Trip Around The Sun

Yesterday Kris and I went out to a concert at Miller Park. It was Kenny Chesney’s “Trip Around The Sun” Tour. On the bill were, of course, Kenny Chesney, but also Old Dominion, Thomas Rhett, and a new artist by the name of Brandon Lay. I am not a huge fan of Kenny Chesney although I deo like his last two albums, and since I had always heard people saying that a Kenny Chesney concert was like the country music equivalent to a Jimmy Buffet show I thought we would give it a try.

First off, I don’t know what a Jimmy Buffet show is like, I have only heard stories, but I was expecting some sort of drunk-fest. It wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, people were tipping back drinks, but I didn’t see any falling over drunk people; it was more like having a good time with a few drinks. And even though it was the end of April, it was only about 39 degrees outside, so think you Milwaukee for putting a roof on the stadium.

The View from Our Seats

So the first guy up was Brandon Lay. He came out to some AC/DC, Hells Bells. Nice touch! His show was all pretty upbeat and I would classify it is country music with a touch of pop. I really thought he had a great voice and I enjoyed his music. I give him a thumbs up. When I went to look for his album/music, he doesn’t have any out. He has a few singles on iTunes, but that is it. Hopefully he gets a full album released soon, because a couple of the songs I liked are apparently not released.

Next up was Old Dominion. They have apparently been on tour with Kenny Chesney for two years. Sounds like they are his permanent opening act. I have heard several of their songs on the radio, and generally didn’t have much of an opinion of them other than I didn’t hate them. There is one song for sure I am not really a fan of, but I can’t remember the title. Overall, they were pretty good too. They played in the late afternoon sun coming thru the right field side windows, so they were all wearing sunglasses. Combined with the music, they gave off a vibe of sort of a late 70’s/early 80’s “cool”. Again, the music was very good. They didn’t have a whole a lot of interaction with the crowd, but still gave the impression they were having fun playing, and the crowd was having fun as well.

Thomas Rhett is someone that the girls like, I think more because he is young and cute. His show was good as well. I was surprised at how many songs of his that I knew. It must have been that I have heard them being played by the girls in the house. He did a little more interacting and talking to the crowd than Old Dominion. He also looked like he was having a good time performing, then again, who wouldn’t? His video board had some really nice photos during “Life Changes”.

Finally, Kenny Chesney came on. He did a pretty solid show. My one question is how can you name your tour the “Trip Around The Sun Tour” and then not play “Trip Around The Sun”? Kenny Chesney was very high energy. I get the feeling that he loves to perform. He had both Old Dominion and Thomas Rhett come out and join him on stage for songs, as well as David Lee Murphy who came out for two songs; maybe it was three? Kenny Chesney played straight thru for a good 90 minutes or so, not so much as stopping to take a breath except for when he brought out the other guys, and when he introduced his band. He had a pretty wide set list too; stuff from several albums.

So my take away from the show was it was good. I give it a thumbs up. Not sure if I would go back and see him again for what the tickets cost. Maybe if it was summertime and we were able to spend the day tailgating and having a good time before the show.