Music Review: Affable Country Odes to Irresponsibility
First came a moody approach to his hit “Anything but Mine” — from his quadruple-platinum 2004 album “When the Sun Goes Down” — a languid song about fleeting summer love that had the grit of dark soul music, replete with choked singing by Mr. Chesney and hushed singalongs from the crowd. Following that came “There Goes My Life,” from the same album and one of the high points of Mr. Chesney’s career, a song about fear of aging that ends up eschewing regret for embrace. Mr. Chesney sang it backed only by piano, practically silencing the tens-of-thousands-strong crowd. Finally came “You and Tequila,” the highlight of last year’s “Hemingway’s Whiskey,” the darkest album of Mr. Chesney’s career, not that that’s hard work. He sang it <a href="http://www.cheapnikemaxair.com"><strong>nike air classic</strong></a> unaccompanied, just him and his acoustic guitar, as if James Taylor impersonations were de rigueur. They’re not, of course. Mr. Chesney has become a success not for these contemplative moments but rather based on his belief that there’s no problem that can’t be solved with a pair of flip-flops, a catamaran and a willingness to bury your problems — and possibly your head — in the sand. “If you watch enough TV, you know the world’s got problems,” Mr. Chesney said, just before those three songs, when he played “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems,” an archetypal Chesney watercolor, which got the soused and enthusiastic crowd rollicking and shouting and doffing shirts. (Some men, anyway.) Just after those three <a href="http://www.lebronjamesnews.com/lebron-james-7-low-basketball-shoes-white-black-red-p-30.html"><strong>LeBron James 7 Low Basketball Shoes White Black Red</strong></a> was “Living in Fast Forward,” an aimless arena-lite rock number that was complemented by video footage of Nascar crashes on a screen behind Mr. Chesney. It’s these other sorts of songs — the dozens Mr. Chesney has made hits in the last decade, and the ones that otherwise filled this show — that allowed him to play a space the size of New Meadowlands Stadium, making for the biggest country show in the area in years. He has turned country into a lean and pulsing frat party on the beach. Sweating through his sleeveless T-shirt, with a weathered cowboy hat keeping the misting rain at bay, Mr. Chesney motored through his two-and-a-half hour set. He was still as peppy at the end, when no one onstage was safe from getting a huge running hug from him, as in the beginning, when he sailed over the crowd in a suspended chair while singing “Live a Little.” No country star is more physical than Mr. Chesney, who is small and sinewy and has no problem making a large space feel small by running all around it. He shook water bottles over himself and his band members. Even when he paused for breath — hunched over, arms extended, hands on knees — he glowed with the ecstasy of hard work. Mr. Chesney’s heavy revving doesn’t compensate for his voice’s fundamental neutrality, though. Apart <a href="http://www.authenticjerseysbuy.com/nhl-jerseys-colorado-avalanche-c-8_97.html"><strong>Colorado Avalanche</strong></a> from his midshow soul interlude he mostly let the guitars and fiddle in his band do the work, creating big, friendly structures: the goofy “She Thinks My Tractor’s ######y,” on which he was joined by the opener Billy Currington, or the odes to irresponsibility “Beer in Mexico” and “Out Last Night.” Mr. Chesney was better when less was asked of his voice, as on the unexpected barking cover of the Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun” (performed with the songwriter Mark Tamburino), or when rapping with Uncle Kracker, another opener, on Kid Rock’s “Cowboy.” During the encore Mr. Chesney performed <a href="http://ncpjy.zgts.gov.cn/view.php?id=72"><strong>Cheap Timberland Men's Short Sleeve Solid Pique Polo | Discount ...</strong></a> a mini-set with the Zac Brown Band, his main opening act, covering songs by Alabama, Steve Miller, Bob Marley and Tom Petty. They were joined onstage at the end by Rex Ryan, the head coach of the Jets; Nick Swisher of the Yankees; and dozens of others. The Yankees had defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by 9-2 earlier in the day, and the Jets were relieved to have the N.F.L. lockout over. None of them appeared to be concerned about a thing.
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