Kenny Chesney played a free show Sunday night (May 17) at Pizza Hut Park in Dallas that drew about 25,000 people. The free concert came in the wake of a rain-shortened May 2 performance, though Chesney was not contractually obligated to come back and play again.
The considerable production tab for the three-hour-plus show was "on Kenny's dime," says promoter Louis Messina. "In my whole career, no other artist has ever done that."
Chesney featured his entire band and full production for the show. The stadium covered its own expenses for the show, including staffing. "You had 25,000 people at the stadium having a good ol' time, spending a lot of money, but still I'm sure they just made enough to cover their expenses," says Messina. "They didn't get rich off it. They were very cooperative."
The May 2 show drew about 23,500 paid attendees. Messina says only eight people had asked for refunds a fter the rain-soaked concert. "Legally, we did a show - we didn't have to come back," says Messina. "But Kenny felt like he had to come back."
The show ran longer even than a typical Chesney set on his current Sun City Carnival tour and included not only Chesney's hits, but covers of songs by George Strait, The Eagles, Van Halen and Lynyrd Skynyrd, according to Messina. "It was one heck of a party on a Sunday night," he adds. "This is a story of what the music business should be about, not just greed. Here's a guy that's about the fans, about doing the right thing."
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