Chesney's show a long Pittsburgh tradition
A local disc jockey from the Froggy country radio stations has no hesitation saying this superlative: The annual Kenny Chesney show at Heinz Field is the area's concert event of the year.
“When there's a big concert in the stadium, people in Pittsburgh just assume it's Kenny Chesney that's the man in town,” says Jeremy Mulder, whose on-air moniker is Danger Frog. “No doubt about it: It's the main concert of the year every year for Pittsburgh. He loves Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh loves him.”
Chesney's Spread the Love Tour comes July 2 to the North Shore. His Heinz Field show — a mostly annual affair since 2005, but skipping 2006, 2010 and 2014 — is “such an institution in the city now,” Mulder says.
This year, he's bringing with him fellow country star Miranda Lambert, along with up-and-coming singer Sam Hunt and the band Old Dominion.
Chesney's shows have been known to draw rowdy tailgating drinkers, who created a mess in 2013 that left the North Side buried under 30 tons of trash. But the trash wasn't Chesney's doing, and fans behaved better last year, Mulder says. He and other Froggy employees passed out trash bags with the slogan “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Litter” — a play on Chesney's hit “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem.” The station will do that again this year, he says.
Alco Parking Corp., which owns most of the parking areas on the North Shore, will open the lots at 1 p.m. on concert day, says Ralph Reetz, Alco general manager. Workers will place nearly 200 porta-johns throughout the area, which is double what was available for the 2013 show. They also will hand out trash and recycle bags to tailgaters, but it's a good idea to bring your own, Reetz says.
In 2013, tailgaters began arriving and drinking in the lots as early as 8 a.m., leading to intoxication problems well before the concert started, he says. Eliminating five hours of drinking under a hot sun by moving the opening time to 1 p.m. helped minimize problems last year, Reetz says.
Timothy McNulty, spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto's office, says Pittsburgh welcomes city concertgoers but asks for courtesy.
“We want the people to have a good time but be respectful of the city and clean up after themselves,” McNulty says.
And they will have a good time, Mulder says. Chesney's concertgoers, often dressed in beachy outfits and flip-flops, love the shows for the sheer fun break they provide, Mulder says. They love grooving to fun Chesney favorites such as “When the Sun Goes Down” and “She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy.”
“He wants his show to be a getaway from all of life's stresses,” Mulder says. “Get there early, tailgate, come into the stadium, sit down … have a cold one and enjoy the show. I think that's what he's provided for the Pittsburgh area all these years.”
Chesney's latest single, “Noise,” came out in the spring. The song pokes fun at our excessively wired society, with lyrics like these: “We're all trapped in our phones and can't get out.”
“The song ‘Noise' is the first single from Chesney's upcoming album, which will be his 17th studio album. The record comes out later this year.”
On July 4th, Chesney, along with Meghan Trainor and 5 Seconds of Summer, will headline Macy's 40th annual Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular live from New York during a two-hour broadcast on NBC.
Kellie B. Gormly is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.
