"Road and Radio" tunes in perfect day to wow 50,000 fans

Kenny Chesney, Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich, Dierks Bentley, Blaine Larsen, Saturday at Qwest Field, Seattle

Everything's going right for Kenny Chesney, the current king of country-pop flash.

Even the weather worked out for "the hillbilly rock star" Saturday, when he played Qwest Field on one of the hottest and most beautiful days of the year.

The biggest concert of the summer, "The Road and the Radio Tour," also starring "young country" celebrities Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich, Dierks Bentley and local boy Blaine Larsen, came close to selling 50,000 tickets.

The sound echoed through the stadium and was hard to hear at the 300 level, and concession lines were horrendous, but the nice day made up for it.

Chesney, a compact, muscular guy in cowboy hat and skintight jeans, has learned his lessons well from 13 years on the road, and from paying attention to rock showmen like Bruce Springsteen. He even incorporated hip-hop's "throw your arms in the air and wave 'em like you just don't care" into his act.

Accompanied by eye-popping visuals on two big video screens, and backed by a big band that seemed to be all rock guitars at times, Chesney made frequent use of catwalks that went deep into the audience. He started on a satellite stage in the back, singing his current No. 1 country single, "Summertime" (not the George Gershwin classic but a Chesney original), the perfect opener on a perfect day.

Like many of his songs, "Summertime" is sweet and nostalgic, a remembrance of simpler times in rural settings, the kind of small-town fantasy urban cowboys love. Chesney also likes tropical rhythms. "When the Sun Goes Down," which featured guest rapper Uncle Kracker, even had steel drums. Similar songs, including "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" and "Beer in Mexico," allowed him to show pictures of him shirtless, which had the girls screaming.

Larsen, who two years ago was a high-school senior in Buckley and now is among young country's fastest-rising stars, got just 30 minutes and suffered from bad sound. But he's a pro and managed to excite the relatively few who were in their seats at 4:30 p.m.

The rockin' Bentley and his band, all in black, upped the excitement with rousers and a few ballads, like his current hit, "Settle for a Slowdown." Rowdy Big & Rich mixed high-powered country with cheap sentiment, having the audience recite The Pledge of Allegiance. Of course it worked. Wilson, country's favorite bad girl, had the ladies up and dancing to "Redneck Woman," "Here for the Party" and, in a tribute to Heart, "Barracuda."

Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312, pmacdonald@seattletimes.com