Well, I might take a plane I
might take a train
But if I have to walk I'm going just the same
I'm going to Kansas City
Kansas City, here I come
But if I have to walk I'm going just the same
I'm going to Kansas City
Kansas City, here I come
-Fats Domino
Friday 31 August
Honestly, like, what day is it? We’ve been on planes and in
terminals for a good ninety-nine percent of the last forty-eight hours, and I
don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to arrive somewhere as I was to drag myself
off the plane at Kansas City this morning.
 |
| Tornados are a very real problem in Kansas City |
Kansas City, which, confusingly, isn’t actually in Kansas,
but across the state line in Missouri. The two states have a healthy
NSW-Queensland type rivalry going on, and showdowns in college football and
basketball between the University of Missouri and Kansas University have been
going on for more than a century. Back in the Civil War days, this was the
border between north and south, Union and Confederacy.
The city is the second-biggest population centre in
Missouri, behind only St Louis, and is called home by 2.75 million people. The
city is famous for it’s ornamental fountains, and is famous for it’s
traditional barbeque. You know, pulled pork, smoked ham, giant ribs and all of
that wonderful stuff. Can’t wait to tuck into some BBQ before we leave here.
Not surprisingly, there was a maintenance-related issue that
delayed our departure from San Francisco for Chicago, but the final leg of the
journey was a smooth one, and we arrived in Kansas City International Airport
to find our bags already sitting there. Apparently they’d made it to Kansas
last night, on one of the later flights on Thursday night that were full up with actual passengers – too bad we weren’t so lucky.
All things considered, it wasn't a bad day. We were at the
hotel by 11:30am and pretty soon after that across the border in Kansas, at the
Schlitterbahn waterpark (http://www.schlitterbahn.com),
which is one of five owned by that company. Schlitterbahn is German and is
loosely translated as “slippery road,” and it fits nicely. The place is stacked
with slides – including the world’s tallest water slide Verruckt, and a bunch
of others that you either ride down on giant inflatable tubes or mats. Some are
covered, some are in the open. All are really, really fast. And really, really,
really fun!
 |
| Schlitterbahn's main entrance |
The weather could not have been more perfect for riding waterslides
and spending copious amounts of time in the water. The temperature sat in the
nineties all day – over thirty-five degrees Celsius – and there wasn't a cloud
in the sky. The water was perfect, absolutely perfect, and it was pretty hard
to get out at the end of the day.
The Black Knight tube slide, which is basically pitch black
once you leave the top of the slide, was my favourite. You have no real idea
where you’re going, and because I was in a double raft, it was extra fast.
Yeah, maybe I screamed a little, but it was a heap of fun.
Undoubtedly the most impressive part of the park is the lazy
river system that links the entirety of the park. You just wade into the water
at any of the entry points, styled as beaches, grab one of the inflatable tubes
floating past, and jump on however you please. It’s pretty impressive in that you
don’t actually have to get out of the water – except to queue for the actual
slide – and an entire lap of the park takes about half an hour, going over and
through rapids and everything. So much fun!
 |
| Verruckt off in the distance. Insane! |
Dinner was at an old favourite of mine, the local Applebee’s (www.applebees.com),
which is an American diner restaurant chain, with dozens of TVs showing sport.
The food is obviously very America, and their Mozzarella cheese sticks are to
die for. I had a fiesta lime chicken and washed it down with an Apple Chimi
Cheesecake, which was amazing. The service and the atmosphere was fantastic.
 |
| Mozzarella Sticks and Apple Chimi Cheesecake |
It
was a strange old day – not to mention a long one – flying from San Francisco
all the way to Kansas City, then going to the waterpark and Applebee’s, but not
as much of a disaster as it could have been. I’m definitely ready for a giant
sleep!
Tomorrow, we're going to try some traditional Kansas BBQ, before going to see Kenny Chesney at Arrowhead Stadium tomorrow.
***
And it's two bare feet on the dashboard, young love and an old Ford
Cheap shades and a tattoo, and a Yoo-Hoo, bottle on the floorboard
Perfect song on the radio, sing along 'cause it's one we know
It's a smile, it's a kiss, it's a sip of wine
Cheap shades and a tattoo, and a Yoo-Hoo, bottle on the floorboard
Perfect song on the radio, sing along 'cause it's one we know
It's a smile, it's a kiss, it's a sip of wine
It’s summertime
- Kenny Chesney
Saturday 1 August
Slept for a solid eight hours last night, and, after the crazy travel of the last few days, I felt like I could have slept so much more.
The weather has been pretty warm in Kansas City. We ate outside for breakfast, then retreated to the air-conditioned comfort of the hotel room. Our plan was to go to a Kansas City institution, Joe’s Bar-B-Que, which sits in it’s original location, tacked onto the side of a gas station, out in the suburbs. It’s famous and has won many awards over the years…and we should have known that it would be popular. So popular, in fact, that there was a queue that snaked a good hundred meters around the building, in the sun. Needless to say, we went to Taco Republic instead, and had a good meal without having to queue.
After lunch, we went off to Arrowhead Stadium for the reason we’ve detoured to Missouri: a country music show. Not just any, mind you, but a rare-double bill featuring superstars Kenny Chesney and Jason Aldean. Every man and his dog was headed there, it seemed, because the traffic jam around the stadium was incredibly long. Took us more than an hour to traverse the complex and park.
Look, now, finally, I understand what everyone who’s seen Kenny Chesney before knows: the East Tennessee native is once-in-a-lifetime performer, and he’s currently at the peak of his powers. The two-hour set flew by, song after song lifting the mood…and if there was a roof on Arrowhead Stadium, Kenny would’ve blown it right off. His stage presence is something to behold.
In case you didn’t know, country music is the most dominant genre of music in America at the moment. It sells more records and more concert tickets than any other. Right now, there are three separate country artists running stadium-sized tours selling out multiple nights at NFL and college stadiums. The genre has arguably never been bigger. Why, exactly? Because it’s one big party. One giant party – that’s what we saw over seven hours on Saturday night.
Two years ago, the idea of liking county music was abhorrent, let alone travelling to see an actual concert! I believed what I think most Australians assume: that it’s backwoods hicks sitting on hay bales plucking banjos and sawing on fiddles, singing mournful tails of wives and dogs leaving. It’s a poor, outdated stereotype. There was none of that tonight, just a production to rival any arena rock outfit, played in front of the happiest and most jubilant crowd I’ve ever been a part of.
Of Chesney’s magnetism when he takes the stage, which he does impressively by zip lining over the crowd on the field, landing on the stage midway through the first song, The Dallas Morning News recently labelled him, “Two parts Mick Jagger, one part Bruce Springsteen and one part Billy Graham” after a show earlier this year at AT&T Stadium.
Admittedly, Chesney’s link to country is fairly tenuous these days. Yes, he mostly wears a cowboy had on stage, but there’s no banjo or slide guitar to be seen, and what seems like a cursory appearance of a fiddle for one or two songs. What there is, however, is a truckload of catchy songs with solos and sensibilities that aren’t really that far removed from America’s best heartland rockers.
Speaking of music styles: co-headliner Jason Aldean’s five-piece band produced riffs that’d make AC/DC proud. His seamless blend of hard-driving rock with country lyrics is a winner, and the occasional hint of rap shows just how wide Aldean, a Georgia boy who grew up listening to Alan Jackson, the Allman Brothers, R.E.M and rappers like Nelly, has cast his musical net. He’s playing stadiums for the second straight summer, and seems ready for even bigger things. Aldean’s ninety-minute tour de force was beyond impressive, and he’ll learn a lot from touring with the undisputed master of the art.
 |
| Kenny zip-lining over the crowd |
With a million tickets sold before the first note of The Big Revival Tour was played way back in March, ticket resellers had a field day, with prices for Saturday’s show marked up to and above 300% the face value. It’s that difficult to get a ticket, and Chesney is so beloved in America that fans travel thousands of miles to see him. It’s a summertime pilgrimage that promises a night of good music, good times, and a chance to witness a rare stage presence.
Every song – I mean every single song – is an extended jam session for a band that features three full-time guitarists, and sometimes a fourth, when Chesney is strumming away. Incredibly fit, he’s always on the move, working a t-shaped catwalk that juts out a good fifty metres into the crowd, leaning over and slapping high fives with fans as giant beach balls fly around. It’s stage presence like I haven’t seen since I saw Springsteen two years ago.
Similarly, to The Boss, Chesney’s stage setup is very simple. Whereas Jason Aldean had all sorts of pyro and flame going – enough to make Gene Simmons proud…and maybe even a little envious – Chesney relied on just the overhead lighting, a handful of mammoth video screens, and his almighty band, which was stacked with four guitarists. And you know, he really didn’t need anything else.
Chesney’s fans are passionate. They know every word to every song, and there are a couple of particular favourites where literally the entire stadium is singing like we’re in some sort of giant congregation, fifty thousand and then some, jammed in, and Chesney is the leader of it all. Hence the Billy Graham references. It’s truly spine-tingling stuff. There are drinking songs, summertime anthems, introspective ballads and silly country songs from back in the days when Chesney did have a fiddle in the band, tunes that are very heavy on the double entendre – “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” isn’t really about John Deere machines, you know?
 |
| Thousands of lights on during 'Anything But Mine' |
We found out early on that you just don’t sit at a concert in America. Not unless there’s something wrong with you! Pretty much everyone stands through every song. It’s an interesting comparison to home, where artists have to work much harder to get people to their feet. It ratchets up the atmosphere tenfold. I’ve never been part of such an electric crowd.
All up, there were nearly seven hours of music, five acts – Old Dominion, Cole Swindell, Brantley Gilbert, then Aldean and finally Chesney – with short intervals between. Value for money, with upper deck tickets selling for under $50, is unparalleled. Australian promoters could learn a thing or nine from how these shows are run.
Gilbert, one of my favourites, is a tattooed Georgian with all kinds of swagger, who namechecks AC/DC as much as he does George Strait in his southern rock-leaning music that makes even Aldean’s hard-edged music sound weak. He prowls the stage in a camouflage pattern singlet, clutching a microphone in a knuckleduster holder, dog tags swinging, and singing in a growling voice in front of a band which features a drummer whose chops behind the kit were almost as impressive as his towering Mohawk.
There’s absolutely no ballads in Gilbert’s set! Just crankin’ country-rock from the Georgian who proudly told the crowd that if he saw a man lay his hands on a woman in front of him in the pit, he would “stomp his a--!”
 |
| Arrowhead Stadium at sunset |
We’re leaving Kansas City behind tomorrow morning – early, unfortunately – for our flight east to New York City, but the memories of this show in this city will last a long time. I never thought I’d see a show better than Bruce Springsteen, but I have. What a night!
No comments:
Post a Comment