NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Jan. 14, 2015) With nearly two-dozen NFL-sized stadiums plays slated for this summer, Kenny Chesney took a good look at his remaining dates and thought about the show he was planning for this tour. Knowing each venue has individual needs – and scaling down from stadium- size, especially the amphitheaters, can remove some of the impact, he chose carefully.
“For all the time we had to create for The Big Revival Tour,” Chesney says, “I wanted to make sure the fans got to experience it. I love amphitheaters and all the fun… But I want to give the fans the same impact with the show, because The Big Revival Tour’s set up to be pretty special.”
Chesney’s non-stadium The Big Revival Tour shows will be played mostly in enclosed arenas. Not all the dates have been announced – in part due to seeking the best venues to streamline the production and not lose impact – but an almost complete tour schedule is attached. After a year off the road, Chesney is ready to get back to the fans, starting March 26 at the Bridgestone Arena.
“I can’t begin to describe the difference spending the time and being able to really focus on creating an album in terms of the songs, the production, the intensity,” Chesney says. “It feels like the same way we put this year’s tour together! We had more time to consider what we wanted, so we were able to get more creative and could dream a little more wide open…
“A year away from the fans, whether people realize it or not, is hard on me. I live to play – as much as I live to write songs and make music. So I’m ready to get out there and play this new music for people. I want give them a taste of how good ‘The Big Revival’ is — and hear them singing ‘Til It’s Gone,’ ‘American Kids’ or even ‘The Big Revival’ back to me!”
Having sold in excess of a million tickets each of his headlining tours, Chesney is the only Country Artist in Billboard’s Top 10 Tour Acts of the Last 25 years – and that’s with only 12 years as a headliner. After his first stadium concert – 2003’s Neyland Stadium show, selling over 60,000 tickets in Knoxville – Chesney has played 111 football stadium shows in total.
“It’s a different kind of show, a different kind of energy – and what the fans bring in that environment hits every one of us onstage so hard,” Chesney says of the rush. “Every show is incredible, but there’s something about those really big ones. I think we were able to channel some of that excitement into the songs on this record – and I want to see if we can bring that intensity to the arenas and the few amphitheaters we’re playing this summer.”
‘The Big Revival,’ his 13th #1 Billboard Country Album debut, already yielded his 25th #1 with the multiple week chart-topper “American Kids,” also nominated for Best Country Song at the Grammys. “’Til It’s Gone,” the follow-up, is poised just outside #1 this week with a bullet.
Even the critics concur. Rolling Stone offered ‘The Big Revival,’ “continuously brings a sense of musical energy and emotional urgency.” while USA Today called it, “a coming-of-age tale full of life-changing memories” and The Associated Press wrote, “avoids the clichés flowing through contemporary country songs by injecting some real-life gravitas.”
“This new music takes the show to a whole other level,” Chesney says. “I’m so ready to get out there with the fans… and I think it’s gonna be a summer you won’t forget.”
Kenny Chesney’s 2015 The Big Revival Tour
March 26 Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN
March 27 Surprise TBA
March 28 Colonial Life Arena Columbia, SC
April 8 Bon Secours Wellness Arena Greenville, SC
April 9 Legacy Arena At The BJCC Birmingham, AL
April 11 Tortuga Music Festival Fort Lauderdale, FL
April 16 Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC
April 17 KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY
April 23 Times Union Center Albany, NY
April 24-25 Mohegan Sun Center Uncasville, CT
April 29 Jobing.com Arena Glendale, AZ
May 2 Levi’s Stadium San Francisco, CA
May 6 Scottrade Center Saint Louis, MO
May 7 Wells Fargo Arena Des Moines, IA
May 9 Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, IN
May 14 BOK Center Tulsa, OK
May 16 AT&T Stadium Dallas, TX
May 21 Austin 360 Amphitheater Austin, TX
May 22 BBVA Compass Stadium Houston, TX
May 23 BCS Superfest Baton Rouge, LA
May 27 Merriweather Post Pavillion Columbia, MD
May 28 PNC Arena Raleigh, NC
May 30 Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA
June 4 Ford Center Evansville, IN
June 6 Soldier Field Chicago, IL
June 11 Time Warner Cable Arena Charlotte, NC
June 13 Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA
June 14 Florida Country Superfest Jacksonville, FL
June 18 Denny Sanford Premier Ctr. Sioux Falls, SD
June 20 Lambeau Field Green Bay, WI
June 21 Ohio Country Superfest Columbus, OH
June 25 Ambleside Vancouver, BC
June 27 Century Link Field Seattle, WA
July 8 CMAC Canandaigua, NY
July 9 Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH
July 11 Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, PA
July 16 Pinnacle Bank Arena Lincoln, NE
July 18-19 Target Field Minneapolis, MN
July 22 Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys Lake Tahoe, CA
July 23 SaveMart Center Fresno, CA
July 25 Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA
July 29 Snowden Grove Southaven, MS
July 30 Arkansas Music Pavilion Rogers, AR
August 1 Arrowhead Stadium Kansas City, MO
August 6 Energy Solutions Arena Salt Lake City, UT
August 8 SA Field at Mile High Denver, CO
August 13 Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion Bangor, ME
August 15 Metlife Stadium E. Rutherford, NJ
August 19 Canadian Tire Center Ottawa, ONT
August 20 TBA
August 22 Ford Field Detroit, MI
August 28-29 Gillette Stadium Foxboro, MA
2015’s The Big Revival Tour is presented by Corona Light.