50,548 packed into Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on Saturday night for the year’s first Goin’ Coastal stadium show.

First appearing harnessed high above the 50-yard line, Chesney slowly zip-lined to the stage and tore off a few cookers, including Reality and Live Those Songs. The Tennessee star’s vocals were perilously low in the mix at first, a messy muddle for sure, but by the time Summertime and Beer in Mexico cha-cha’d around, the Sleeveless Wonder was coming in clear.

After working through the show with a similar set list to Thursday night’s show in West Palm Beach (except for “Me and You” replacing “There Goes My Life”), Chesney brought out the Zac Brown Band to rail off a few tunes.

Check out a photo gallery from the show at Tampa Bay Online.

(photo Chris Coyner)

It was opening night for Kenny Chesney and by all accounts, he rocked it in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Kenny kicked the show off with his latest single “Live a Little,” which climbed this week to number 14 on the Billboard Top Country Songs Chart. A few other songs from the new album were played, including “Reality,” “Coastal,” “Somewhere With You,” and “The Boys of Fall.”

There were also some surprise guests… Mishka joined Kenny for “Don’t Worry ‘Bout A Thing” and Florida boy Jake Owen helped KC out with “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.” And of course Uncle Kracker and Kenny performed “When The Sun Goes Down” together.

(photo by @ShelliB082507)

On Sunday night, Kenny Chesney played north of the border at the Craven Country Jamboree outside of Regina, Saskatchewan:

“We’ve been on the road since 1983 and I’m quite certain we’ve never played here … What a crowd. We needed you,” the 42-year-old Chesney told the audience.

“Several hours ago on that highway out there, we pulled up on the bus and I have never seen so many campers in my life. I told my buddies, ‘If that was us, I know what we’d be doing.’ ”

What he was doing was putting on a dynamic and high-energy performance that proved he’s earned his reputation as one of country music’s top live acts. Taking the stage in his trademark jeans, sleeveless T-shirt and white cowboy hat, Chesney got the blood flowing with “Beer In Mexico,” “Keg In The Closet,” “Big Star” and “Summertime.”

Chesney’s music is about more than just the lyrics and tune — it’s a philosophy of life. “Don’t Blink” is a perfect example of how Chesney views life: “This song is about doing exactly what we’re doing here tonight, living life to the fullest and taking nothing for granted.”

He also understands the nuances of day-to-day life, from having fun and enjoying life to finding the love of your life. So his set list included fun tunes like “Living In Fast Forward,” “Young” and “When The Sun Goes Down,” and emotional songs like “Anything But Mine,” “Never Wanted Anything More” and “How Forever Feels.”

It would have been easy for Chesney to sit on his laurels — his 17 No. 1 hits make for an impressive resume — but he worked the crowd like a newbie trying to develop a following. A big show needs a big band and Chesney came armed with a big band — 12 musicians, including a four-piece horn section. Chesney was constantly in motion, working both sides of the stage and zipping out onto the catwalk at every available opportunity.

View the set list for the show here.

Kenny Chesney played The Joint again Saturday night in Las Vegas. The set list was largely the same as Friday night’s show, though Chesney played two more songs on Saturday for a total of 28.

Here’s the full set list (thanks to Steve and Krysten):

1. Beer in Mexico
2. Keg in the Closet
3. Live Those Songs
4. Big Star
5. Guitars and Tiki Bars
6. Summertime
7. Ain’t Back Yet
8. Don’t Blink
9. Out Last Night
10. No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems
11. The Life
12. I Go Back
13. Anything But Mine
14. Old Blue Chair
15. On the Coast of Somewhere Beautiful
16. Key Lime Pie
17. There Goes My Life
18. Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven
19. Back Where I Come From
20. Living in Fast Forward
21. Young
22. Never Wanted Nothing More
23. When The Sun Goes Down
24. How Forever Feels

Encore

25. Hungry Heart
26. Don’t Happen Twice
27. Boston
28. She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy

Did you attend either show this weekend? How was it?

As you may have heard, Kenny Chesney played and played and played last Saturday night at The Joint in Las Vegas. Thanks to Steve, we have most, if not all of the set list from the show where Kenny rocked out 48 songs!

“We knew we were gonna be putting it up for another month, so we figured we’d go as long as they stayed… and we hit everything,” said Chesney. “I did ‘Hungry Heart’ acoustic… We played ‘I’m Alive’ for the first time, and ‘You Save Me,” half the Be As You Are record… a buncha covers form the Violent Femmes to Steve Miller… and we went and we went and they stayed and they stayed, and then we played some more.”

Here’s the set list (encores may not be in exact order):

1. Living In Fast Forward
2. Young
3. Ain’t Back Yet
4. Live Those Songs
5. Beer In Mexico
6. Keg In The Closet
7. Out Last Night
8. Guitars & Tiki Bars
9. No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems
10. I Go Back
11. Anything But Mine
12. Me and You
13. The Woman With You
14. Summertime
15. Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven
16. Never Wanted Nothing More
17. When The Sun Goes Down
18. Don’t Happen Twice
19. How Forever Feels

Encore

20. Pride & Joy
21. Ice Cream Man
22. Rocky Mountain Way
23. Take It Easy
24. Hungry Heart
25. Old Blue Chair
26. Blister In The Sun (w/ Tambo)
27. With Or Without You (w/ Tambo)
28. The Joker / Three Little Birds
29. I Get Carried Away
30. I Like It, I Love It
31. Last Dance with Mary Jane
32. I’m On Fire
33. Steamroller
34. Pretty Women
35. You Really Got Me
36. I Want My Rib Back
37. You Save Me
38. On The Coast Of Somewhere Beautiful
39. Drift Away
40. The Fireman
41. Life In The Fast Lane
42. Free Fallin’
43. Where Are You Going
44. You Never Even Call Me By My Name
45. Dixieland Delight
46. Gimme Three Steps
47. I’m Alive (w/ Tambo)
48. Big Star

If you were at the show and remember a song or two that was missed, please e-mail me.

Update – Several of you e-mailed to say that Kenny also played “Something Sexy About The Rain” and “Boston.” Thanks to all of you that passed that along!

Fresh off his CMT Crossroads taping in Nashville on Tuesday, Kenny Chesney made his way to Houston, Texas Thursday night for a show at Reliant Stadium. The performance was part of the multi-day Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo.

The set list was similar to what was played at many of last year’s shows. Check it out here.

The Houston Chronicle has an article on the show:

The country superstar kicked off his Thursday set at RodeoHouston with Beer in Mexico and Keg in the Closet, tunes that had cups in the air
– alcoholic and otherwise. (It was his first show of 2010.)

This was Chesney’s first time back on the spinning stage since 2005 and his sixth overall appearance. He was backed by a band that was a little bit country, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll and anchored by a horn section.

Chesney is an energetic performer, and his songs have connected in a big way with fans. He strummed a black guitar decorated with a skull and crossbones, pacing around the stage in a faded T-shirt and tight jeans.

Read the full article here.

Chesney’s next show will be in Las Vegas on May 14th, the first of four shows scheduled at The Joint at the Hard Rock in Sin City. View the 2010 tour schedule here.

(photo Mayra Beltran / Houston Chronicle)

Last night Kenny Chesney played at the new Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Salt Lake Tribute has a review of the show that focuses on the not-so-intimate venue: “Rio Tinto stadium dwarfs Kenny Chesney concert”

For years, country superstar Kenny Chesney has been one of the most popular touring acts of any genre, blurring the line between pop and country while making his shows feel like one big party at the beach.

He continued his shtick without adding many surprises to a near-capacity crowd at a sweltering Rio Tinto Stadium Thursday, but the biggest disappointment was that his bells-and-whistles show still revealed the limitations of the newest venue in Utah, Rio Tinto Stadium.

The sparkling, still-impressive Rio Tinto is not alone in its problems. It is like every other stadium in the United States, where the design of the venue is usually to accomodate sports, and music is secondary. Despite great acoustics and a huge set with state-of-the-art lighting and visual elements, the stage, positioned at the far south side of the stadium, makes each performer seem so much smaller. Even someone like Bruce Springsteen, or an Old Testament prophet, would feel overwhelmed and distant in such a stadium, and that important personal communion between artist and fan is lost.

Read the full review. The Tribune also has a photo gallery from the show that you can view here.

Also check out the set list from the show here (thanks to Mike K), which included an extended encore of cover songs.

Update – On our forum, thefewsnafu tells us that Mac McAnally was at the show and sang with Kenny on “Down The Road” and also on some of the encores.

The Sun City Carnival Tour took over the home field of the San Francisco Giants Saturday night as Kenny Chesney performed for 40,000 fans at AT&T Park. Sugarland was scheduled to play before Chesney but canceled because Jennifer Nettles apparently lost her voice in the recording studio:

Folks arriving Saturday for the big country show at San Francisco’s AT&T Park were greeted with a sign saying Sugarland — No. 2 on the bill behind Kenny Chesney — would not be performing because singer Jennifer Nettles had lost her voice in the recording studio.

The sign offered refunds but also stated that Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert and Chesney would play longer sets to make up for the absence. In actuality? Not so much. Chesney just pulled out his standard 90-minute set, and the whole evening was over by 10:40. Though the set was thoroughly professional and technically accomplished, and packed with familiar singalong hits — generally about partying, rose-colored nostalgia, the beach, or some combination thereof — it certainly lacked the sense of an event that last summer’s installment had, when Chesney was joined onstage by Sammy Hagar and Steve Miller. There wasn’t much magic.

View the set list from the show here.

Update – Full review from Mercury News: “Kenny Chesney is a pro, but his show at AT&T Park was a bit of a bummer”

The Sun City Carnival Tour roared into the Quad Cities on Thursday night as Kenny Chesney rocked the i wireless Center in Moline, IL.

The Quad City Times has a review of the show:

Somehow saying that Kenny Chesney put on a concert Thursday night at the i wireless Center seems inadequate.

The country superstar unleashed a flat-out mega-frat party in Moline, complete with extras seldom performed on his current “Sun City Carnival” tour, some of it admittedly in prep for Saturday’s concert at Soldier Field in Chicago.

“This is what you get when we get the next night off,” he announced to the 11,000 fans, in the middle of a free-for-all, all-classic rock encore.

Even leaving about a dozen of his hits out, he filled the nearly two hours with his songs, many of which are either celebrating a South Seas life of beer, sand and swimsuits or reminiscing about days gone by.

Read the full review here.

Check out the set list from the show here.

Next stop on the Sun City Carnival Tour is Chicago’s Soldier Field on Saturday.