For Immediate Release
19 July 2005
For More Information
Holly Gleason for Joe's Garage
Wes Vause for BNA Records
(615)-301-4300

Oh, Atlanta!!! Kenny Chesney's 1st Act to Sell 3 Nights at Philips Arena
Only Elton John & Elvis Presley Have Done 3 SROs @ the Omni

   Atlanta, Georgia: Waist-deep in the standing room only Somewhere In The Sun -- including the only headlining stadium shows by a country artist this year with plays in Washington DC, Boston and Pittsburgh -- Kenny Chesney added another impressive jewel to his already insane attendance accomplishments. Having added one, then two shows to his annual Atlanta play, the reigning Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year became only the 3rd artist -- Elvis Presley being the first and demi-resident Elton John being the 2nd -- in the history of Atlanta's major arenas to do 3 nights sold out in a row.

   And with close to 18,000 tickets sold a night, Chesney also became the first act at the Philips Arena to do three straight nights of sell-outs. Had there not been the little matter of getting equipment to Boston, Chesney might well have become the first act to do four sell-outs in a row because the demand was there.

   "When they told me that, it kinda took me back a little bit," admits the soft-spoken songwriter/artist. "I mean, the first record I ever bought was Elvis' Greatest Hits, so that's not somebody I ever think of myself in the same company with. Like I keep saying, you just get out there and you play, and you don't think about the rest of it... You know, you don't."

   "And it's so funny, because a lot of times the halls will make up a jersey of one of their sports teams for you -- when they told me they had a presentation Saturday night, I just assumed that's what they were doing. When they took the box off this giant flat screen TV, I figured it was something they were putting in that room... they had to tell me it was for me! I just didn't get it... But for me, the treat isn't the TV, it's the energy of those Atlanta crowds..."

   In addition to the special presentation, Chesney had some very special friends on hand to celebrate the Elvis/Elton feat he didn't even know he'd accomplished until the presentation. In addition to tourmates Gretchen Wilson and Pat Green, Chesney had a bunch of his buddies from the various Virgin Island bars who'd never seen him play on hand for the Philips Arena shows.

   "It was pretty crazy," says the man whose quadruple platinum CMA Album of the Year When The Sun Goes Down and his closing in on double platinum meditation on the islands' impact on his life Be As You Are both debuted at #1 on Billboard's all-genre Top 200, making Chesney's island lifestyle a nationwide way of life. "When I saw my buddy Ivan, he actually had shoes on! SHOES! I don't think I've ever seen him in a pair of shoes in the 8 years I've known him -- and when I asked him about it he said, 'Oh, man... Yeah, I wear shoes for the really important stuff, you know? And this is a pretty important event, you know?' and I just laughed."

   With USA Today devoting a full-page to just how big Chesney's stadium shows are -- and CBS News' Rita Braver taking a peak behind the scenes at DC's Fed Ex Field, the man who's had 3 multiple week #1s with "There Goes My Life," the Uncle Kracker duet "When The Sun Goes Down" and the yearning "Anything But Mine" is gearing up for another football stadium this weekend.

   "It's been a crazy summer," allows the man currently burning the charts with the raucous frat anthem "Keg In The Closet," which like "I Go Back" he wrote. "Every time I think the audiences can't get any wilder or any crazier, there's a night like the three we just had in Atlanta. Even when I was a kid going to shows I don't remember too many shows like what we're experiencing... though obviously I was one kid in the cheap seats and the energy was going the other way.

   "Truly, there are nights I turn around, look at the band and laugh. It's an incredible feeling -- and I can only hope the fans are getting as much out of the shows as we are 'cause let me tell you, there aren't even words to explain what we're feeling up there!"

   There will be a whole lot more to feel July 23 in Foxboro, MA. and July 30 in Pittsburgh, PA when Somewhere In The Sun Stadium Size kicks back into high gear. Otherwise, it's just sell-out business as usual.

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