Kenny Chesney returns to Nissan Stadium: 'All they're going to see and feel is raw energy'

For Kenny Chesney, stepping on stage inside a sold-out stadium for the first time in four years felt a little like learning to walk again.

It took time for country music's summer concert champion to regain command of the 220-foot wide platform he's bringing with him to NFL stadiums this season. But his connection with No Shoes Nation, the dedicated fanbase Chesney's built after nearly two decades of headlining some of music's largest rooms?

That didn't miss a beat.

"The love that we felt from the audience was so wonderful," Chesney told The Tennessean on opening his long-awaited "Here And Now" tour in Tampa last month. "It was 60,000 people telling us they were so happy to be there."

He added, with a laugh: "I felt like I was swimming up stream because I hadn't done that in so long. Luckily, we've hit a real groove as a band and it feels incredible right now."

This weekend, Chesney sets sights on a reunion with country music's capital city as he returns to Nashville for a one-night show under the lights of Nissan Stadium — a party his "No Shoes Nation" waited two summers to kick off.

And when he steps on stage Saturday after show postponements, tour delays and uncertainty for when he'll play again, Chesney said he won't take a second for granted.

"At all these shows, we try to give them everything we possibly can," Chesney said. "Honestly, it's just opening our hearts and saying, 'Come on in.'"

Read on for highlights from an interview with Chesney about returning to Nissan Stadium, playing new music and enlisting a who's who of opening talent.

On 'magical' nights in Nashville

Chesney headlined his first stadium — a rite of passage many artists strive for but few achieve and less sustain — 19 years ago in his hometown, Knoxville, Tennessee. Since that night, he's grown "No Shoes Nation" with a no-frills electricity that often transforms the towering venues he frequents into an intimate singalong.

Chesney, a four-time CMA Entertainer of the Year, last brought his self-described "circus" to Nissan Stadium in 2018, packing the house with more than 55,000 fans for romping renditions of "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy," "Beer In Mexico," "Young" and, of course, "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems.

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In hindsight, he described that performance as "one of the most magical nights of my life."

"Playing Nashville is one of those places where it's really easy to [open our hearts] because the relationship has been built for years," Chesney said. "The love is already there."

On preparing for months

Chesney understands that most fans only have so many concert dollars to spend each season. He won't inundate audiences with pyrotechnics or confetti canons, but he begins rehearsing months ahead of opening night to ensure a top-notch performance that competes with sports, festivals, concerts and other large-scale entertainment experiences.

"We start rehearsals in February," Chesney said. "We work really hard in February. We work really hard in March. Those two months [are] so about paying attention to details, and the harder we pay attention to details in the beginning, the better it is when we start."

He added, "For the most part, what people are used to, especially with me — we're not a big believer in smoke and mirrors," he said, adding: "All they're going to see and feel is raw energy and that's it. That is our pyro."

And why does he calls the tour a circus? "It's beautiful chaos," Chesney said.

"You're gonna see things that you don't normally see in every day life. It's a lot of fun," he said. "When you're a bunch of people like us traveling down the highway, we get to live under the circus tents all summer. It's beautiful."

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On the must-see opening acts

Chesney enlisted a trio of award-winning talent to support him on this year's tour: Carly Pearce, reigning CMA Female Vocalist of the Year; Old Dominion, a four-time CMA Group of the Year winner; and Dan + Shay, the three-time Grammy-winning duo known for crafting tender-hearted country-pop anthems.

Pearce opens the show, which Chesney described as "unbelievable."

"From when we did this bill with Carly for her to come play with us this summer, it's been a while," Chesney said. "The momentum of her career is much different now than when we did this deal. I feel like I'm very lucky, in that sense. I love her and I'm very proud of her."

On performing 'Here and Now'

Since he last played Nissan Stadium (and twice postponed his return due to pandemic conditions), Chesney's substantially grown his overflowing catalog of country hits. He's added one studio album — 2020's "Here and Now" — plus a handful of radio hits, including the "Here and Now" chart-topping title track and award-winning Kelsea Ballerini collaboration "Half of my Hometown."

Chesney believes "Here and Now" — with lyrics including "Here and now/ Nowhere else in this world tonight/ You and me, ain't it good to be alive" — resonates in a way he couldn't imagine before it was released.

"It's the sentiment that we all are here and breathing air and trying to love everybody and living in the here and now, that's a gift," Chesney said. "That's a real git these days and I think about that when I'm on stage. I really do."

And after more than a year of juggling an unknown future for touring, Chesney's embracing the so-called "beautiful chaos" of each night he steps on stage.

"If you decide on your own to take a year off, that's one thing," Chesney said. "But if you're ready to go and told you can't because of life circumstances, it's really scary. We didn't know if it was ever gonna come back."

He added, "I had a lot of anxiety about it. It's everything that I've done in my adult life and what've built. So it feels really, really great to be up there and be in that zone again."

If you go 

• Who: Kenny Chesney, Dan + Shay, Old Dominion and Carly Pearce 

• When: Music kicks off at 5 p.m. Saturday 

• Where: Nissan Stadium, 1 Titans Way, Nashville

• Cost: Single-seat prices start at $17 before fees. 

• More information: kennychesney.com

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Kenny Chesney is bringing 'raw energy' to his Nissan Stadium show