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COUNTRY COMES TO THE ROSE BOWL

When country came to the Rose Bowl—following the domination of Eminem & Rihanna, Jay-Z with Justin Timberlake or Beyoncé and three nights of One Direction—it seemed like a lower-impact alternative for a whole different crowd. But the seven-hour, five-act merger of the Big Revival/Burn It Down tours gave Pasadena a master class in country music’s real stopping power.

As Kenny Chesney flew over the stadium crowd on a zip line, challenging the audience to live out on “Drink It Up,” a track from his tour-naming Big Revival, it was clear this audience came to rock, and rock hard. For over two hours, Chesney drove the crowd to peak after peak with a triple-guitar attack, a rhythm section that moved the songs with authority and his own unstoppable energy.

Whether it was the burning “Somewhere With You,” the scorching honky tonk of “Living In Fast Forward” or the crowd-pleasing “American Kids,” Chesney brings it like rock stars used to: hard and with purpose. There’s even a tip of the hat to AC/DC as his female bass player cranks out a thumping “Whole Lotta Rosie.”


But where Chesney really connects are on the songs that reach into people’s lives. Slowing things down for the love gone “Anything But Mine,” affirming free-spirited women in “Wild Child” or celebrating high school football dreams in “Boys of Fall,” the deeper place his music comes from is apparent. People don’t just love Kenny Chesney, they believe in him—and the way he sees who they are.

Jason Aldean, a product of Macon, Georgia, knows people, too. His are a bit more rough-shod, but every bit as stand-up. With fireworks blazing, he took the stage to his breakout “Hick Town” and moved straight into “My Kinda Party.”

Aldean’s music owes more to arena rock – as his covers of Tom Petty and Bryan Adams suggest – than classic country, but he gives his songs the sore back and busted knuckles tumble of a blue collar foreman on hits “She’s So Country,” “Take A Little Ride” and the rapping hybirds “1994” and “Dirt Road Anthem.”

Jason Aldean and Broken Bow Music Group's Jon Loba find the bloom is off the Rose Bowl when they're forced into a photo op with HITS' Todd Hensley. The two politely declined Todd's invitation to go muddin'.

Brantley Gilbert, who co-wrote Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem” and “My Kinda Party,” takes Aldean’s extreme even further. Imagine James Hetfield backed by a tamer Faith No More channeling Restless Heart’s softer side. If Gilbert could—and most likely would, judging by the tattoos and a song called “Take It Outside”—kick your ass, he’s a more thoughtful kind of thug.

“One Hell Of An Amen,” topping Country radio this week, speaks to the dignity a certain kind of man has in dying—whether as a soldier or from cancer—and it suggests that rednecks are more than merely Confederate Flag-waving simpletons. From the set-opening “Kick It in the Sticks” to his final, all-encompassing “Country Must Be Country Wide,” Gilbert’s post-metal country suggests being an outlier might be the new outlaw stance.

Cole Swindell used his six songs to play three chart-toppers: “Chillin’ It,” “Hope You Get Lonely” and “Ain’t Worth the Whiskey.” A likeable enough performer, he works hard to get the audience on his side – and understands the power of blurring mainstream ’90s country with what’s happening today, as his set list proves.

Opening the show was Old Dominion, a collaborative of songwriters that is far more a band than a Crosby, Stills & Nash proposition. With Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, The Band Perry, Dierks Bentley and Chesney cutting their songs, it’s no wonder the dump-the-guy “Break Up With Him” connected with the largely female early arrivals. Strong hooks, good melodies and two distinctive lead singers with strong harmonies suggest the heir apparent to Alabama may be this five-man band.

In the end, it was Chesney’s night. With well over 120 stadium shows under his belt, he knows how to reach the fans at the top of the stands without losing the crowd in the pit at the foot of the stage—or watching the nuances of his songs be lost to the size of the room. He doesn’t just know his audience, he is his audience, and it shows with almost 54k people filling the Rose Bowl to hear songs about tractors, summer love, beer in Mexico, and living life for all it’s worth.

Todd takes the opportunity to pose backstage with super-manager Scooter Braun, who points out that there are few beverages more refreshing than a Corona Light.

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