Battle of the Entertainers...

Saturday was a big day for concert ticket sales. I personally found the timing of one of these to be a little odd, but I might have been looking for something that wasn't there. It could become a new trend to randomly put concerts on sale 7 months ahead of time, what do I know.

Press Release #1:

Foxboro, MA: It's getting to be a tradition: not Kenny Chesney playing to the euphoric sold-out crowds in the Patriots' Stadium, more the way his annual Foxboro, Massachusetts sells out in record time. This year, it took a mere 15 minutes for the triple and current Country Music Association and three consecutive and reining Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year to sell out his July 26th Poets & Pirates concert at Boston's home of NFL football.

“You know it's just surreal, but WHAT a WAY to START out our year and our tour,” marvels the man from Luttrell, Tennessee who moved to Nashville in a beat-up pick-up truck with a dream, a few songs and a lot of determination. “I was home for Thanksgiving, thinking about how far we've come and the people who've been a part of it, like the fans that have come out and rocked with us in Boston for years. Boston, Massachusetts? A kid from outside Knoxville like me? It's kinda crazy.

“But it's amazing how people everywhere like to get together, have a party, forget about what's bothering them,” Chesney continues. “I try to make these shows be the kinda thing people can build a summer around - all the memories, the friends, the good times. Boston, when you guys buy all these tickets so fast, you make me feel like we're connecting just the way we hope we can.”

Joining Chesney for this year's show - brought to you by Corona Beer -- is a line-up that is as diverse as the man himself. CMA Entertainer of the Year and multi-platinum superstar Keith Urban anchors the line-up, which also contains blistering rocker Sammy Hagar, Grammy-winning tour mate LeAnn Rimes and eternally hip West Coaster Gary Allen.

“It's gonna be a big day of all kinds of music,” enthuses the man who wrote his 3 week #1 “Beer In Mexico” at Hagar's pool in Cabo San Lucas Mexico. “I am a fan of every one of these acts - and they each bring something a bit different to the mix. Whether it's Sammy's hardcore rocking or Gary Allen's West Coast cool, LeAnn Rime's freshness and just everything about what my good friend Keith Urban does, this will be a day where you're gonna be engaged from the moment you get there.”

Chesney's not kidding. Indeed, his parking lots have long been the location of some very serious tail-gating - especially at his stadium shows. Fans arrive with their own palm trees, hammocks, grass skirts, ice chests, blenders, beach chairs and mirror the headliners own chilled out lifestyle to get “in the vibe” for the show.

“There isn't a kind of show I don't like playing,” Chesney admits. “But there's something about the stadium shows, an intensity to them, and last year, an odd kind of intimacy. There is no rush like it - and the fans, especially ones at far back, they are so in the music, we can feel them from the stage. Right now, I gotta tell you: I'm starting to get psyched about getting back to rehearsals and getting out there.”

With over almost 7.5 million fans played to over the past 6 years, Chesney knows how to connect. With varying line-ups for this summer's stadium shows, as well as his l arena and amphitheatre dates with special guest LeAnn Rimes, it's already starting to feel a whole lot more like summer.


Still awake? Here's Press Release #2:

*Garth Brooks, the number 1 selling solo artist in U.S. history, continues to rewrite the record books selling out 5 concerts at STAPLES Center in 59 minutes – the first time any performer sold out that many shows in the Los Angeles arena in one day. Organizers, Brooks and AEG had announced that the concerts would raise money for the recent fire victims and for the future of fire fighting in the state of California. “It’s a beautiful thing when everyone pulls together,” Brooks said. “California just raised a ton of money for their own. I’m so proud to be part of this.” As part of his unprecedented appearance, the legendary performer will play five full concerts in two days – a feat believed to have never before been attempted by any artist – when he appears on Friday, January 25, 2008 at 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM and then on Saturday, January 26 at 1:00, 5:00 and 9:00 PM, the first-ever triple header in a U.S. arena. All proceeds from the five concerts sponsored by American Express and official media sponsor the Los Angeles Times will be donated to the “Southern California 2008 Fire Relief Campaign,” a campaign of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. With over 85,000 tickets sold in less than one hour, Brooks becomes the only artist in STAPLES Center history to sell-out five concerts in one day, the only artist to play five concerts in two days and is believed to be the only performer to appear in three full concerts in one day and five full concerts in two days at any U.S. venue.