Sun City Carnival Tour – Louisville, KY
This past Saturday was a beautiful day in Louisville, KY with the sun shining down on an 85 degree day and just enough breeze to keep the crowd that had gathered for this stop of the “Sun City Carnival Tour” comfortable throughout the day-long concert. Lady Antebellum took the stage to kick-off the show to a half-packed stadium. Once again, the crowd seemed to really enjoy their high energy set as well as their spot-on vocals. The trio played songs from their self-titled debut album as well as a few cover songs. Their album is filled with great music so we’d rather hear them play more of their own songs instead of covers, but judging by the crowd’s reaction, Lady A has the ability to entertain the crowd no matter what the song selection is.
Kentucky natives Montgomery Gentry took the stage next, much to the delight of the crowd. As the guys continued to belt out hit after hit, this home-state crowd showed their appreciation and affection for MG by staying on their feet for the entire set! It was an awesome sight to see the crowd so passionate and proud of Eddie and Troy. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again – you MUST make it a point to catch this duo in concert. Their music is great, but their entertaining ability is even better and if you’re not already, they will make a fan out of you if you just give them a chance!
With each act that passed, more fans continued to fill the stadium and it was clear that they were eagerly awaiting Sugarland’s performance. Despite recent reports of health problems, Jennifer’s vocals sounded awesome as she belted out a great combination of hits from each of Sugarland’s three albums. During “All I Want To Do” the duo mixed a fun combination of songs from a few different genres – we’ve honestly never heard anything like that and it was very cool! Another fun moment of their set came as Jennifer and Kristian climbed inside two giant bubbles and proceeded to crawl over the crowd. That moment proved to be a little anti-climactic as they didn’t venture out very far into the crowd, but it was still a fun sight to see. It’s clear to any country music fan that Jennifer and Kristian have a unique energy within them that comes across in their music and during their live show. That energy is even more abundant proving that these two have carved out their own niche in country music.
As the clock neared 9:00pm, Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium was completely full of fans waiting to see the man of the night. As we had seen at his first show of the tour, Kenny Chesney enters the stage at his arena shows via a swing that he maneuvers to the different areas of the venue. Now, that same swing that had guided him inside the walls and of a small arena was now moving Kenny throughout this open football stadium. As Kenny sang the opening number and greeted fans, the crowd was electric with appreciation at getting such an up close view of the superstar.
Shortly after his feet hit the stage to continue through the set list, Lauren and I looked at each other and agreed “he’s got it tonight.” Kenny’s face was rarely seen throughout the night without a big grin sprawled across it and his energy level, as always, was in high gear. Although the songs sounded fabulous through Chesney’s two-hour set, it felt as if the songs were secondary to connecting with every member of the packed house. As Kenny belted out his set full of hits, he was constantly shaking hands with fans, high-fiving them, and seemed very genuine in showing his appreciation for them.
Shortly after McAnally’s appearance, what had been a day full of perfect weather turned quickly into rain. In what was almost an appropriate time, as Kenny sang “Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven,” the ‘heavens’ opened up and soaked the high-spirited crowd! Kenny wanted to soak up the moment with the fans and immediately moved his microphone stand out to the very end of the long stage and opened his arms, welcoming the rain just as the fans were doing. Just as quickly as the rain came, it was gone again and the rest of the evening stayed completely dry.
As the show came to a close and Chesney stayed on the stage signing autogrpahs for the fans, it remained evident that his live show is what sets Kenny Chesney apart from other artists. Kenny has often stated that the awards and accolades aren’t what fuels his drive as an artist – that his live show and connection to the audience are his top priority – and this past Saturday night in Louisville, KY, the massive crowd at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium whole-heartedly agreed.
