Live Review: Kenny Chesney in Glendale, AZ

Kenny Chesney [ tickets ] didn't win those Entertainer of the Year awards for nothing. With his music festival in tow, Chesney proved why he's the CMA and ACM's reigning king of country Saturday (5/31) in front of 40,000 fans at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ.Besides Chesney, the "Poets and Pirates Tour 2008" boasted three other star-quality headliners: tattooed California country artist Gary Allan [ tickets ], the "Red Rocker" Sammy Hagar [ tickets ] and Aussie Keith Urban [ tickets ]. With a confident swagger, Chesney took advantage of the massive stage set up and ran from stage left to stage right, and out onto an intricate catwalk that jetted deep into the main floor. He didn't miss a beat as he squatted down, sang and signed autographs at the same time. Chesney frequently rocked out with his band, playing air violin to "Live Those Songs," the set opener. With his enthusiasm and wide grins, he makes every show feel like it's his first. He genuinely looks like he loves what he's doing.Peppered throughout the two-and-half-hour show--including during "Beer in Mexico"--he played electric guitar. Accompanied by an 11-piece band, including a horn section, Chesney cracked jokes at Urban's expense, singing the line "like she was Keith Urban in a skirt," during "Big Star."A set of 13 video screens captured the event while sometimes serving as a backdrop, as with the song "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem," when beach scenes were displayed. Homemade family films aired on the screens during "Don't Blink," which appears on Chesney's latest album, "Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates," and his crew localized the footage for "Back Where I Come From," which featured clips of Arizona State University, Scottsdale and downtown Phoenix. There were a few slow moments in the show. It seemed to lose a bit of momentum in the middle, during which he played a slew of down-tempo songs including "Don't Blink" and "Shiftwork." But it soon picked up. Stars twinkled through the stadium's open roof during "Living in Fast Forward" and "Young" (though the roof was closed for the rest of the performers to keep out the 100-degree heat). Chesney pointed enthusiastically at the crowd to tell them to sing the "doo doo" parts of the song. Detroit pop singer Uncle Kracker made a guest appearance during the song "When the Sun Goes Down," and stuck around to duet with Chesney on the Uncle Kracker hit "Follow Me." Chesney had plenty of competition from his co-headliner Urban as well as former Van Halen singer Hagar, but not so much from opener Allan, who put on a less-than-dynamic performance at 4 p.m. He kicked off his 45-minute set with "Watching Airplanes" as the crowd began filling the stadium. The performer, who lacked the energy of other acts on the bill, did, however, share a haunting rendition of Vertical Horizon's "Best I Ever Had." Hagar isn't exactly a country act, but he shares the love of Mexico and the beach with Chesney. He arrived on stage to his quasi-anthem, "Mas Tequila," and immediately began sharing blue alcoholic drinks with his audience. He also kick-started the party mood by shooting confetti from an air gun toward the end of the song. The Red Rocker tore through his set, offering "There's Only One Way to Rock," Van Halen's "Why Can't This Be Love" and "Finish What You Started," and "Three Lock Box," as well as Toby Keith's "I Love This Bar," a cover version of which appears on Hagar's most recent solo album, 2006's "Livin' It Up.""We're gonna throw a party like this in the broad daylight?" Hagar asked the crowd. "Do you mind if I get drunk during the show? Waitress!" That was followed by a more sincere, "Cheers. I'm happy to be here." He gave a long speech about organizers telling him he couldn't use any profane language, using it as a segue to "Sam I Am.""I'm trying to change my whole life," Hagar said. "My wife has been trying to change me for 12 years. I am who I am and I wrote a song about it."Urban, who is married to Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman, began his rock-inspired set with the one-two punch of "Days Go By" and "Where the Blacktop Ends." One of country's top guitar players, Urban performed a little medley of rock hits including Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water," Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" and Aerosmith's "Walk This Way."Urban soaked up the moment when fans sang the chorus to an acoustic rendition of "Raining on Sunday" while he tapped out a drum beat on the body of his guitar. The acoustic set continued with "Think of Me." "I Wanna Love Somebody Like You" closed the set, with Urban high-fiving the crowd between guitar licks. With such a stellar line-up, Chesney seems to be doing for country what Ozzy Osbourne did for rock with his Ozzfest: bringing the masses together for an all-day run of prime music.