Kenny Burns Down Vegas

Opening Weekend @ Hard Rock's The Joint Go Marathon Man in a Keg

Las Vegas: Nobody likes being onstage more than Kenny Chesney - except maybe for the million-plus fans who've turned out the past 8 summers to see the high energy entertainer in NFL stadiums, arenas and funky little bars along the way. And when Chesney & Co. - currently taking a year off from the big production tours of the past several summers - hit Las Vegas, they were determined to squeeze every bit of fun and frenzy out of the songs.

“You know, when people thought I could go a whole year without playing live, I wondered who they were talking about,” Chesney laughed. “Certainly not me. I love making music, especially making music for people, too much! There was no way… I needed to get my foot off the gas, but that didn't mean I wanted to cut off the thing that makes me happiest.”

Mixing a few large festival plays - to reach the most fans possible - with a two weekend stand at The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino's storied The Joint, Chesney was able to scratch an itch that is the essence of his unbridled Keg in the Closet shows that are famed for their on'n'on bottomless energy.

Broadcasting live on No Shoes Radio (www.noshoesradio.com) the first night, Chesney's freewheeling set was the essence of Keg in the Closet: obscure older songs, rock, alternative and country covers and all the hits that the fans want to hear. Clocking in at 2 _ hours, it was the best of the traditional shows fans have come to expect and the ragtag Keggers that are as much about the music that influenced the man as is own hits.

“We blew it up Friday night,” admits the 4-time Country Music Association and 4-consecutive Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year. “We knew we were broadcasting on No Shoes Radio and that the Hard Rock was matching donations at the door, so we were going for it… and the fans were loving it, so why stop playing?”

How does on top thast? A marathon 4 hours and 15 minutes the following night. “We knew we were gonna be putting it up for another month, so we figured we'd go as long as they stayed… and we hit everything! I did 'Hungry Heart' acoustic… We played 'I'm Alive' for the first time, and 'You Saved Me,” half the Be As You Are record… a buncha covers form the Violent Femmes to Steve Miller… and we went and we went and they stayed and they stayed, and then we played some more.”

With “Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D” enjoying a #7 box office showing its first week of release, the singer/songwriter has turned his focus to music - working hard on the final stages of his upcoming fall release and already starting to think about what next year's show will be. And in between, Chesney will be back at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas July 2 & 3 for what will be an Independence Day walk up that will give the 4th of July new meaning.