Kenny Chesney Concert

What a day! Mother Nature puts on an incredible show, then gets followed by Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert and Kenny Chesney! A spectacular night.

I left work at 4:30 on Thursday to head out for appetizers and drinks before battling the traffic and parking to get to see the country concert of the summer.

We managed to get a great parking spot in the North parking, away from the huge masses of people. It was about 6:00 by then and at least half of the crowd was well on their way to getting smashed - but what else would be new with a country concert. Personally I prefer to be sober to remember every minute.

We lined up to go in and dealt with the massive security of Molson Amphitheatre. I've been to concerts in the US - where it's legal to carry guns - and haven't seen this much security. I had my tiny purse searched and my other half got patted down. He joked asking if he was supposed to pay her for that - I reminded him they have no sense of humor when they are working and to just keep walking. There was no way I was leaving if he got kicked out LOL. I'd sell his ticket instead LOL.

So we walked around and watched Mother Nature and the approaching storm. Being downtown, on the water, surrounded by metal railings of all sorts was quite unnerving. It was fascinating to see the storm front moving in though - it had such a definite line. The rain started and we headed for our seats, hoping we'd be dry under the canopy of the theatre. Not to be - the rain was coming sideways and there really was no true dry spot - except the washrooms - which had suddenly become unisex LOL. The lightning and thunder were incredible and then the water started flowing downhill - into the seating area. I sat and put my feet up, continually wishing the concert would not be cancelled. Apparently, Nickleback got cancelled last week due to a similar storm.

This went on for about an hour, then the sun came out, a very pretty rainbow appeared and we were told the show would go on. So a quick trip to the unisex washroom and we were back in our seats waiting anxiously to finally get started.

The show started with Lady Antebellum - a relatively new act on the country music scene. They were great and did their hits - Love Don't Live Here Anymore, Lookin for a Good Time, I Run to You, and some song by Rod Stewart. Every country act has to do at least one rock song LOL.

Next up was Miranda Lambert - a self professed redneck rough girl - which is probably what I like about her. She's a very no nonsense country music star with hits like Kerosene, Gunpowder and Lead, Famous in a Small Town, Guilty in Here and true fashion - I Love Rock and Roll - an old Joan Jett classic. Her set was far too short for me, but it was fantastic. I would have loved to see more from Miranda - maybe some day soon, she can do her own tour.

Then a painfully slow set change to get the stage ready for Kenny. It wasn't that long, but it sure felt like it as they stripped the stage of Miranda's stuff and set up Kenny's stuff. The crowd was anxiously waiting to see where he would fly from or appear from - knowing how he has made his past entrances. This has been my fourth time to see him - the other three were in South Carolina - and he has always made an incredible entrance - flying in on a pulley system, coming up from underneath the stage (where he managed to get his foot broken with the hydraulics last year). Unfortunately, the Molson Amphitheatre does not lend itself to such theatrics so he had to be happy with just walking on stage.

The show started with a bang and didn't stop for almost 100 minutes. It was hot there and by the third song, his shirt was soaked. I took over 100 pictures but it's hard to get a good picture of a moving target - and man can he move! He managed to take one break for a whole minute in between the show and the encore. He did lots of wonderful songs like Summertime, Keg in the Closet, She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy, Old Blue Chair (which apparently he hadn't intended to - I personally think he needed a slow song to take a break), Never Wanted Nothing More, Out Last Night, Everyone Wants to go to Heaven, Living in Fast Forward, Beer in Mexico, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem, Young, Anything But Mine, and Back Where I Come From. All were incredibly delivered and the show was just so fast paced. I'm not sure why the seats were there, because I certainly didn't use mine for the entire time of the concert - and my feet still feel it today LOL.

Kenny Chesney is a true artist and performer. He mentioned that he had been on the road for 16 years now and it was his first time in Toronto. He promised it wouldn't take him that long to get back here. And I have it recorded so I'll hold you to that Kenny!

I'll upload some pictures in the next post and the videos - as I can't figure out how to properly space them inside this post.

All in all, an incredible show - worth the money - worth the risk of the weather - and definitely worth repeating!