Looks like Kenny Chesney‘s gonna keep his I Go Back Tour rolling a little longer.
The “Summertime” singer had himself quite the summer last year with his 2022 Here and Now Tour. Chesney’s record setting tour brought his well known hits all across the country and allowed for him to be the only country artist on POLLSTAR‘s Top 5 Tours of the Year.
His successful tour in 2022 prompted Chesney to kick off a brand new arena tour this year by the name of I Go Back 2023. Why is it called I Go Back you ask?
Well, the country star took himself and his band back to the cities that were pivotal to his success and his own rise as a country music headliner.
The tour set out to shine a spotlight on the fans beyond stadium markets. I Go Back is a specially designed show that aims to deliver intimacy within the three hours of music each night. A recent picture shared by Chesney shows how appreciative he has been of his more intimate audiences.
Playing the smaller venues for Chesney has been great, but for someone that Variety pegged as a “stadium-sized superstar,” it never hurts to step onto the big stage too…
Chesney is currently wrapping up his 2023 tour, but a couple of summer festivals suddenly found themselves without headliners this afternoon when Morgan Wallen announced that he was going to have to go on vocal rest for the next six weeks, forcing him to cancel not only his tour stops that he has scheduled but also his appearances at some major festivals.
According to Wallen:
“So I went in and got scoped yesterday, and they told me that I reinjured my vocal cords, and that I have vocal fold trauma.
Their advice is that I go on vocal rest for six weeks, so that’s what I’m gonna do. They want me not to talk at all…
I won’t be able to make these festivals that I have during this time frame, but we are gonna make those right in the next year.”
The timing of the announcement by Morgan worked out that Kenny was available to fill in. Thus, the 8-time Entertainer of the Year will be adding on a couple of tour stops to his I Go Back tour and stepping in at a couple of festivals.
Chesney will now be bringing his “stadium sized energy” to the Gulf Coast Jam and Carolina Country Music Fest, replacing Morgan Wallen on the lineups, and the longtime artist couldn’t be more excited about it.
Chesney spoke on both the love he has had for his smaller venues as well as his excitement to get back on the big stage:
“It’s like an extra little bit of something. We love playing those great big stages, and I think everyone knows that.
But this year, in these venues, has been unlike anything we’ve done in years – so much fun, so great, so spur of the moment – and I wouldn’t change a thing.
I can’t lie, though. I was missing those big stages just a bit. And now, me and the road family get to have our cake and eat it, too.
When we got the call, even though we were basically done, I thought it over, and of course we wanted to be there for the fans.
They’re the reason we do this, and the opportunity to step in and let even more people see how white hot and awesome these players are is awesome.
Funny how life has a way of stepping in!”
The “One Step Up” singer doesn’t mind stepping in at all, and fans at the Gulf Coast Jam and Carolina Country Music Fest will certainly be excited for Chesney to grace the festival stages.
Gulf Coast Jam will be held in Panama City Beach, Florida from June 1st through the 4th, while the Carolina Country Music Fest will take place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on June 8th through the 11th.
