The Appeal of Kenny Chesney

Anyone who has attended a Kenny Chesney concert knows that he is more than an entertainer. For the "wanna-be beach bums," known as Chesney fans, he is a way of life and a role model of what it really means to live life the way it is meant to be.
Chesney is often referred to as a modern-day Jimmy Buffet, and rightly so. Like Buffet, Chesney's music and concerts center on taking up waves in places that allow individuals to forget their problems. In his concerts, Chesney repeatedly asks those in attendance for one thing--to forget everything that is bothering them and join him in the moment. While this is the appeal of the arts in general, Chesney has a knack for bringing people away from work, difficult family lives or the simply mundane, and for an hour and a half.
This is the appeal of Kenny Chesney. From songs like "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem," to "Summertime" or "Beer In Mexico," the theme of his music centers on bringing the beach a little closer to home--on relaxing, on recalling the days of no worries and innocence. Ironically, while Kenny asks his audiences to revel in the moment, he does just the opposite on stage. His high-energy show is a non-stop ride. The clean, dry shirt he dons at the beginning of the show becomes a sweat-soaked garment within the first ten minutes. It is this energy that Chesney puts into his show that allows his fans to do what he asks of them. From the moment he leaves his dressing room, Chesney fans begin forgetting whatever is on their mind. As the lights go down and the screaming begins, whatever worries were on the minds of those attendance are suddenly transformed into the anticipation of seeing Chesney live. Fans are transformed into beach-going, beer-drinking maniacs who take pride in the fact that they will probably not be in to work right away on Monday. Even before the doors open for a concert, fans are gathered outside together near the back of truck beds tailgating--blaring the anthems of youthful glory and wasting cares away. His 2007 opening acts, Sugarland and Pat Green, are a precursor to Chesney's no-cares attitude before he even takes the stage. By the time Chesney takes the stage, audiences are miles and miles away from anything and everything that may have bothered them. Chesney simply takes them even farther away.
Chesney is not necessarily a stellar vocalist or musician, although talent in those areas is part of what has propelled him to where he is today in country music. In the end, however, it is the pucca shells, the sand bar and tall tropical drinks on stage that give audiences a new-fround sense of life. At least until Monday rolls around and everyone returns to work.