Kenny Chesney, who's planning the summer of his life, playing places that were instrumental in his rise to country superstardom, will be back in one of those cities Saturday night.
Lincoln is where Chesney first appeared 22 years ago, selling out Pershing Auditorium on one of his first headlining tours. Chesney returned to the Capital City two years later, playing a Nebraska State Fair concert at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
And he’ll be one of the few artists to have played Pinnacle Bank Arena three times. He sold more than 12,000 tickets for shows in 2015 and 2019.
Now a “stadium-sized superstar,†Chesney played to more than 1.3 million fans on last year’s “Hear And Now Tour,†which included stops at 21 NFL stadiums.
This year, Chesney wanted to return to the smaller markets and comparatively smaller venues to pay back the places where he got his start. And, according to a news release this week, he’ll be headlining a couple festivals at the end of the tour. And he’s having a blast.
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“We love playing those great big stages, and I think everyone knows that,†Chesney said in the release. “But this year, in these venues, has been unlike anything we’ve done in years – so much fun, so great, so spur of the moment – and I wouldn’t change a thing.â€
Chesney’s been playing two-hour shows, filled with his hits, that, by all accounts, are comparable to his acclaimed stadium shows.
“I wanted to bring all the power and all of the passion that we have at those stadium shows,†Chesney said after the tour’s first show. “I want every single person who’s in the room to know how much we love them, to feel as good as they’ve ever felt and to go home hoarse from the cheering and singing. Charlottesville, Virginia sure made the opening night feel like the biggest stadiums.â€
Saturday’s show is being opened by Kelsea Ballerini, who had a No. 1 hit duetting with Chesney on 2021’s “Half of My Hometown†and is fresh off a Grammy nomination for her song “Heartfirst.â€
Chesney’s arena concert will come between a pair of Pinewood Bowl shows in the kickoff week for Lincoln’s summer concert season
Chicago will return to the Pioneers Park amphitheater Friday just a month short of two year after the long-running horn-powered rock band began two days of rehearsal, then opened its 2021 post-pandemic tour at the bowl.
As was the case two years ago, Friday’s concert will be “An Evening With.†That translated to two hours and about 30 songs that were exactly what the crowd of 3,500 came to hear – hits like “25 or 6 to 4,†“Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is.†“Make Me Smile,†and “Saturday in The Park.â€
That setlist may very well include a song or two from “Born For This Moment,†Chicago’s 38th studio album that it released last year A mind boggling stat – 25 of those 38 albums have been certified platinum, sales of over 1 million copies.
The never-not-touring band, now in its 56th year of touring, also was the subject of “The Last Band On Stage,†a documentary about the band’s experience during the pandemic and being onstage on the night the world shutdown.
Not surprisingly, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group has had multiple lineup changes since 1967, when it debuted as Chicago Transit Authority. Original members Robert Lamm on keyboards and vocals, Lee Loughnane on trumpet and vocals and James Pankow on trombone remain in the 10-piece touring group.
Thursday, country veterans Tracy Lawrence and Gary Allan will open their 2023 co-headlining tour at Pinewood Bowl. That short tour will take the duo from Nebraska to Mississippi in two weeks.
Lawrence, a leading country new traditionalist of the ‘90s, has sold more than 13 million albums and garnered 18 No. 1 hits, including “Sticks and Stones,†Alibis,†“Time Marches On†and “Paint Me a Birmingham."
Friday, he’s releasing “Live at Billy Bob’s Texas,†recorded at the Fort Worth honky tonk last year. That will be his fourth albums in the past two years. He also hosts a nationally syndicated radio show “Honky Tonkin’ with Tracy Lawrence,†and a podcast “TL’s Road House†that he records on his tour bus.
Allan, a Californian who was also a top traditionalist in the late '90s and early 2000s, has put 26 songs on the country charts, including No. 1 hits “Man to Man,†“Tough Little Boys,†“Nothing On But the Radio†and “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)." He released his 10th studio album “Ruthless†in 2022.
Tickets for all three concerts are available at , on the Ticketmaster app and will be available two hours before the show is scheduled to start at the arena ticket office for Chesney and at Pinewood’s Tom Lorenz Box Office for Chicago and the Lawrence/Allan show.