KU in Detroit

16 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on KU in Detroit

By UC member urbansunrise:

Detroit Ford Field 8-2-08

This was technically a Kenny Chesney show, but not for me.I was there for the opening acts, mostly Keith.We got downtown around noon and headed over to Hockeytown Café for lunch. I was enjoying all of the Red Wings memorabilia and I can’t believe I didn’t take any pictures. Guess that will require another visit someday. After we had lunch we headed over to the venue. It was sunny and hot, but the radio station had a “Beach Bash” going on, there was a local country band playing and games set up to win Sand Bar tickets or other prizes. The box office had my Customs Agent information around 1:30pm so when I went to get that I found no ticket upgrade but that is what I had expected. There was a very nice pass that said Customs Agent on there with the Monkeyville symbol and the heart. It looked so nice, like it should have been able to get me backstage. lol The letter told me where to meet at 5pm and that we’d be stamping for 1 hour. Once I got into the venue found me and was so nice to meet. He mentioned that Luke was at the show, but I never got a chance to meet him.

The show started at 4pm with a local band that won a contest opening for 15 minutes. They were pretty good and the crowd that was inside gave them a great welcome. After that came Luke Bryan. I had been excited to see him because I have some friends that love him. He is very entertaining and he’s got good energy on stage too. I didn’t realize that he wrote Billy Currington’s “Turnip Greens” song, he sang that for us which was fun because I didn’t know the first couple of songs he did. I would definitely go see him again if given the opportunity.

When Luke was finishing up, I had to leave to do the Customs Agent. My fellow monkey Annie was already at the table with her two sons. We had a great time chatting while we were stamping passports. An important note about stamping passports, I’m sure there were rules somewhere, but I didn’t get any when I was told I could be CA and Carson never motioned it. We are only allowed to stamp the official passports, oops. Needless to say this was fun meeting some other Monkeyville members and although I didn’t get to see Gary Allan’s set, I got to hear it. I think if I ever apply for CA again it will have to be during one of Keith’s shows and only if I don’t care for the opening act. I was disappointed that I had to miss Gary’s set because I wasn’t that familiar with his songs when I saw him back in November. I’ve definitely become a fan of his.

Once my duties were officially done, I headed over to where the backstage people would be coming back from meeting Keith. I had a few friends I wanted to catch on their way back, but apparently he was running late so when Leann Rimes came on I headed back to the floor. I enjoyed her set and knew quite a few songs. Since her husband is from the area, she considers herself somewhat of a hometown girl. I really enjoyed watching her perform but how can she possibly be comfortable walking around on stage in those heels? I’m not sure I’d seek out to go see another one of her shows, but if she were playing with someone else I wanted to see I would watch her set too.

After Leann, I got to hear all the details about the BSE from my friend Kim. My favorite part was when she said he holds Sunday while playing the piano. Awww, I can just see him sitting there with her. Once Keith started, the adrenaline was pumping, I was dancing and screaming so much. There weren’t any surprises during the set, pretty standard KU entertainment. I don’t think I could ever tire of watching him sing live, all that energy and connecting with the fans is amazing. During Shirt, he went to the side of the stage and sat on the edge. When he jumped down I thought maybe I’d get my chance to see him if he came back but he just stayed right at the front. Everyone crowded around him, which I’m sure he loves. And he signed a guy’s camouflage cast and made some comment about it during the song. It was so much fun watching him enjoy being there. I tried to enjoy the show and not take too many pictures but I ended up with over 200. Although quite a few are blurry, I didn’t feel like I was watching the show through the camera. I don’t remember the exact set list, but it was only songs from the Greatest Hits Album. I knew that Somebody Like You was the last song of the set, so as soon as they played the opening notes I got a little sad because it has been 9 months sine my last Keith show and this was just too short. I enjoyed every minute of him being on stage. When the set was finished, all the guys got together for the curtain call and went out to the first “T” of the catwalk to take their bow. Then they all said their goodbyes before leaving the stage. I do believe there were quite a few Kenny fans that became fans of Keith after seeing him.

Once Keith was done, I was set for the evening. I did plan on staying for Kenny’s set because I have never seen him live and I had to find out why he keeps winning Entertainer of the Year. His show is a HUGE production, and I believe that the powers to be use that as a big criteria. The beginning of the show is very cool with the video screen he uses. And there is a lot of lighting that goes with the music too. This is what gets him that win, in my opinion. I have to say though that I was disappointed in his performance. He does run around a lot, but it doesn’t seem like he does a lot of “connecting” with the fans, rather he sings to us. The stage was set up with at double “T” catwalk, with the opening acts only allowed to go out to the first “T”. My seat was at the side of the second “T” so I figured he might spend some time over there. I was hoping to get some really good pictures for a friend that is a big Kenny fan, and he barely came over. He did spend a lot of time at the other end, so I feel bad for those crazy Kenny fans hoping to have some time with him by us. All in all I’d say that Kenny did not create a new fan in me. He made me happy though, got to hear some good songs. Even got to hear my favorite song, “There Goes My Life” which isn’t normally in the set list he said, so that made me happy.

I am glad that I had my chance to experience the whole Kenny Chesney concert thing, but I prefer seeing Keith out on his own headlining. He will always be my Entertainer of the Year!

~urbansunrise~

Liv Carter

Liv Carter

Liv is a career coach for creatives, and the people who work with them.
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.
Liv Carter

Latest posts by Liv Carter (see all)