Chesney kicked off the tour at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena with guests Grace Potter, Taylor Swift, Uncle Kracker, Dave Lee Murphy and Joe Walsh. A four-time Country Music Association and four consecutive Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year, Chesney has always worked to make sure his production is as cutting edge as possible.
Production and lighting designer Mike Swinford says the look of the tour is "very typical" of Kenny Chesney's road shows. "It's a relatively simple design that's big and bold," he says. "Kenny likes big looks with a lot of lights: an old-school, large rock 'n roll show."
Lighting programmer Mark Butts says, "Kenny doesn't do anything small. His style has always been pretty hard rock 'n roll - just pure, raw fire power."
To help achieve that feel, Swinford is deploying 198 Mythos and 44 Stormy Strobe fixtures, new from Clay Paky. Morris Light & Sound in Nashville, the lighting, sound and rigging vendor for the tour, is among the first in the US to offer a big inventory of the new lighting instruments so it could easily fulfill Swinford's specs.
"We're never shy to be the first to do something," says Morris president David Haskell. "We like to be on the cutting edge. And we know we have A.C.T's support for the new fixtures. The only problem with Mythos is that we don't have enough! I get calls daily for them; they're going to have the same kind of impact on the industry as Sharpy did when it was introduced."
Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky area manager for North and Latin America, adds, "It's great when Mr. Swinford, Mr. Butts and Morris Light and Sound team up. Their shows are always amazing and we're happy to collaborate with them once again."
(Jim Evans)
