The Stage

Each year, Cheyenne Frontier Days puts on a week-long concert and rodeo extravaganza.  This year we decided to check out the Friday night Kenny Chesney concert.  We picked up pizza from Aurelio’s and headed out into the 4pm Denver rush hour.  We made it to Cheyenne, WY a little after 6pm, found a spot at the park and ride and boarded the school bus for a short and uneventful ride to the grandstand and carnival midway.  Or so we thought.  While the ride was short, we were sitting near a group of middle aged men, all wearing fedoras with feathers.  At least one of these men was also missing some teeth, and appeared to be slightly tipsy.

Anyway, we made it to our destination, and got off the bus – the people up front were slow to disembark, so we used the fedora group as blockers.   We also picked up some good chicken strips and fries before finding our seats.  While we were on the side of the grandstand, we were in the front row on the second section.  This meant we had much more legroom, and did not have to worry about hitting peoples’ heads with our knees or feet.

Pre-show entertainment included Flip from KYGO having people do activities such as hula-hooping and other things involving gyrating hips.  He also seemed to like hanging out near girls.  I figure he’s young and single, and usually doesn’t have a bunch of young blonde things flirting with him.   We also learned that a girl from Australia has Kenny Chesney’s signature tattooed on her backside.  Fortunately, by this time it was almost time for the concert.

Uncle Kenny

Jake Owen opened the show.  He had good energy, and the crowd seemed to like him.  However, the real fun began once Kenny took the stage.  He had incredible energy, a great band (including guitars, keyboard, steel drum, two trumpets, trombone, and a saxophone, and a big, cool guy from Mississippi) and basically sang non-stop for the next few hours.  He went through most of his hits – past and present – and then the band had some fun with the encores, where the backup guys got to sing songs from rap and rock and roll.  Overall, it was one of the best concerts we have ever been to.

Photos can be found here.