Bigger, Brighter, Better, WOW
Halfway through Kenny Chesney’s groundbreaking residency at Sphere, the East Tennessee songwriter/superstar is still raising the stakes and doubling down. With bassist Harmoni Kelley in a white sparkling Elvis jumpsuit and a crowd clearly primed for Friday night, Chesney hit the stage consumed by swirling sugar skulls and dancing skeletons as “Beer In Mexico.”
With friends from across the country, family and special guests, the energy stayed high. With band playing hard, the 2025 Country Music Hall of Fame electee was clearly in the zone for a show that was loose, intense and found a new level of joy for everyone under the dome. It was those high spirits that saw Chesney dedicate “Big Star” to a good friend and Oklahoma girl who chased a dream named Reba, as well as sharing the story of how personal art can be introducing a particularly intimate “Old Blue Chair.”
But it was in sharing the story of how some songs have one voice that you know is right, waiting for them and seeking out something special that the evening took a turn for the intense. Introducing one of his “best friends in the whole world,” Grace Potter emerged in a purple sparkle mini dress to perform a tender “You and Tequila” that saw the GRAMMY-nominated pair beaming at each other.
In classic Potter freewheelery, the Vermont-born rocker then asked her friend how he could be in Vegas and not be singing Elvis Presley? A yowl went up from the crowd as Chesney broke into a grin that said, “Well, okay then.” What tumbled out was a freight train groove that slammed Elvis’ “Burning Love” into a wave that was equal parts rockabilly, rock & roll and pure euphoria.
“When Grace gets a notion,” Chesney said later, “I usually just roll with it. She’s one of the most musical people I’ve ever met, as well as fun, so when she’s saying, ‘Lets…,’ I’m all about it. She strapped on that Flying V guitar, and when her verse came up, she just took us to church.”
Laughing after the show, Potter explained, “Kenny has the voice to hit that Elvis thing, and it seemed so obvious to me. ‘We’re in Vegas! You rock! Let’s do this!!’ And man, with his band, what other song do you do? I knew they’d crush ‘Burning Love,’ and man, did they.”
From there the set just kept building, beyond the immersive nature of the visuals and the dialed in sound, Chesney’s band, Rosie & the Revival, has found a way to thrill the Sandbar and throw all their full-tilt musicianship up into the 300 and 400 levels. It’s becoming a musical lovefest top-to-bottom as these shows have continued.
Having created visuals that include a nighttime sea-planing trip through the Virgin Islands, a stack of televisions that carry images of the show, a wall of film strips that show everyone in Chesney’s road family’s school pictures and a giant fishbowl, the animated waves split and curved forward as the animated VW bus with the origami Kenny and Kracker signaled the beginning on “When The Sun Goes Down.” But Friday night, for the first time, when the “all day long I’ve been taking it easy,” a decidedly svelte Uncle Kracker emerged from the back of the stage with a blazing smile and that soul-smooth voice.
The roar was massive, and the sing-along profound. But even more thrilling for the people in attendance, Chesney and the band kept Kracker out for a mini-set that included Kracker’s breakout “Follow Me” and a particularly striking “Drift Away.” This show also marked the second time Kracker has spent his birthday with Kenny in Vegas.
As is Road Family tradition, Kracker was presented with a massive margarita, which he did a more than respectable job taking that first gulp of. There were also candles blown out on a very green cake – and Chesney leading No Shoes Nation through “Happy Birthday” for the genre-blurring star.
“Anytime Kracker wants to join us, he has an open invitation. Everyone in No Shoes Nation knows that,” Chesney offered. “But when he’s out here with us, the joy level jumps up so much, and the soul he brings to what we do, the band and I can’t get enough. I can’t believe it took us so long to make this happen!”
Though the shows aren’t built on “who’s coming out next,” Chesney’s Vegas residency has become a celebration of his friendships as well as his relationship with No Shoes Nation.
“I think everybody’s curious about what this massive show is all about,” Chesney continues. “But I also think we’re having so much fun out here, who doesn’t want to be a part of it? When you have your friends calling, asking if they can come, I’ve always been the more, the better. But so far, we’ve had so many guests, so many friends and everybody’s having a blast.”
Add in the high intensity visual media and the precisely dialed in sound, there’s a deeper intimacy afforded by the immersive venue configuration. More than anything, Chesney is once again dialing up and increasing his unwavering with No Shoes Nation, who’ve traveled to Vegas for the experience.
Parade praised opening night, headlining “Country legend leaves fans speechless during ‘absolutely unreal’ show,” while ABC News deemed it “historic” and even music-forward Jambase professed he “doubled down.” USA Today delivered the most far-reaching review, headlining it, “Kenny Chesney delivers vibrant, visually arresting feast at Sphere Las Vegas” – and calling it “a technicolor wonder” and proclaiming, “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.”
Recently named Billboard’s No. 1 Country Artist of the 21st Century, Kenny Chesney is also the only country artist to be in Billboard’s Top 10 Touring Acts of the Last 25 Years for the last 15 years. With his legendary live performances, he joins the very select handful of cultural icons and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees U2, (Grateful) Dead & Company and the Eagles, plus Phish to play the 17,600-seat spherical venue that deploys next-generation technologies.
Kenny Chesney Live at Sphere Las Vegas is presented by Blue Chair Bay® Rum.
Kenny Chesney Live at Sphere Las Vegas LIMITED TICKETS REMAIN
Saturday, June 7
Wednesday, June 11
Friday, June 13
Saturday, June 14
Wednesday, June 18
Friday, June 20
Saturday, June 21
With friends from across the country, family and special guests, the energy stayed high. With band playing hard, the 2025 Country Music Hall of Fame electee was clearly in the zone for a show that was loose, intense and found a new level of joy for everyone under the dome. It was those high spirits that saw Chesney dedicate “Big Star” to a good friend and Oklahoma girl who chased a dream named Reba, as well as sharing the story of how personal art can be introducing a particularly intimate “Old Blue Chair.”
But it was in sharing the story of how some songs have one voice that you know is right, waiting for them and seeking out something special that the evening took a turn for the intense. Introducing one of his “best friends in the whole world,” Grace Potter emerged in a purple sparkle mini dress to perform a tender “You and Tequila” that saw the GRAMMY-nominated pair beaming at each other.
In classic Potter freewheelery, the Vermont-born rocker then asked her friend how he could be in Vegas and not be singing Elvis Presley? A yowl went up from the crowd as Chesney broke into a grin that said, “Well, okay then.” What tumbled out was a freight train groove that slammed Elvis’ “Burning Love” into a wave that was equal parts rockabilly, rock & roll and pure euphoria.
“When Grace gets a notion,” Chesney said later, “I usually just roll with it. She’s one of the most musical people I’ve ever met, as well as fun, so when she’s saying, ‘Lets…,’ I’m all about it. She strapped on that Flying V guitar, and when her verse came up, she just took us to church.”
Laughing after the show, Potter explained, “Kenny has the voice to hit that Elvis thing, and it seemed so obvious to me. ‘We’re in Vegas! You rock! Let’s do this!!’ And man, with his band, what other song do you do? I knew they’d crush ‘Burning Love,’ and man, did they.”
From there the set just kept building, beyond the immersive nature of the visuals and the dialed in sound, Chesney’s band, Rosie & the Revival, has found a way to thrill the Sandbar and throw all their full-tilt musicianship up into the 300 and 400 levels. It’s becoming a musical lovefest top-to-bottom as these shows have continued.
Having created visuals that include a nighttime sea-planing trip through the Virgin Islands, a stack of televisions that carry images of the show, a wall of film strips that show everyone in Chesney’s road family’s school pictures and a giant fishbowl, the animated waves split and curved forward as the animated VW bus with the origami Kenny and Kracker signaled the beginning on “When The Sun Goes Down.” But Friday night, for the first time, when the “all day long I’ve been taking it easy,” a decidedly svelte Uncle Kracker emerged from the back of the stage with a blazing smile and that soul-smooth voice.
The roar was massive, and the sing-along profound. But even more thrilling for the people in attendance, Chesney and the band kept Kracker out for a mini-set that included Kracker’s breakout “Follow Me” and a particularly striking “Drift Away.” This show also marked the second time Kracker has spent his birthday with Kenny in Vegas.
As is Road Family tradition, Kracker was presented with a massive margarita, which he did a more than respectable job taking that first gulp of. There were also candles blown out on a very green cake – and Chesney leading No Shoes Nation through “Happy Birthday” for the genre-blurring star.
“Anytime Kracker wants to join us, he has an open invitation. Everyone in No Shoes Nation knows that,” Chesney offered. “But when he’s out here with us, the joy level jumps up so much, and the soul he brings to what we do, the band and I can’t get enough. I can’t believe it took us so long to make this happen!”
Though the shows aren’t built on “who’s coming out next,” Chesney’s Vegas residency has become a celebration of his friendships as well as his relationship with No Shoes Nation.
“I think everybody’s curious about what this massive show is all about,” Chesney continues. “But I also think we’re having so much fun out here, who doesn’t want to be a part of it? When you have your friends calling, asking if they can come, I’ve always been the more, the better. But so far, we’ve had so many guests, so many friends and everybody’s having a blast.”
Add in the high intensity visual media and the precisely dialed in sound, there’s a deeper intimacy afforded by the immersive venue configuration. More than anything, Chesney is once again dialing up and increasing his unwavering with No Shoes Nation, who’ve traveled to Vegas for the experience.
Parade praised opening night, headlining “Country legend leaves fans speechless during ‘absolutely unreal’ show,” while ABC News deemed it “historic” and even music-forward Jambase professed he “doubled down.” USA Today delivered the most far-reaching review, headlining it, “Kenny Chesney delivers vibrant, visually arresting feast at Sphere Las Vegas” – and calling it “a technicolor wonder” and proclaiming, “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.”
Recently named Billboard’s No. 1 Country Artist of the 21st Century, Kenny Chesney is also the only country artist to be in Billboard’s Top 10 Touring Acts of the Last 25 Years for the last 15 years. With his legendary live performances, he joins the very select handful of cultural icons and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees U2, (Grateful) Dead & Company and the Eagles, plus Phish to play the 17,600-seat spherical venue that deploys next-generation technologies.
Kenny Chesney Live at Sphere Las Vegas is presented by Blue Chair Bay® Rum.
Kenny Chesney Live at Sphere Las Vegas LIMITED TICKETS REMAIN
Saturday, June 7
Wednesday, June 11
Friday, June 13
Saturday, June 14
Wednesday, June 18
Friday, June 20
Saturday, June 21