Las Vegas Mixtape v35: Country’s Sphere Takeover, Chinatown Tapas, and a Desert Oasis

Track #1: Kenny Chesney @Sphere

Kenny Chesney gives everyone a big group hug. (Image: Vegas 411)

“We hear you, we feel you, we’re thrilled to be here,” Kenny Chesney told an adoring audience on a recent Saturday night at the Sphere. The mega-star’s 15-date engagement runs until June 21, notably marking the first country music residency at the venue.

Chesney’s show has lots to recommend, starting with his stadium-sized charm and smooth baritone, plus his band’s three-guitar army and the artful visuals alongside the real-time onscreen projections.

Chesney possesses an attractive easy-going voice, like James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, and Ricky Nelson. He’s celebrated for his feel-good classics like “Beer In Mexico” and “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem,” but he also subtly taps into an American malaise and anxiety in other hits.

The country mega-star balances hits about escapism with songs that scratch below the surface of American life.  (Image: Vegas 411)

Among the set’s highlights with this theme were “Reality” (“Reality, yeah, sometimes life/Ain’t all that it’s cracked up to be”), “American Kids” (“A little messed up, but we’re all alright”), and “Noise” (“Sometimes I wonder how did we get here/Seems like all we ever hear is noise”), and “Get Along” (“Scared to live, scared to die/We ain’t perfect, but we try”).

Because Chesney has such a strong down-to-earth, beach-loving guy image, he doesn’t get enough credit for writing or choosing outside songs with relevant, meat-on-the-bone lyrics. At the Sphere, Chesney said he penned 2012’s “Welcome to the Fishbowl”—which contains the lyrics “You just lost your privacy/Welcome to the fishbowl”—as his statement about the effects of social media. His Sphere engagement is a terrific opportunity to see one of country’s best long-running artists whose debut album, “In My Wildest Dreams,” came out way back in 1994.