Kenny Chesney delivers vibrant, visually arresting feast at Las Vegas Sphere
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Kenny Chesney, June Carter Cash among Country Hall of Fame inductees
Kenny Chesney, Tony Brown and June Carter Cash's family speak after they are named the 2025 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees.
LAS VEGAS – About a third through the second night of Kenny Chesney's groundbreaking residency at the Sphere, the gregarious country superstar dipped into his 2004 hit 'I Go Back.'
It's a song steeped in nostalgia, with lyrics that reminisce about wistful moments. High school gyms. Hearing John Mellencamp on the radio. A friend gone too soon.
The accompanying video – well, better classified as all-encompassing graphics that sucked you into the visual vortex – of football fields and basketball courts pulled at the hearts of 17,000 people as Chesney sang of days gone by with his typical earnestness.
But for all its nodding to the past, the song represented a milestone in Chesney's awards-laden, 30-plus-year career as he performed it May 24. As he looked around in awe of the crowd and the enveloping video, there was as much a sense of 'How did we get here?' as 'Let's look back.'
Chesney, 57, is the first country singer – and the first solo artist, despite an ace six-piece band – to play the game-changing venue. His two-hour show, a technicolor wonder, continues for sporadic dates through June 21 and are his only live performances of the year. It's as much a concert as a sonic and visual roller-coaster ride pairing one of the most acclaimed stars of country with the evolving technological wizardry of the Sphere.
From the opening deep-sea dive that morphed into a fleet of pirate ships bobbing on the ocean while Chesney bopped through 'Beer in Mexico' – his skinny jeans tight, his sleeveless shirt baring biceps – a carefree vibe permeated the show.
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For years, Chesney has been a reliable stadium filler, a guy who feeds off his fans' adrenaline as he clocks tens of thousands of steps scampering around the stage. While he was slightly limited to roam given the Sphere's structure, Chesney found ways to maintain a lifeline to the front row of fans on the floor as he bent down during 'Keg in the Closet' to smack a palm or accept a Nevada license plate emblazoned 'Sphere.'
'Not only do we see you all, we feel you tonight,' Chesney said in one of his frequent humble acknowledgements of the crowd.
Typically, Chesney's concerts offer few embellishments. So to see a Ferris wheel looming over him (' 'Til It's Gone'), a live shot of No Shoes Nation devotees blasted onto the 240-foot-tall backdrop ('No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems') and Chesney on a towering cell phone surrounded by vibrantly colored fish (the prescient 'Welcome to the Fishbowl') elevated the fun quotient.
At his opening show May 22, Chesney brought Kelsea Ballerini to the stage. But on this night, Grace Potter, who croons with Chesney on 'You & Tequila,' was the guest of honor to sing that Grammy-nominated hit from 2011.
It was a breezy stroll for the pair, but when Potter, whom he introduced as 'one of my best friends in the world,' broke out her signature Flying V guitar, Chesney knew things were about to get rock-y.
'We were in Vegas that last time this happened,' he said, before the familiar sawing guitar notes of Rod Stewart's 'Hot Legs' filled the room (Chesney and Potter covered the song during his 2013 shows at the now-defunct Hard Rock Hotel).
It was a playful, if milquetoast version of the song sans Stewart's raspy vocal leering, but also an indication that Chesney plans to shake up the setlist each show and maybe debut more deep cuts.
The melancholic 'Seven Days,' from 2010's 'Hemingway's Whiskey' album, made its first live appearance at Chesney's opening Sphere show and he revisited it again for night two, complemented by a foggy lighthouse scene.
During 'Big Star,' fans will relish the vintage photos of Chesney posing with music icons including Reba McEntire, Loretta Lynn and Taylor Swift while sinking into the sensation of being dropped into a pinball machine. It was also another reminder of Chesney's longevity in an unforgiving industry.
As he cranked out the country rock of 'Living in Fast Forward,' which plopped the crowd into the driver's seat on a NASCAR track, Chesney punctuated the lyric, 'I still got some miles to go.' It was an ideal capper to a song that summarizes the focused Chesney. Even three decades into his career, he's hardly slowing down.
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Gizmodo
5 days ago
- Gizmodo
Was This the Geekiest Concert of All Time?
When the hamburger-shaped spaceship with the word 'Millennium' on the back lowered down above me, I figured I was in for something special. What I didn't expect was that, for the next two hours, the 'Millennium…' let's call it 'Falcon,' would fly through an asteroid field before docking on a planet with light cycles and noir landscapes, as lines of code dropped down like rain and huge cylindrical gates of stars swirled around. But that's what happened, and, I must say, it was phenomenal. Last weekend, the iconic boy band Backstreet Boys started a short run of shows at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada. It's that huge dome you've certainly seen on social media that houses its own unique Darren Aronofsky film, will soon reimagine The Wizard of Oz, and has played host to mega bands like U2, Dead & Company, Phish, and the Eagles. Backstreet Boys are the first pop group to play the venue, though, and when the dates were announced earlier this year, my wife, her best friend, and I knew we had to be there. Fast forward through months of waiting, miles traveled, and dollars spent, and we finally arrived at the Sphere for the show. We were there for night two of the multi-week run, so we implemented a strict 24-hour social media blackout to avoid being spoiled by videos and clips from the first night. That was mostly successful, so, as we entered the venue, we had no idea what to expect. Okay, we had a little bit of an idea. Backstreet's Sphere performances celebrate the 25th anniversary of the album Millennium, which, even if you aren't a fan of the band, you almost certainly know. It was one of the biggest albums in history, with singles such as 'Larger Than Life' and 'I Want It That Way.' That, coupled with the fact we've seen Backstreet at venues all across Los Angeles and Las Vegas over the past decade, gave us a bit of an idea what to expect. But once the countdown clock clicked to zero, things were taken to a whole other level. View this post on InstagramAs you sit waiting for the show to start, you're in this huge pseudo-laboratory. It's dominated by a massive, phallic structure in the middle, which seems to serve no purpose. But, when the show starts, we learn this structure is basically a mega telescope that lets us rocket into space. It's here we encounter the 'Millennium Falcon,' fly around the asteroid, and we're off to the races. What's hard to even describe in words is the feeling of watching all this happen. This was my first time ever at the Sphere, and it's unlike anything I've seen before. It's a completely immersive experience that stretches beyond what your eye can see. So, as long as you don't turn completely around, you feel like the band is performing in a different place from where you're sitting. Places that change in wild, imaginative, colorful ways throughout the show. And, more often than not, those visuals are sci-fi influenced. So, for the show's opener, 'Larger Than Life,' we get those 'Millennium Falcon' scenes that mirror Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. A little later, 'More Than That' takes us through a space station filled with red roses and silver beings, almost like Silver Surfer visits The Hunger Games. The song 'Siberia' takes the group to a snow planet (Hoth?) where huge statues of their faces (almost like the Donner Superman) are carved into mountains. And, up until this point, I felt like maybe I was imagining all the nerdiness. But then Backstreet did 'Get Another Boyfriend.' During that song, two-wheeled vehicles that aren't quite like lightcycles, but very darn close, blaze through a shiny, tech-inspired landscape. It's kind of like the Grid from Tron, until the camera pans up. That's when we see, way up in the sky, it's actually a smoky, dark, neo-noir skyline. Immediately I said, 'Tron meets Blade Runner.' It's both obvious and, frankly, awesome. Songs that follow had monoliths very reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey, a huge, dare I say, world of water, and a clearly Tetris-inspired scene during 'Quit Playing Games (With My Heart).' At this point, a few of these connections were stretches, but others weren't, and after flying through an underwater oasis during 'Shape of My Heart' and the stage literally leaving the ground to simulate a spaceship during 'I Want It That Way,' the final three songs of the night locked everything in. 'We've Got it Going On' has the group singing in a sunburned, post-apocalyptic landscape that, at its center, houses multiple rings quickly circling a large ball of light. It looked like Stargate and the machine in Contact rolled into one. That went into 'The Call,' which was literally just The Matrix. No hiding it. Code drops from the top of the Sphere all the way down just like in the movies. It couldn't be clearer. Finally, for the last song of the night, the group did 'Everybody (Backstreet's Back).' 'Everybody' is probably Backstreet's most famous song and already had a super geeky monster music video when it was released in 1997. Later, it also made an appearance in Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's 2013 meta-comedy This Is the End. So there was already some strong pop culture grounding. Here, though, this version wasn't filled with monsters or angels. It was, again, a huge sci-fi landscape filled with dancing robots that all looked like Star Wars Battle Droids wearing Mandalorian helmets. Now, was I merely reading this into the show? Was I projecting my love of these movies onto the performance? At some points, most definitely, and honestly I'm fine with it. As the 'Millennium Falcon' brought us back to the original laboratory, marking the end of the evening, I sat there in disbelief. I'd just witnessed not just a super fun, energetic pop show in arguably the most incredible, immersive venue in the entire world, but I had also been taken on a trip through worlds clearly inspired by, and sometimes directly based on, some of my favorite movies ever. Talk about a magical night I'll never forget. Backstreet Boys' 'Into the Millennium' tour at the Sphere in Las Vegas runs during the weekends through the end of August. Then, there's a possibility it could come back in 2026. If it does, I'm going again. Without a doubt. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
USA Today
5 days ago
- USA Today
Dollywood is 40 years old, and Dolly Parton says it's time to visit
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. — Nine-to-five would probably be a vacation for Dolly Parton. The living legend is always juggling multiple projects. 'And why not?' Parton told USA TODAY. 'I've lived this life, and I'm going to keep living it as long as I can, and I'm going to make hay while the sun shines.' Her new musical 'Dolly: A True Original Musical' debuts in Nashville on Friday. That's also where she's featured in a special Country Music Hall of Fame exhibit through September. This winter, she'll return to Las Vegas for her first run of shows there in more than 30 years. And all year long, her namesake theme park, which she co-owns with Herschend, is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Parton spoke to USA TODAY about Dollywood and other matters close to her heart earlier this park season. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. QUESTION: You dreamed of opening a theme park. What was your vision? Dolly Parton: When I first started getting successful, I used to think if I ever made it as big as I hoped to, then I (would) want to have my own theme park. I was just dreaming of having a wonderful place for people to come, have a good time, having all kinds of things to enjoy and providing jobs for my family and the kin folks around here and the good neighbors. And sure enough, we've got all that now. Of course we opened 40 years ago. It took a little while to get it all in the works, but it's more than I even imagined that it could be. When you have a dream, you gotta dream big, so I'm always dreaming big, but sometimes your dreams really take on a life of their own, and that's the way that it is with Dollywood. This is a wonderful part of the country to be in. We get a lot of tourists. I can't take credit for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. They were drawing people for many years before we came – another reason that I knew this would be a good place to have a business like Dollywood. A lot of great people have worked really hard to make it what it is. And here we are 40 years later and it's just bigger and better every year. Dollywood's original dream team: They came for the summer and stayed 40 years What would you want folks around the country to know about Dollywood? DP: I want them to know they should get here and do whatever you gotta do to get here cause once you've been here, you're going to love it. Almost everybody that's been here, they always come back. Our slogan is (creating) memories worth repeating and love every moment. And we've had different slogans through the years like that, but I really think people just make beautiful memories here because there's something for every age group in the family. Even the teenagers can get their jollies, as they say, on the roller coasters and a lot of the things we have. Grandparents can love all the shopping, all the arts and crafts and the old mill and the glass blowing and so many wonderful things that couples can enjoy and the kids can enjoy, so they can meet up at one point or another during the day. You can bring the whole family and there's something for everybody to enjoy without being in each other's face all day. You've also got Splash Country and these world-class resorts and your dinner theater opportunities. You could have a whole week's vacation. DP: I am very proud of the businesses that we have over on the parkway. We have the Pirates Voyage. We have the Stampede and we have the Comedy Barn. We have so many things, like the Hatfields and McCoys and all the fun things (outside) the park. But here in the (resort) we have, as you mentioned, Splash Country; people love that. We open early in May, and we go through until September when the weather starts to cool off. We just have something for everybody in this whole area. Plus, not to be selfish with just my own, but there's so many great businesses around here, so many great things for people to see. This, to me, is sincerely one of the greatest places that anyone could visit. This part of the country, right here in Pigeon Forge, Sevierville and Gatlinburg, and in this general area, there's just so much. You're the Dreamer in Chief here. Can you tell us a little bit about that? DP: Well, we all get together and we kind of brainstorm, thinking about how well we've done with certain things and how much better this did than that and what we don't need to do again. And then we think, 'Oh, we need to really expand on this idea.' And so out of the great people that have great minds, we come up with great things. Sometimes I'll come up with an idea and it's not always great, but they'll take that and we can incorporate that into something else in the park. For instance, the restaurants, we even theme a lot of our meals based on things that I've talked about, about my own childhood, like stone soup ... My mom used to make that. We all felt special because we thought that stone made it twice as good as what it was, only because of Mama's stories and she was a good cook. But we try to have little things that really connect people to me as much as we possibly can, stories that I've told, songs that I've written, memories that I've had, talking about the people in the community. We try to have little links to kind of connect that chain that goes all the way through any and all the businesses that we have. Over the past 40 years, you've done so much through the park. What are you most proud of? DP: Well, I'm proud of all of it. I'm proud of the whole idea that it was a big dream and it came true. That's a lot to be proud of. I'm proud of all the things we have, but I'm extremely proud of the Imagination Library, which is our Dollywood Foundation, and we do a lot of giving. We do a lot of things through that, and the Imagination Library is one of the things I'm proudest of anything I've done, even outside the park, just my whole career in general. That's a very warm, loving, emotional thing for me to think that I'm the book lady and that I've done something for the little kids, because being from a big family, I have a special love for children. There are eight kids younger than me in my family. I have a sister and two older brothers, but there's just something about young kids. They're the future. They're the ones that's going to be going on after us, and so I think if you can give them a head start, a little chance of any kind in their early years and their most impressionable years, that's a good thing. A lot of theme parks try to make you feel like you're in one place or another, but Dollywood really showcases the Smokies. What was the intention behind that? DP: Well, we wanted to try to keep as much of the Smoky Mountains and all the nature that we can. It always breaks your heart when you're going to have to build something. You have to cut down a tree or bushes or uproot this or that. But we've tried very hard to work around as much nature as we can rather than just mowing it down and just scooting it off a mountain somewhere or off a bank. We try to work around nature, and we try to keep as much as we can. We have all the beautiful flowers all over the park. I think it's one of the prettiest parks ever. You'd have to agree, right? I mean, when you walk around, there's trees and bushes and flowers everywhere, and we love that. So, we want to keep as much of the Smokies and that attitude and that feeling, because I'm a mountain girl and I think people know all that and they would expect that of me as well. Mountain people are also very important to you. For those who haven't been here, how would you describe the warmth and hospitality of the people? DP: There's just something about Southern people in general – they call that the Southern hospitality – but there's something even more than that about mountain people, people that are in the hills 'cause most of them grew up hard, so they have an appreciation and understanding of all people. There's just a warmth and a depth and a knowing in mountain people, I think. And they welcome you because most of them are from big families. Most of them take their own kinfolk in like that, so it's just almost like everybody's a friend, everybody's a family member. I know myself, when I do shows, I look out at my audience. I can see somebody I know in every person out there. Somebody reminds me of Uncle So-and-so. That looks just like my sister Stella. Oh, that person looks like Uncle Fred, so I kind of feel that warmth and I play to those people, so I'm always home wherever I'm at. And I think people go away from here, when they've been here, they think, 'Wow, that's just like we're having to leave some kin folks that we really like. Can't wait to go back next summer and spend our summer vacation out on the farm with the Partons and the Owenses.' So many people want to connect with you, and they have some other ways to do so around the country coming up DP: Come and be part of it and enjoy it. I'm very proud of my life story as a musical. We're going to open that in Nashville. We're actually doing previews in July and August. Then we go to New York, and we'll be opening on Broadway sometime next year, along with the (Nashville) hotel. I'm very excited about that and my museum (exhibit). And I have a new book coming out called 'Star of the Show.' It's about my life on stage and on the road, and so there's this whole lot of stuff going on. As much as I can do while I'm living, I'm going to try to get it done.
Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Zac Brown Band announces four shows at the Sphere in 'dream come true' experience
Ooh, Las Vegas: The Zac Brown Band is set to bring their southern twang to the Las Vegas Sphere. According to their website, the band will play four shows across two weekends in December at the venue. The first performance is scheduled for Dec. 5, the same day they plan to release their eighth album, 'Love & Fear.' 'Bringing our new album Love & Fear to Sphere Las Vegas is a dream come true,' Zac Brown wrote on the group's Instagram on Monday. 'It's my masterpiece so far.' The group began the rollout for their new album on June 6 with the lead single 'I Ain't Worried About It.' On July 18, they'll release 'Let it Run,' featuring Snoop Dogg. Additional album features include Marcus King and Dolly Parton. 'This show is the story of my life that I have never shared, a journey through my imagination, music and stories that have defined who I am,' the Instagram post continued. 'All of this brought to life in the incredible immersive environment of Sphere.' Tickets for the Dec. 5, 6, 12 and 13 shows will go on sale at 10 a.m. July 25, with an exclusive presale for the band's 'Zamily' members going live on Monday at the same time. Though 'Love & Fear' will surely take the spotlight, fans can almost certainly expect the usual hits, including multi-platinum hits like 'Knee Deep' and 'Chicken Fried,' at the Sphere. 'It will be a unique experience where you can really feel every note, every word, right there with us. We can't wait to share it with the fans,' Brown added. The Zac Brown Band's quartet of Vegas shows marks the second country act at the Sphere, coming just six months after Kenny Chesney wrapped up a 15-show residency on June 21. The band and Chesney previously collaborated on a live version of 'Everybody Goes to Heaven,' and the Zac Brown Band made a guest appearance during Chesney's 'Sun Goes Down' tour in 2024.
