FOXBORO, Mass. — It was only a matter of time. With fan club sales underway for the Trip Around the Sun 2018 Tour presented by Blue Chair Bay® Rum, Kenny Chesney has passed the million-ticket mark at Gillette Stadium. With several tracks from his Live in No Shoes Nation recorded at Gillette Stadium, there has been a love affair between the songwriter from East Tennessee and the people of New England.
“The fans who’ve come out to the Gillette Stadium shows, since we started doing stadium shows back in 2005, have always rocked our world,” Chesney says. “And it’s grown, and built, and gotten louder and louder. The energy and the passion? There’s nothing like it. We named No Shoes Nation at Gillette, made so many memories and even this year, on my year off, we couldn’t keep away. We played two nights at Gillette in August, just so we could feel that heat coming off the people of No Shoes Nation… But you never think about something like a million tickets.”
“When I got the call, I just stopped where I was. That says so much about what we’ve been sharing for all these years. The Spread the Love Foundation, Robert Kraft letting us bring the Superbowl Trophies down the T one year, singing ‘Happy on the Hey Now’ for my friend Kristi Hanson and all those crazy free spirits who were living the dream down in the islands… I guess that’s how a million people come out year after year, but man, talk about a mind-bending moment. I love you, Boston.”
And this year’s going to be even bigger and better. Having test-driven this year’s tour line-up of Thomas Rhett and Old Dominion at this August’s record-setting shows, the man The Wall Street Journal deemed “The King of the Road” is bringing Dierks Bentley and Brothers Osborne when he hits Boston in 2018. As he says of the line-up, “I know when I come into Boston, I have to have bands who can play hard and really deliver. The New England fans are so intense, I never want to come up short… and I think Dierks and Brothers Osborne have the same kind of mindset about making music that we do, especially since we’re going to be playing for the millionth fan.”
Starting April 21 at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, the 2018 Trip Around the Sun Tourpresented by Blue Chair Bay Rum will be rocking by the time it gets to Boston. With 18 stadium shows, Chesney is going to spend next summer doing what he does best: giving people a reason to come together in the name of friendship, fun and all the songs they’ve lived inside and out.
“We hit a million fans played to,” Chesney marvels, “and that’s just through the fan club on sale. When you think about what it means to have that kind of a bond with a community, you have to step back and take it in. Some of my best nights have been onstage at Gillette, and that’s because of all the people who come out every single year. You guys make my road life awesome. I hope each and every one of you knows that.”