By Mike Klompstra
Van Andel Arena
The first Grand Rapids show Kenny Chesney announced for April 6 at SMG-managed Van Andel Arena on his Songs for the Saints 2019 Tour sold out quickly. So quickly that a second show for Sunday, April 7, has been added.
Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, January 18 at 10:00 AM. Tickets will be available at the Van Andel Arena and DeVos Place® box offices, online at Ticketmaster.com, and charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000. See Ticketmaster.com for all pricing and availability.
After playing 19 major stadium concerts, breaking 11 records and playing to over 1.3 million members of No Shoes Nation, Kenny Chesney decided to scale things back, head to where the fans are and create a more intimate concert experience. Though known for his high impact shows, Songs for the Saints 2019 Tour is going to bring all the energy, all the intensity and all the songs to select markets.
“I wanted to bring the music to the people, knowing how many members of No Shoes Nation travel to see our stadium shows,” the man the Los Angeles Times hailed “The People’s Superstar” said of his 2019 tour. “To me, making the rooms a little smaller, coming to where the fans live, we’re changing the dynamic – and I think it’s going to be pretty cool. It’s a lot of people’s hometowns, and that’s always awesome energy.”
Joining the songwriter/superstar on Songs for the Saints 2019 Tour is good friend and hard country icon David Lee Murphy. Murphy’s feel good faith in the universe “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” became his second and Chesney’s 29th No. 1 – and scored the pair the 2018 CMA Award for Musical Event of the Year.
With “Better Boat,” Chesney’s duet with Mindy Smith from the deeply personal Songs for the Saints climbing the charts, the 8-time Entertainer of the Year is turning his attention back to the fans, the music and the road. Profiled in The New York Times in early November for his intersective approach to music through sports, the man from East Tennessee believes in the power of music to heal people wherever they are.
“One thing people who’ve been coming to see us know is that every night, I tell people, ‘Whatever your problems are, I want you to leave them out there… and for one night, I want you to forget about it, and have the time of your life,’” he explains. “It’s not that we don’t have serious songs, or heartbreak songs, but I want people to feel what they need to feel, sing as loud as they can and have the kind of night everybody needs to feel the best part of being alive.”
Earlier this year, The New York Times further recognized that power, offering, “Everything country learned from arena rock is in the mix…the music gives him heroic, wide-open spaces,” while the Cleveland Plain Dealer offered, “Chesney makes you feel better, better about yourself, better about life,” and Variety noted, “Country Music’s only true long-term stadium act.”
“To me, songs are personal. That is until you play them for others. Now when I hear the audience singing along on “Noise,” or “Get Along,” or “American Kids,” it’s their song every bit as much as it’s mine. They throw so much light and heart on everything, even a sad one like “Anything But Mine,” the songs shine. So for us, getting out there and hearing these songs again just reminds us how powerful they are. And getting to take them to some places we’ve missed, playing some rooms where we can really see all the faces? That’s really awesome, too.”
