go into this new dimension with our live experience, I knew I wanted to dig into it with Jimmy Fallon. He not only wanted to understand what the work was to create something that required being built from the ground up, he wanted to know what it feels like to be at one of our shows."
For Chesney, who has always relished a challenge, the idea of completely new visuals delivered in the highest possible definition on a screen that wraps all the way up and around the dome-shaped building was an opportunity to really consider what some of his most iconic songs mean. Known for its 167,000 individual speakers, which can be dialed in to each section with dazzling specificity, these 12 shows will allow No Shoes Nation to almost be consumed by the experience. Or as he joked earlier in the day, "Like they've never seen us before."
Beyond breakout stories in USA Today, Rolling Stone, People, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, as well as trades and music-centered publications, including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, POLLSTAR, HITS, Consequence, Holler, Music Mayhem and Billboard, Stereogum, RELIX, Hollywood Reporter and Britain's Daily Mail - plus radio across the nation -- all picked up the news.
Having extended his Billboard Country Airplay Chart record with "Take Her Home," his 33rd No. 1, plus a dozen personal stadium records on his 2024 Sun Goes Down Tour, Chesney's breaking ground and having fun taking No Shoes Nation into a whole new musical realm. "For people who consume this music so completely, I love the idea that now the music is going to consume No Shoes Nation with this full-on experience. There's never been anything so completely immersive - and I'm honored that we get to take No Shoes Nation into this space, really have fun and give all that positive energy an even deeper dimension."
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, Jan. 31 starting at 10 a.m. PT via KennyChesney.com, with various tiers of VIP travel packages offering early access to tickets now via KennyChesney.Vibee.com. Kenny Chesney Live at Sphere Las Vegas is presented by Blue Chair Bay Rum.
Kenny Chesney Live at Sphere Las Vegas
Thursday, May 22
Saturday, May 24
Sunday, May 25
Wednesday, May 28
Friday, May 30
Saturday, May 31
Wednesday, June 4
Friday, June 6
Saturday, June 7
Wednesday, June 11
Friday, June 13
Saturday, June 14
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