Kenny Chesney knows how to please a crowd

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By Kay Luma | Friday, June 20, 2008 1:02 AM CDT | () comments

Umm, 7th row from the stage on the main floor? Oh, baby.

We were close — no, we were “I-can’t-believe-this” close — to heartthrob country singer Kenny Chesney Thursday night as he sailed in with his “Poets and Pirates Tour 2008” at the i wireless Center in downtown Moline.

Heck, in this flood, he could have sailed in for real. But instead, he and the amazing special effects on screen set the scene of rocky seas full of pirate ships, sandy beaches and days of old, perfectly capturing the spirit of carefree summer days and being young.

Chesney got people on their feet right away at the beginning of the concert, as he rose out of the center of the stage wearing his signature tight jeans, sleeveless T-shirt and black cowboy hat.

He belted out crowd-pleasers like “Live Those Songs Again,” “Summertime” and “I Go Back,” and sang some of the other old favorites that get everyone up and dancing, like “Big Star,” “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problems,” and “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.”

But what always gets me when I listen to Chesney’s music are the lyrics in many of his songs that so perfectly reflect Midwestern, hometown values — the kind of lyrics that touch your heart. When he sang the song, “Don’t Blink,” I could so relate: “Life goes faster than you think. Don’t blink.”

At one point, with beach balls popping all over the place and lights flashing, I didn’t know what to watch: Chesney on the stage, or the people swaying around me in their cowboy and pirate hats.

“Everything is hotter when the sun goes down,” he belted from the stage. Oh, boy, it sure was hot inside the i wireless — and I don’t mean the temperature. He knew just how to rev up the crowd, playfully sticking out his tongue and singling out people to wave to them.

My friend, Angie, said it best: “You can tell he really enjoys the crowd.”

And the concert that came before Chesney’s performance was pretty hot, too.

Opening-act LeAnn Rimes, who I usually think of as mostly a country-ballad crooner, rocked the crowd during her hour-long set.

In a tiny black dress and black stiletto heels, she brought people to their feet with her high-energy performances of songs like “Commitment,” “Something’s Gotta Give,” and “I Want You to Want Me.”

She also pleased the crowd with what I think of as “classic LeAnn” songs, like “Can’t Fight the Moonlight,” “How Do I Live Without You,” and “Blue.”

And I absolutely loved listening to her sing her ballad, “Probably Wouldn’t Be This Way.” That song is beautiful on the radio, but to see her emotional performance of it was awesome.

At some points, though, I found myself straining to understand what she was saying — including when she was introducing a certain song, still unknown to me, off her new album.

A local band, 50 Pound Rooster, also performed briefly before Rimes came out on stage. However, the band’s set included four songs and lasted just

15 minutes, during the time I was still making my way through security. A couple of people I sat by on the main floor said the band was really good, so I’m sorry I missed it.

But I saw Chesney! That’s really all that matters.

Kay Luna can be contacted at

(563) 383-2323 or kluna@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.