As usual I want to share my concert experiences with people who I know will truly appreciate the opportunity and whom I care about deeply; unfortunately this time it was very difficult to decide…how do you pick between your BF and your mom?  As this decision wasn’t easy, it also wasn’t based on who I care about more, it was based on who loves Kenny more and who loves Tim more.  As you could probably guess my mom loves Tim, in fact she told me that if I got to meet him during this experience and she didn’t get to join me that I had to express my mother’s love for him.  Mom didn’t join me in Chicago for Kenny and Tim.  Paul’s love of Kenny and his music far outweighs mom’s love for Tim’s looks and his acting. As if this experience couldn’t get any more exciting for the two of us, we found out 2 days before that we were going to meet Kenny Chesney and that there may be different tickets waiting for us at Will Call when we got there! Holy Upgrade! We went to the front row of section H which was directly in front of the soundboard and the “second stage!”

Even through the crazy Chicago traffic we got there just in time to see Jake Owen perform his heart out to the crowd with so many of his hits like “Yee Haw,” “Eight Second Ride,” “Barefoot Bluejean Night” and “Alone with You.”  Jake really seems to have gained a higher level of confidence when he performs even since last fall when I saw him open for Keith Urban at the Bradley Center or maybe it was the combination of the huge venue already filled with fans to see him start a 4:30 and all the ladies screaming in the audience.  Either way Jake really got the party started!

After Jake we were delighted to see Grace Potter and the Nocturnals were performing! She belted her heart out for a half hour straight and earned hundreds of new fans while on stage.  She was incredibly thankful and gracious to be out on such a life changing tour. Grace and her band did a great job of combining rock n’ roll, country and a bit of gospel all at once! I love it when artists give everything they have on stage and leave without regret! She must have been feeling an emotional high after her set!

Then onto one of the “Brothers of the Sun”! It’s Tim Time!!!  Everyone in crowd went crazy when Tim McGraw came on stage! He started with the first hit from his newest cd “Felt Good on My Lips!” Unfortunately (but not that unfortunate) we had to step out for a bit for the Kenny meet and greet so we missed quite a bit of Tim’s set, but what we did see was awesome!  Thankfully we made it back for the rest of Tim’s 21 song set, especially for “Live Like You Were Dying,” “Cowboy in Me,” and “I Like It, I Love It.”  Tim did an incredible job working the entire stage and getting the entire stadium involved. During the part of Tim’s set that we were able to see which included “A Heart Don’t Forget,” Paul revealed to me that it was this song from Tim that turned him onto country music in the first place. Good work Tim!  For his individual finale Tim played his new hit single “Truck Yeah” which made the crowd become unbelievably louder and is when I believe I completely lost my voice!

Back to the Kenny Chesney meet and greet…We anxiously waited in line and chatted with other greeters who were almost as excited as Paul.  Kenny was extremely gracious at the meet and greet; he let us use our own cameras so we immediately had the pictures with him in our possession and he signed autographs for us which I have learned becomes more and more rare as stars become more and more famous.  Thanks Kenny!  I introduced myself as Jen from FM106.1 in Milwaukee and told him that I got to write a review of his show, I think I may have flustered him a bit! Me? I flustered Kenny? Awesome!  Then Paul came up to join us for a picture and could barely introduce himself because he was so overwhelmed with excitement!

Kenny’s part of the concert was high energy from start to finish! Because of the generous upgrade of our seats we ended up being right in front of the second stage that Kenny emerged from at the start of his show! He started with “Beer in Mexico” (as Paul predicted) and then flew directly over us onto the main stage. Once on the main stage his 26 song set continued with all his hits old and new from “Back Where I Come From” and “Turn this Car Around” to his newest radio hit “Come Over.”  My favorite songs to hear/ see were “Somewhere with You” and “Reality” because our group of friends who went to see him at Lambeau Field last summer like to tell each other that we’re in the Reality video since it uses footage from his Lambeau concert!  Paul’s favorite performances from Kenny that night in Chicago were “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem” and “Live Those Songs.”

As if the concert couldn’t get any better Kenny and Tim still had to perform together!  There was no break either! They just went right into their combined part of the show!  All of a sudden Tim was emerging from the same stage directly behind us that Kenny came out of! As the two of them were singing “Whatever Makes You Feel like a Rockstar,” Tim came running and singing right past us! Holy amazing seats! Together they also sang Kenny’s hit “She Thinks my Tractor’s Sexy” and Tim’s hit “Indian Outlaw.”  Finally they ended the show with one more song and Jake Owen came out and joined them too! What a night! I don’t think it could have been any more mind-blowingly incredible!