Kenny Chesney kicks off Austin’s country music concert season
Amphitheater set to host massive acts across many genres.
The hottest season always comes early to Central Texas, but this year the summer concert festivities also start shakin’ and bakin’ a tad prematurely. Kenny Chesney’s show Friday not only christens a stunning new 14,000capacity amphitheater, the only one in Central Texas, but also kicks off the 2013 summer concert season for country music fans.
With his “no shirt, no shoes, no problems” spiritual mantra, Chesney is nothing if not a summertime brand, a Jimmy Buffett for the boot scootin’ set. With his new LP “Life On a Rock” (out April 30), he continues to be an escape artist, selling a lifestyle of beaches and backroads, barbecues and beer.
Sitting under the 25story tower of the Circuit of the Americas racetrack, the Austin360 Amphitheater looks to be a major boon for fans of mainstream country music. The proximity to a concrete track where cars go round and round as fast as they can is a draw to country music fans that can’t be denied. The Erwin Center has served this fanbase well and will continue to host acts such as Taylor Swift on May 21, but the sight of the Circuit of the Americas grandstand should get the adrenaline flowing on the way in better than walking by a hospital.
Booked by concert giant Live Nation, as well as the Austin-based powerhouse C3 Presents, the new amphitheater should have its pick of the top touring acts. About 15 to 20 shows a year are planned for
the concert site about 15 miles southeast of downtown. Let’s call it the Fillmore. OK, maybe not.
Like a reverse NASCAR mullet, the 360 Amp has floor seating for about 7,000 and grass seating for the other half of a sellout crowd. Party in the front, chillin’ in the back.
“Shed” is the industry slang for such open-air venues, but three things, in addition to a stylish, racing stripes-influenced design by Austin-based Miro’ Rivera Architects, set A360 apart from the model. First, the entire audience section, not just the grass, is uncovered, which is good for the breeze, bad for the blaze. Second, the section directly in front of the stage has removable seats, so when hard rock acts are booked, there will be fans standing (or moshing) right up front. And the third thing you won’t find at other Texas sheds, such as the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in the Woodlands and Dallas’ Gexa Energy Pavilion, is an additional, huge lawn section between the parking lot and the venue for pre-show picnics or tailgating on grass instead of concrete.
Already announced at Austin360 this season are Zac Brown Band (April 18), the Lumineers (April 26), Jimmy Buffett (May 2), Jason Aldean (May 5), Dave Matthews Band with Carolina Chocolate Drops (May 21), the Avett Brothers with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Dawes (May 31), Mumford and Sons with Michael Kiwanuka ( June 8 and 9), Keith Urban with Little Big Town (Aug. 15), and Maroon 5 with Kelly Clarkson (Sept. 18).
It’s not all country at A360, as Lil’ Wayne, T.I. and Future have just been announced for Aug. 17. Earlier that month will be the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival (Aug. 2) featuring Rob Zombie, Mastodon and about another dozen bands that will get ol’ Elroy banging its head. Aug. 4 finds Train, with the Script and Gavin DeGraw.
But the first act to play the new Austin360 Amphitheater is redhot country singer Kacey Musgraves of East Texas. Her new album is called “Same Trailer, Different Park,” which also could describe the goings on out at the Austin360 Amphitheater this summer. This ain’t the Verizon Wireless in Selma, folks.
It’s hard not to gasp a
little when you’re tooling around Elroy on FM 812 and happen upon the Circuit of the Americas’ futuristic billion-dollar complex. Then you look at that tower outlined with red metal tubes, which connect it to the stage below.
Country concert tidbits: The Old Settler’s
Music Fest returns to its roots as a bluegrass festival with this year’s headliner the Del McCoury Band and newcomers Carolina Chocolate Drops. Also on the bill out at Salt Lick Pavilion on April 18-21 are Son Volt, Michael Franti, Leftover Salmon, Bob Schneider and many more, expanding the limits of the kind of music tied to the banjo ... Kevin Fowler, Randy Rogers Band and the Josh Abbott Band have been added to the lineup of the Lone Star Jam, which will be May 4 and 5 at the LBJ Library lawn ... Living legend
Willie Nelson turns 80 years old on April 30, so his show at the Backyard on April 28 will be the closest thing to a public birthday party in his hometown ... Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen will have an Aggie songswap session May 20 and 21 at the Paramount Theatre. When they do “The Front Porch Song,” you have to kiss your date, then do 20 pushups.