Chesney / Church: How Forever Feels

Saved two months

Bought a little diamond

Tonight’s the night

Feels like perfect timing

“She said yes! She said yes!”

The boys of summer

After seven consecutive years playing Heinz Field, Kenny Chesney is right when he says that attending his shows has become a summer tradition. The 58,000 fans who sang along to every last word all appeared to have made that tradition theirs.

It’s just as well that they sang along, because it didn’t seem as though Chesney’s mic was working all that well — it picked up the upper register of the choruses well enough, but the verses suffered intermittent loss all night. The Inky Jukebox has attended three Chesney shows, and this time, the sound balance favored the guitars so much that every performer’s vocal suffered.

This technical difficulty didn’t stop the love, however. The last time The Inky Jukebox saw the Eli Young Band play, we had our hands on the stage. They have since had enough hits to bring the pre-show audience alive. 

Eric Church tore it up, delivering a blistering set that translated admirably to such a vast venue. He seemed genuinely taken aback by the roar of voices singing along.

Chesney did what he does best: drop a solid two-hour set crammed to the gills with hit after sing-a-long hit. Behind him, a supermoon rose from the Pittsburgh skyline in an arc to center stage, providing an enormous celestial spotlight.

These boots / Have counted off many a band...

Halfway through his set, a young man seated two rows down from The Inky Jukebox proposed to his pink-hatted girlfriend, and she said yes. Much high-fiving with everyone around him ensued, he wearing a giant smile and declaring how happy he is. The good spirits defined the crowd, many of whom had been partying for days in advance of the show, in boats parked 13-deep outside the stadium at the head of the Ohio.

Sitting outside in the heat at midnight, having stopped for a soft-serve on the way home, an old man saw The Inky Jukebox’s hat and asked if we’d been to the Kenny Chesney show. The Inky Jukebox said yes. “Lucky dogs,” he replied.

He was right.

Come On Over!

Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)

In the porno video for his new single, “Come On Over,” Kenny Chesney helms the largest, shiniest waterborne penis motorboat you’ve ever seen in a country music video. It’s the kind of metal yacht that only rap stars billionaires rent own. He’s all alone, moodily piloting it dressed like a GQ model guy with a stylist. The stylist is probably responsible for getting him to ditch his eponymous cream straw hat, so that we see his bald noggin.

The storyline appears to be that a very rich lonely guy wants a girlfriend — specifically the comely brunette seen swimming in a bikini. Somehow she magically appears on his boat, where they have fun jumping into the water, paddling on surfboards, making out on a bed and having sex in the shower.

Hang on, Kenny’s having sex in a shower? You heard right. He’s getting up to all sorts of intimate shenanigans in this one. It’s like his publicist said enough’s enough with the gay rumors already! Get Kenny boy laid! In between he plays piano! Earnestly! Damn!

If you’ve ever seen Kenny Chesney in real life, you’ll know he’s a little, sweaty, tight nubbin of a guy with a cut-off shirt, jeans and a hat.

Exhibit A

Here at The Inky Jukebox, we kinda like black and white Kenny-on-a-boat. Keep up the good work, Blue Chair Records! Or just keep it up. 

(In case you were wondering where the title came from, it's this classic:

Blisters in the Sun

Brothers (and Sister) of the Sun: Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and Grace Potter, Heinz Field June 30, 2012

Heinz Field - great place to see a show

Early in Tim McGraw’s set, the woman sitting next to me leaned over and asked “do you think he goes tanning?”

The man in white

The Inky Jukebox opens with this because it seems to sum up something very interesting about the Brothers of the Sun tour — those compatriots being the aforementioned Mr. McGraw and his longtime pal Kenny Chesney. Billed as a co-headliner, the tour (and everyone attending it) nevertheless implicitly understands that there is no parity here — all is not equal under this particular sun. McGraw is opening for Chesney, and anyone who doubts that ought to come out and see for themselves.

A tanned Tim McGraw in his Christian Grey jeans

But back to the tanning. She asked this because of the deep chestnut color of McGraw’s skin, which was emphasized nicely by his choice of all-white, tight-fitting clothing. Surely this is a shade not achieved in nature? We do not think McGraw goes tanning, no. Not in the way she envisioned, in any case. Does McGraw care about his tan, however? Hells yes. The difference between McGraw and Chesney is that Chesney popped out of his center-stadium podium in a sleeveless grey shirt with a small sweat stain already darkening it — a few songs later it was soaked through. Did he change it? No.

Honey Badger don't care about being sweaty

It was odd seeing McGraw do his set in the sunlight — after years of closing shows in the prime spotlight, it was a bit sad to see him deliver “Live Like You Were Dying” without the dramatic assistance provided by darkness and lighting. (And by "sunlight," we mean scorching 100 degree solar glare. Hence the aptness of their cover of "Blister In The Sun.") His set was also weighted with too many unfamiliar tracks — ending with his new single “Truck, Yeah,” which is far too easy to simply call “Truck, NO.”

But lo, what light from yonder spotlight breaks? Why, 'tis a brother of the sun 

Add to that the fact that there were still too many yellow seats waiting for their tailgaters and the sheer volume of the crowd once Chesney appeared, and you got the feeling that the torch had been passed — and not just on this tour, but perhaps years ago.

Bring your beach balls, y'all

This show marked a historic precedent, which was marked by the presentation of an iron plaque celebrating Chesney’s sixth straight sold out show at Heinz Field. This is notable because although Chesney is obviously a friend of football, and has made stadiums his own stages all across the country, it genuinely feels as if the Heinz crowd responds in a special way. Perhaps this is also because Chesney has the gift of actually sounding genuine when he speaks to the crowd. It goes a very long way.

Raucous, drunken crowd enjoying the show

Chesney also knows a very significant thing about his audience: we come to have a good time, and to hear his greatest hits. This, he delivers, one after another, the entire show.

In the morning he'll be leaving, taking himself off to Cleveland, but for now he's mine, all mine

Jack-in-the-box

It is bookended by “Beer In Mexico” and “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy,” the opening violin strains of which whip the crowd into a frenzy.

Where's Kenny?

But the awesome spectacle of a Kenny Chesney concert was not necessarily the highlight of the evening — it was Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Because they haven’t had a hit single, and folks only really know of Potter through her duet “You and Tequila” with Chesney, it seemed odd that she would go on after Jake Owen, who has had numerous hits. But as soon as Potter strutted out on stage dressed in what looked like a low-cut black bathing suit and flimsy wrap, her ridiculously long legs amped up on heels, singing by herself, unaccompanied — the half-full stadium immediately sat up and paid attention. Her entrance was astonishing — as was the entire set, where she played keyboards, a sweet Flying V, and drums, all the while delivering a husky-voiced blistering serving of blues rock. By the time she shook her stuff to ZZ Top’s “Tush,” The Inky Jukebox was sold. What was this girl like in high school? Wow.

Country girls and boys gettin' down on the stage

Kenny Chesney delivers nothing but monster hits

Tuskegee Homecoming

The Return Of Lionel Ritchie (With Friends)

They say that 99% of people admit they sing along to Lionel Ritchie songs when they come on the radio, and the other 1% are lying. Of all Ritchie’s contemporaries, he appears to have survived the ravages of time (and fame, wealth and plastic surgery) the best. In fact, the fame, wealth and hair dye mean that he looks better than he did when his hit making years were at their peak. This is also because he no longer wears jumpsuits and a combed out afro. But it’s not just about looks: on stage he appears limber, energetic, and in full voice has not lost any of his high notes. The same cannot be said, say, of his partner in crime, Kenny Rogers (who curiously, looked to the the exact same shade of orange as Lionel Ritchie on the CBS Special. For a taste of pre-surgery Kenny, see below).

Ritchie could easily sit back and enjoy his $200 million fortune, but no. Someone very savvy has decided that it’s time he hitched himself to the country music bandwagon and re-recorded his greatest hits alongside country’s hottest stars. The album, Tuskegee, named after the city of his birth, has been met with wild success, galloping to number one right out of the gate.

There is no reason to re-record these timeless hits unless it is to give them  makeover, or perhaps to see how other people sing them. He’s half done this. In interviews, Ritchie describes how wonderful working with these singers was, though a revealing pattern emerges; the country stars, chomping at the bit to take on these songs, all seem to have done such good jobs that no room was left for Ritchie on the tapes. But this, being a duets album, Ritchie has inserted himself very prominently on all of the tracks, opening them up and taking the big notes. It’s a bit like going to a concert where the conductor jumps into the orchestra to take turns playing all the instruments.

We already know how Ritchie sings these songs — brilliantly, memorably. And though the songs are very listenable, I suspect The Inky Jukebox is not the only listener who wishes we could simply hear his guests do their thing. While some songs sound like really really good karaoke — essentially the same arrangement as the originals, others have been totally overhauled to amazing effect. The standout example is “Hello,” a song much lampooned as a pathetically drippy ballad, which is here transformed by Jennifer Nettles into a rousing up-tempo number. One suspects Ms. Nettles simply overwhelmed Ritchie’s ego with the power of her voice.

A wasted opportunity is the remake of “Lady,” the blockbuster hit Ritchie originally wrote for Kenny Rogers, which is here sung by … Kenny Rogers.

Other songs are revelations, the full power of which was only seen on the concert performed by these artists which was aired on CBS. Jason Aldean’s “Say You, Say Me,” another of the middle-of-the-pack Ritchie songs was given new life with his reedy voice and honky-tonk delivery, something not found on the recorded track, which Ritchie disappointingly brings back into the framework of the original.

Kenny Chesney’s ability to sing a love song is something The Inky Jukebox would like to have heard more of — the whole song, say — with “My Love.”

While Shania Twain does nothing much for “Endless Love” on the album, the duet featuring Marc Anthony and Sara Evans really stood out on the concert broadcast. This is the best Evans has sounded in a TV broadcast in a long time.

Ultimately, it’s wonderful to hear these songs again, and Tuskegee is an album worth having. The Inky Jukebox just wishes it wasn’t such a one-horse race, and that the guests didn’t have to jockey for position in the studio. It’s Easy. Sadly, the album does not feature Big & Rich singing "Brick House." 

Here's Tim McGraw doing "Sail On" as part of his live show last summer.

Kenny Chesney V The Band Perry

Entertainer of the Year

Now THAT's funny. 

First off, let's acknowledge that Brad and Carrie are the real Entertainers of the Year. 

Now that awards season is doling out gongs for the year’s achievements, The Inky Jukebox would like to take a moment to reflect on two phenomena.

The first concerns last night’s CMA Awards at which The Band Perry walked away with three major awards. Fair enough: when it comes to an individual song it comes down to personal preference and all the nominations were good. But should they have won Best New Artist among such a stellar company? Absolutely not. Are they better than Eric Church, who has three incredible albums to back up his claim? No. 

But, I hear you say, does that also mean that Taylor Swift should not have won Entertainer of the Year? Nope. Taylor Swift, by any measure, put on one of the best spectacles of the year, touring her little ass off with a truly entertaining concert. She deserved to win for the second year in a row. Chances are good, however, that any act that pulls the kind of numbers she did by touring stadiums, will generate enough fans to drive votes in this category. Here's a taste of why she won:

Hey — it’s how Kenny Chesney won so often. Which brings us to issue two: Kenny Chesney’s show. He wasn’t nominated for much, yet put out one of the year’s best albums, and had (and continues to have) hits off it, supported by a grand tour which took four acts out on the road all summer. He entertained me all year long. So how come he wasn’t nominated?

Well, it’s because he’s already won it and folks want to cheer for someone else for a change. This does not mean that they love him any less, however. The Inky Jukebox went to a lot of shows this year — though not Brad Paisley’s one-two punch with Vocalist of the Year Blake Shelton, because they cancelled their Heinz Field show (still no explanation boys?) — and the Kenny Chesney Experience rocked the dust off all of them (Taylor coming a close second).

Why is this? Kenny Chesney is a little peanut-looking fella. It feels distinctly naff to like him. Yet his stadium show provided a whole day of stellar entertainment with four acts you’d want to see, and made use of the venue to great effect. The Zac Brown band, his “support” act, are worth the price of admission alone. But the crowd who comes to see Kenny are there because they’ve been to one of his shows before and have resolved to always buy a ticket whenever he comes to town. This is real fan loyalty. What it produces (apart from guaranteed ticket sales) is the sound of 60,000 people singing along to every single word at the top of their lungs — an exhilaratingly uplifting experience. In short, the show is truly entertaining; it’s a rockin’ good time.

This is reflected in his release of live albums and especially in his latest video for “Reality,” which is a montage of clips from his tour. It is well done and gives you a taste of why it matters not if he wins yet another trophy: he’s already won.

Kenny Chesney / Zac Brown Band / Billy Currington / Uncle Kracker

When The Sun Goes Down At Heinz Field...
Going Coastal Tour, Pittsburgh July 2nd, 2011

If you were one of the many thousands of (mostly drunken) people partying your ass off in the bleachers at Heinz Field this Saturday at the marathon Going Coastal extravaganza, you may not have noticed that the entire concrete and steel overhang on which the bleachers rest was bouncing. Of course, if you were as drunk as these folks, solid ground feels like it’s bouncing too. What I’m talking about is the kind of movement you get from an earthquake — one of those “HOLY SHIT! The ground is rocking” moments. This, I can assure you, is immediately followed by the realization that this thought could be your last, as the part of the stadium you are in collapses under circumstances the engineers had not envisioned: Kenny Chesney. Then you come to your senses and think, “Whatev. What a way to go.”

Let The Inky Jukebox tell you something about what happens when Kenny Chesney comes to town. A giant vortex sucks in hardcore party people from several states and deposits them at the stadium, where they tailgate like there’s no tomorrow from the crack of dawn until— well, tomorrow. If your stadium happens to be adjacent to a major waterway, expect to find boats moored 6-deep for miles, with canopies on the boardwalks shading fans who have dedicated themselves to a lifestyle where the dress code is a bikini, cornhole boards are sacred, and redemption can be found at the bottom of a red dixie cup. These people are already a deep brown early in the season, and probably recite the lines to Jimmy Buffett songs in their sleep.

Kenny Chesney’s got a reputation for putting on a hell of a show, and these folks know it. They will have missed out of they waited to enter the stadium until he came on however, because he has three other acts with him that were worth the price of admission alone.

Uncle Kracker breaks the ice with a half-hour set that features everything you’d expect him to sing: all his hits plus a healthy smattering of his well-known covers, including Dobie Grey’s “Drift Away” and Kenny Rogers’s “The Gambler.” He also breaks out his good friend Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long,” which drives the crowd nuts.

After a very brief intermission, Nashville hottie Billy Currington takes the stage for a longer set. “Pretty Good At Drinking Beer” in particular appeals to everyone. What sets them on fire though, is a song everyone knew the words to and sings with gusto: “People Are Crazy.” (An Inky Jukebox Top Tip: If you want to write a real crowd-pleaser, include beer and get folks to admit they do insane shit. It’s a winner every time.)

It’s a bit of a misnomer to call this Kenny’s Tour, because it really has two headliners. The Zac Brown Band play a 90-minute set that could very well be an entire show. If you ever get a chance to see them play, DO SO. They are a phenomenal band live, not only because the vocalists’ harmonies are a thing of utter beauty, but because they know how to deliver live tunes peppered and seasoned with extra jams that cleverly blend in covers and other musical styles (in this case, reggae, perfect for summer). These guys also know how to cover a stage, running about from one end to the other like someone stuck a firecracker in their pants. Crowd favorites include the ballads “Highway 20 Ride” and “Colder Weather,” and the summertime ode “Toes.” They had everyone on their feet with their hats to their hearts for “Free” (with “Into The Mystic”), which felt just right, this being Independence Day Weekend. They ended with “Chicken Fried,” the crowd signing along with such rampant enthusiasm it was deafening.

What The Inky Jukebox loved seeing was what a live wire master musician Clay Cook is. When he’s not playing keyboards (“America the Beautiful” brought the house down too) he’s being an Axe God, for which he’s given his due with a long solo played out on the stage extension on a beautiful Les Paul Goldtop. When he plays he puts his whole body into it and makes an awesome guitar face. We also love the new song “Sweet Annie.”

When it’s time for the evening’s big hitter to come on, so does the volume; the opening chords to “Live A Little” echo around the stadium as if it was a glass at a wedding being tapped with a knife to announce a speech; the whole place rings and vibrates. The Inky Jukebox would like to point out at this juncture exactly WHY this is the perfect song to open a concert with; it’s not just that the intro is long, allowing anticipation to build until the inevitable crescendo yanks the curtain up — it’s because it is the introduction to AC/DC’s “For Those About To Rock” and The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” mixed together. Check it out:

Once Kenny hits the stage he does not stop. He sang his guts out for 2 hours and forty minutes, and The Inky Jukebox can safely say it was the loudest show she’s ever experienced (beating previous Loudest honorees WAR-era U2 and Crazyhorse by a mile, which is impressive seeing as The Inky Jukebox was at the opposite end of the field, and it was an open-air venue). This is not simply because the amps were cranked to breaking point, but because they were accentuated by 53,000 people singing along to every single word at the top of their lungs. An hour after the show The Inky Jukebox was still a little deaf.

Interestingly, Chesney didn’t give us much of his latest album, the excellent Hemingway’s Whiskey, filling the set list with a Greatest Hits collection, which STILL only covered half of what he could have included. He saved the superb “The Boys of Fall” for his encore, though this was a show for which the encore was NOT the end; both Uncle Kracker and The Zac Brown Band came back for an extended duet set after Chesney was finished.

Uncle Kracker came back out for “When The Sun Goes Down,” and stayed for a rousing rendition of “Cowboy,” with Chesney taking Kid Rock’s part. The local paper that shall not be named because they sent an intern to cover the show concluded that the tired fans were weary of The Zac Brown Band and Chesney’s monumental closing mash-up that included covers of Steve Miller, Tom Petty and Bob Marley among others, so gave it a weak reception.

Nothing could be further from the truth which is why they should have sent The Inky Jukebox instead; on the contrary, the crowd (most of whom stayed till the very last echo bounced off the seats) freaked out with joy. The Inky Jukebox suspects that the intern (being a college junior) was not old enough to recognize the songs, and therefore found the jam mystifying. The majority of the audience, however, consisted of people old enough to remember these songs when they first came out (The Inky jukebox included) and could therefore understand and appreciate the homage it was.

Of note was Chesney’s performance of “The Boys of Fall,” his anthemic love song to football, the video of which became such an iconic collection of images that it spawned it’s own documentary. Chesney preceded it by speaking directly to the Pittsburgh fans who were chanting “Here we go Steelers, here we go.” He mentioned how special it was to sing the song in Heinz Field (home of the Steelers), which delighted the crowd no end. The cheer that went up when the Steelers footage playing behind him came on was perhaps the loudest of the night. Chesney actually cracked up with emotion when singing (notice that, intern?); he could have been singing a spiritual for all the fans cared — three half naked boys in front of The Inky Jukebox all hugged up unselfconsciously, took off their hats and crushed them to their hearts, and held their other arms up in the air waving gently and swaying as if in church.

It’s clear why Chesney has been named Entertainer of the Year so many times; he’s earned it and continues to earn it every time he plays. This show was worth every penny, especially when you consider that you got four top-name acts or your buck.

(On the slow descent down the ramps exiting the stadium, The Inky Jukebox can report that a passionate chant of “Fuck You Jagr” could be heard reverberating off the concrete. Hey; it’s a sports town.) 

Drinking Songs About Drinking

Make It A Stiff One

Ever since cavemen invented guitars and someone took a chance on that nasty fermented stuff swishing around at the bottom of a flask and discovered the twin  joys and perils of alcohol, music has served as a vehicle for sharing some of the lows experienced as a result of hitting the bottle. The woes of booze is a subject whose genesis has found a particularly rich history in country music, which has never shied away from songs that celebrate the many ways one can fuck up in life.

Putting together a list of Alcohol Blues is a difficult task because there are so many songs to choose from; one could compile a Top Ten from David Allen Coe and/or Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard and George Jones and Johnny Cash alone. OK, individually. Whiskey features prominently, as you’d expect, but so does Tequila, and let’s not forget George Jones’s “White Lightning.”

Therefore, The Inky Jukebox presents this list of ten Drinking Songs that you might have overlooked. The list has been narrowed down by these criteria: the song must be about something that has gone or will go badly wrong as a result of drinking, and it isn’t simply about beer. You could have a list about beer all by itself. Usually, though, songs about beer are happy and involve partying and having a good time at the bar with babes. Likewise, this list avoids, where possible, songs written about bars or being at a bar — there are plenty of those too. 

This is not a happy list. This is a cautionary tale.

• “Alcohol” – Brad Paisley

That being said, we’ll start with a humorous take from a song whose title needs no explanation. It’s an instant classic, and this video is a compilation from Paisley’s 2010 H2O tour, where the song proved to be a rowdy, raucous finale for an audience of very drunken people who have paid more than the price of admission for cheap beer and/or those hideous “frozen concoctions” that help one hang on. (To what? Not your dignity, that’s for sure. Ladies.)

• “Sometimes A Man Takes A Drink” – Trace Adkins

Trace Adkins sings this beautifully, but The Inky Jukebox can’t find him doing it on YouTube, so here is the song’s co-writer Larry Cordle doing it at a WSN event. All good country songwriting features juxtapositions; this song makes the most of a clever twist: “Sometimes a man takes a drink / but sometimes a drink takes a man.” So true, brother, so true.

• “Ten With A Two” – Kenny Chesney

Originally written by Willie Nelson (who let’s face it in the looks department, rates nearer two than ten), this version by Kenny Chesney punches it up with steel drums and swinging horn section that would probably make your head explode if you had the kind of hangover he indicates here. An homage to the danger of donning beer goggles, y’all.

• “Whiskey and You” – Tim McGraw (Chris Stapleton)

In country music, the reason men drink themselves silly is because of some woman. Either she left him or she won’t. Thus the poor chap ends up finding solace at the bottom of a bottle, which strangely enough, gives him the magical ability to compose those wonderful paradoxes. Here’s one of them: “I’ve got a problem but it ain’t like what you think / I drink ‘cause I’m lonesome, and lonesome ‘cause I drink.”

The best-known version of this song is by Tim McGraw, but that's just because he's such a superstar. It was written by Chris Stapleton, late of the bluegrass band The Steeldrivers. Here he is singing it the way only one who write it can. Absolutely beautiful.

• “High Cost of Living” – Jamey Johnson

Jamey Johnson knows from drinking yourself into a hole to chase a broken heart. He’s also a master of the twisted lyric: “The high cost of living / Ain’t nothing like the cost of living high.” The Inky Jukebox prefers this bit of live performance to the “official” video, which features some skanky-looking dude and a car and a girl etc.

• “This Bottle (In My Hand)” – David Allen Coe and George Jones

It’s David Allen Coe and George Jones, y'all. What more do you want? Drunken Squirrels?

• “Whiskey Won The Battle” – Ashton Shepherd

This song builds steam as it gathers energy like an incoming storm that tears to shreds everything around it. This is a fall-down-can’t-get-up drunk you know will hurt in the morning. Or for years.

• “Guilty” – Bonnie Raitt

Ain’t nothing like the sound of drunk-ass era Bonnie Raitt singing while drunk off her ass. The Inky Jukebox loves this live recording from some rowdy bar somewhere whose patrons that night got treated to an awesome rendition of a classic drowning-your-sorrows song. “It takes a whole lot of medicine darlin’ / For me to pretend that I’m somebody else.” Yep, Randy Newman wrote that, go figure. Sing it, sister.

• “You And Tequila” – Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter

Another by Chesney simply because this song’s video was just released today, and the video for it is oddly hot. Though the protagonist and his lady friend are hopeless drunks, they still manage not to spill those carafes of liquor as they stumble down hallways barely clothed.

• “Hair of the Dog” – Shooter Jennings

When you’ve “drank all night till the crack of dawn” like Shooter, you, too can wake up wishing you were “dead and gone.” On the other hand, you could wake up with the ability to sing like him, which wouldn’t hurt. The Inky Jukebox wonders if, with a name like “Shooter,” one is destined to live up to it?

* * * * * * *

Let's not forget these honorable mentions:

“Whiskey Lullaby” – Brad Paisley and Allison Krauss

“Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound” – Hank Williams Jr.

“Sunday Morning Coming Down” – Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson

“Wasted” – Carrie Underwood

“Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off” – Joe Nichols