Kenny Chesney Fan’s Drunk Walk Epitomizes Annual Pittsburgh Embarrassment
Every year, Kenny Chesney’s annual concert on Pittsburgh’s North Shore at the Heinz Field has become the biggest country music embarrassment of the year. 2013 was the first year the mounds of trash, multiple arrests and hospitalizations, and major fights made national headlines. Despite the disappointment the 2013 installment caused for the city and the concert promoters, a very similar scenario played out in 2014.
2015 was reportedly a little bit more docile, with dedicated efforts by organizers to try and keep litter down and drunk and disorderly conduct to a minimum, but 2016 appears to have been a return to the event’s glory days, at least from the pictures and video pouring out from Saturday night’s (7-2) event.
According to local officials, there were a total of 99 people who needed emergency medical transports, and 37 people were taken to hospitals, mainly for intoxication and intoxication injuries. There were also multiple arrests, including five people inside the concert, and 36 individuals were cited for underage drinking.
But once again, the biggest story was the mounds of trash left in the wake of the concert where tailgaters spent hours before the show partying. Though recent years had seen an improvement in trash pickup through organized efforts, 2016 appears to have regressed in that department significantly.
“As the concert let out around 10:30 p.m. and cars began to clear from the parking lots, a reeking, hulking mass of garbage leftover from the day’s earlier festivities began to appear behind the exodus of country music fans,” says Andrew Goldstein of the Post-Gazette. “Pickup trucks crunched glass bottles underneath tires; fluid from portable toilets overflowed into the street; people covered their noses with their shirts to escape the stench.”
Though all signs point to a pretty embarrassing situation surrounding the concert, city officials are attempting to pain a rosy picture. Taking Winston Churchill’s view of, “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it,” Guy Costa, chief operations officer for Pittsburgh, said in a press conference Sunday morning (7-3), ““There was superb inter-agency cooperation. Everyone worked very well together. We’re very pleased.”
Pictures of the scene tell an even more grim picture, but just like 2014 when a GIF of a drunk man falling down seemed to encapsulate the debauchery that ensues at Kenny Chesney’s Pittsburgh shindig, this year it’s the video of a drunken female talking on the phone, bent backwards like a character from an M.C. Escher painting while walking backwards before eventually falling down.
Stay classy Chesney Fans!
July 3, 2016 @ 2:29 pm
I hope there is a mom and dad out there somewhere to fix that hot mess.And I appreciate the videographer, but at the same time I hate him.
July 3, 2016 @ 2:35 pm
Shame on those people for cutting loose and having a good time. I think the writer of this article should be in charge of teaching us all how to behave properly. The real embarrassment is in your mirror, you judgmental turd.
July 3, 2016 @ 2:44 pm
Hookstown…What the heck are you talking about? Since when does cutting loose and having a good time result in arrests, emergency health care, and 48 tons of garbage? I hope your post wast satire, but it didn’t quite make it.
July 3, 2016 @ 3:09 pm
Almost 50,000 people. Seven arrests. 37 people taken to hospitals — many for dehydration. Talk about it with the members of your knitting club. And please don’t leave any trash when you’re done.
July 4, 2016 @ 8:37 am
You, sir or madam, are a jackass. I rarely resort to personal insults, but I think this instance calls for it. Knitting club???
July 4, 2016 @ 9:13 am
Oh, and the other three idiots who like Hookstown, you think it is cute…bring it on, lets talk about it. Yeah, I’m mad.
July 4, 2016 @ 11:20 am
It’s pretty easy to pick up after yourself, idiot.
July 4, 2016 @ 4:53 pm
That girl is alone and drunk enough to die.
July 6, 2016 @ 4:33 am
similar sized concerts have happened at heniz field, just recently, in fact (pittsburgh native, here) with almost NO trash left behind in the parking lot. with almost NO arrests. with almost NO hospitalizations. how is it that when the epitome of the downfall of country music comes to town, everyone forgets all manners, all of a sudden.
July 3, 2016 @ 2:52 pm
Pull the quote from this article, or any of the other 3,500 articles on this website where I say I have a problem with people having a good time. The 37 people who ended up in the hospital, did they have a good time? What I do have a problem with, and the true embarrassment is stories like this that go viral and paint country music fans as rank morons who don’t even know how to use a trash receptacle. This happens every single year at this event, like smashing your head into a brick wall over and over. And dozens, hundreds of outlets cover the story all across the country and world. There may be 50-60 articles about this on the internet right now. There will be 250 by the morning. And as someone who owns a website with “country music” in the title, I’ll be damned if I let this type of bullshit define who country music fans are, and what country music represents.
Just like Kenny Chesney’s fake country music, these are fake country fans, and true country fans have an obligation to distance themselves from this mess and lampoon it as much as possible lest they be defined by it. You want to defend the pictures of trash everywhere? Be my guest. But you’re damn right I’ll use it as propaganda because I can’t think of a better way to illustrate what trash mainstream pop country has become.
July 3, 2016 @ 4:56 pm
Just because you don’t like Kenny Chesney’s music doesn’t make it fake. Perhaps some of hos most recent aren’t that greqt, but he has done some great music in the past. I’m still a fan, and while I don’t condone this, how is it his fault? How many other concerts does this happen at? What about rock, metal, punk? Just because it’s not mentioned doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
July 3, 2016 @ 5:12 pm
In 2013 maybe it wasn’t Kenny Chesney’s fault. Now, he’s totally culpable. Why? Because he has never, ever said anything about any of these incidents. His management and promoters have only made symbolic efforts to control it. He’s never asked folks to throw their trash in a trash can. This very specific concert goes viral every single year for these exact same reasons. Everyone knows the media is going to be out in full force covering this event, and still they can’t control it. It’s madness. I’m embarrassed about it as a country music fan, and I wasn’t even there. I’m taking the only action I have at my fingertips to try and control it, which is to admonish it with all my mite. There are probably 150 articles about this up on the internet right now. Folks are taking the time from their 4th of July vacations to post about it because it’s so ridiculous and out of control.
“What about rock, metal, punk? Just because it’s not mentioned doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.”
This NEVER happens at punk and metal concerts, trust me. I believe someone made this meme in 2013.
July 3, 2016 @ 6:16 pm
Well, I don’t agree with him not saying anything. He doesn’t say shit about anything, including deaths of hisnfriends, national tragedies, or what have you. I still like most of his older music. I think he doesn’t say anything because he just doesn’t want to piss anyone off, but I agree. It should be addressed. I think what the venues should implement is a wristband to show that you are of drinking age, that gets a punch every time you buy a drink. After so many punches, you’re cut off. The drunks are one of the main reasons I don’t do concerts.
July 4, 2016 @ 4:56 pm
I don’t think he’d fill stadiums without the drunk-fest tailgating beforehand.
July 3, 2016 @ 7:44 pm
“This very specific concert goes viral every single year for these exact same reasons. Everyone knows the media is going to be out in full force covering this event, and still they can’t control it. It’s madness. I’m embarrassed about it as a country music fan, and I wasn’t even there.”
Very much agreed. And, as a Pittsburgh, I’m also embarrassed that this is one of the reasons we make the news year in and year out.
Moreover, Beyonce was just at Heinz Field and none of this was an issue. There weren’t any issues when Taylor Swift played the same venue last summer. Yet, every summer, the Kenny Chesney concert in Pittsburgh makes the news. It’s ridiculous.
July 4, 2016 @ 7:55 am
“Moreover, Beyonce was just at Heinz Field and none of this was an issue. There weren’t any issues when Taylor Swift played the same venue last summer. Yet, every summer, the Kenny Chesney concert in Pittsburgh makes the news. It’s ridiculous.”
Exactly – further evidence that this behavior is specific to these low-life hicks who come out from under their confederate flag-covered rocks every year to embarrass our beautiful city, as well as the rest of humanity.
July 3, 2016 @ 3:25 pm
Ha ha ha! The 21st Century is not yet 20 years old, and already it has a vintage whine: “Ooo you’re so judgemental!” The definition of “judgemental” in this case is “daring to speak the truth out loud”.
July 3, 2016 @ 6:27 pm
Go ahead Zevon!
July 3, 2016 @ 5:42 pm
Please. Chesney’s music is absolute shite, appealing to those who have already killed most of their brain cells, and are busy with a bottle of jack to kill the rest. These savages left 48 TONS of garbage in the parking lot. 37 were arrested. That’s not country – it’s shite.
July 6, 2016 @ 1:53 pm
Don’t be an idiot, I think Trigger is just like the rest of us, and could care less if someone is having a good time as long as they are being responsible. Responsible people take care of their trash and make sure that they drink appropriately.
July 3, 2016 @ 3:49 pm
Oh, my bad. I didn’t know. Real country music fans don’t get arrested, and they don’t get hurt having fun, and they don’t leave trash at stadium concerts. Just the fake fans do. Got it!
Mainstream pop country has become garbage because of the money-driven corporations controlling it. From the major labels on Music Row to the radio conglomerates like Cumulus, it’s all about money — not music.
You’re picking on people who simply need an escape from their daily grind instead of bashing the real culprits. So, if I like George Strait’s catalog, and I also like Kenny Chesney’s catalog, am I a fake fan or a real fan?
July 3, 2016 @ 4:08 pm
Do you even read this site? Trigger has bashed the “culprits” many many many (many) times.
July 3, 2016 @ 9:26 pm
No, I kind of get what Hookstown is saying, maybe. I think these people are disgusting, let me be clear. Yet, I always thought it was silly how articles on here would basically act like people only get raped at Rascal Flatts concerts. Like they had something to do with it. Or, Kenny Chesney fans are evil. I love the site, and Trig is a great writer. Sometimes these articles get a little out there, for me.
July 3, 2016 @ 10:59 pm
I hate writing these stories. You think what I want to do over the 4th of July weekend is report on this crap? In 2014, I covered a lot of stories about fan’s conduct at mainstream country music concerts because there clearly was an upsurge in incidents. In 2015, I stopped for the most part, because the trend appeared to moderate. But then early in 2016, it was pretty clear this might be a record year. As I said in the article, the arrests and hospitalizations were nothing major as far as the sheer numbers. But this trash situation is completely out of hand, and an embarrassment for country music. I am sincerely pissed off about it, not only that I had to take away from my holiday weekend to report on it, but the way it makes country fans look. I don’t want anyone seeing those mounds of trash and thinking that represents my readers simply because I own a country music website. So I don’t know what else to do but lampoon it and publicly distance from it. These photos of the trash are disgusting. Chesney’s Pittsburgh concert was one of the biggest stories on the internet today, and fans of other genres once again think that country music is the home of bucktooth hayseeds who can’t even throw their damn trash away. All this talk of “evolution,” this type of stuff sets the cause of country music back 25 years.
July 3, 2016 @ 4:02 pm
I’m thinking 100 replies on this one, “eating popcorn”!
July 3, 2016 @ 6:22 pm
Haha, I’m with you. Some of the responses are pure gold thus far. I swear, people will rationalize piss poor behavior, no matter what these days.
Jim just smacked his head on pavement and killed 10 of his last 11 braincells, but give the guy a break….he’s just having a good time.
In all seriousness, I blame the high cost of these tickets for this behavior these days. Sure, Chesney and his music and tour promotion plays a small part, but somewhere along the line we decided that in order to “justify” dropping $200 on a couple of event tickets, that means you need to get piss drunk and make an ass of yourself. Same crap happens at a TON of NFL games each year. A certain segment of the fan base appears to feel ripped off if they don’t go to the absolute max for those 2-3 hours.
July 3, 2016 @ 4:30 pm
This more amazes me that it’s been 3 consistent years in a row and seems to me people in Pittsburgh just have no manners haha and yes I know they all were not from the area but still quite amazing
July 3, 2016 @ 4:33 pm
The city cheif operations officer might as well said “After a few down years the annual get drunk and wreck Pittsburgh was a roaring success.”
July 3, 2016 @ 4:40 pm
Amazing it’s been 3 years in a row and seems like Pittsburgh area people lack a lot of manners
July 3, 2016 @ 4:47 pm
As someone from Pittsburgh, this annual embarrassment is pathetic. What’s sad is the fact that our city attracts a lot of country acts every year, usually to First Niagara Pavillion or Consol Energy Center. Other than Chesney’s concert, there are never incidents like this. Pittsburgh is a dedicated city to country music. But as Trigger as mentioned many times, fake county fans are attracted to his concerts. I can attest to this from first-hand experience. Many of my friends who never listen to country music are down there partying each year. I’ve been to several mainstream country artist concerts at First Niagara. And though the music isn’t always the best, the fans behave. And the venue is kept mostly clean. It’s just a shame that people bring this trashy reputation to Pittsburgh because of one act.
July 3, 2016 @ 5:34 pm
So you think that Kenny addressing this & telling his fans to “behave & dump their trash properly” is going to fix this? By the time the event is done chances are the garbage bins/cans are already filled to the top & over flowing. Why aren’t they dumped during the concert from the tailgating? Stop opening the parking lot so early & cut off alcohol sales early. This will not stop idiot’s but would not hurt. Folks, this trash along w the idiots are at every concert no matter the genre.
July 3, 2016 @ 5:58 pm
Kenny addressing it can’t hurt.
Last year organizers made dedicated efforts to make sure that the trash was not as significant of an issue, including issuing tailgaters color-coated garbage bags to put their trash in, and to make sure there were plenty of receptacles. It offered some improvement modest improvement. What happened this year, I’m not sure, but city planners sure were ready to take a victory lap this morning how how awesome they did while photos were surfacing once again of the aftermath.
I don’t blame Kenny Chesney for this directly. But he and his team sure aren’t doing anything to improve it.
July 3, 2016 @ 6:09 pm
What might be a good idea is if Chesney pays the cost for the clean-up. This is the least he could do, since this seems to have happened way too often when he comes to Pittsburgh (IMHO).
July 3, 2016 @ 9:06 pm
I think LiveNation should be on the hook for the costs associated with cleanup. It should most definitely NOT fall back on the taxpayer in anyway. Chesney can only do so much, but if LiveNation starts feeling the blowback from these terrible events and actually has to start dishing out money as a consequence, you will see them act pretty damn quickly to try and put a kibosh on this crap. Kenny Chesney can go on stage and discourage this behavior, but chances are it would go in one ear and out the other. You have LiveNation on the hook (I assume they are promoting Chesney since they seemingly control the live concert market completely), you will see the pre-show “pre-game rituals” shut down real quick and a lot more security (and better trained ones to boot) added to these shows.
July 3, 2016 @ 10:50 pm
LiveNation (or whoever) will only add the cost into some new ticket fee. Only thing that will change is the total price of the ticket.
July 4, 2016 @ 6:12 am
Sure, they would pass it onto the consumer. That’s what virtually all companies do when they encounter a new cost. That being said, it might result in a better concert experience and it wouldn’t leave the hook hanging on the taxpayers of Pittsburgh to pay for the cleanup. Even if the taxpayers are not on the hook for the Pittsburgh cleanup, the arena/stadium is going to pass that added cost onto other events anyway. So, all of a sudden, Steelers season tickets have an added cost to them, because the stadium need to make that money back for paying out overtime for increased trash cleanup.
Furthermore, LiveNation boosting the cost of tickets may encourage other people to help police the crowd. Let’s say you are from city 2 hours away from Pittsburgh and you drive in to see Kenny Chesney (or any big act). You probably don’t care that a group of morons are dumping all their crap on the field or in the parking lot. It’s not “your city” and you know you won’t be paying for the cleanup. Now, if you see a charge on your Ticketmaster or LiveNation receipt that basically says “you people are stupid, so we have to charge you more to pick up your damn bottles”, you might actually police the people around you some more because of this charge and being annoyed you have to pay it. Of course, it could go completely the other way, where people just throw trash everywhere because they figure they are paying for that fee no matter what, so it’s not a perfect plan. That being said, the current system isn’t exactly working out so well either.
July 6, 2016 @ 7:35 am
Just curious – are the parking lots city-owned?? (curious how the cost of the clean-up would fall back on taxpayers?) Ive been to many Kenny shows at Gillette Stadium, and the parking lots are owned by the Kraft family. You pay $40 to park, and for thousands and thousands of cars, I would assume this is why you’re paying so much to park. Not that paying to park is permission to trash a parking lot, but I would assume there would be no cost to taypayers considering this.
July 4, 2016 @ 3:33 pm
Once again…Kenny can address this all he wants but it will fall on mostly deaf ears. He cannot be held responsible for idiots and what can he possibly due to improve it? Go out there and clean it up himself. This is a losing battle for many artists. He does not owe anyone or should he pay for the clean up. And why should anyone else who does not dump their trash be charged some extra fee? I sure as hell would not accept that cause folks are dumb asses. What does the city do? It is their lots.
July 5, 2016 @ 8:24 am
Right, but you can twist the logic you are using that why should someone who doesn’t give a crap about Kenny Chesney be forced to have their tax dollars used to clean up after his fans? I understand your argument that it’s not fair to fans to charge them an extra fee, but how in the hell is it fair for the tax payers of Pittsburgh to be on the hook because a small number of the city (Kenny Chesney and Country Music fans in general) decide to act like boorish pigs?
July 5, 2016 @ 12:39 pm
it obiously is ok with Heinz field or otherwise after the 2013 trash mess they would have cancelled this fake country Kenny Chesney concert…. with that being said they are still allowing it and in the big scheme of things who really gives a shit about what pop countrys jimmy buffet and his mindless sheep fans do if Heinz field don’t give a shit why should we…. anyway 99 arrests isn’t that awful when your talking 60,000 dipshits in one place
July 5, 2016 @ 12:55 pm
Actually the locals in the area are furious about this, as are many officials. That is why they implemented new rules in 2015. For whatever reason, those rules were either laxed or abandoned this year.
I wasn’t there, don’t even intend to go to this event, so no, it doesn’t affect me directly. What does affect me and every country music fan is the negative stereotypes this event creates every single year as the images and videos go super viral and hundreds of outlets report on it because it’s such savory click bait. All the images of trash from that concert? THAT is what the rest of America thinks when they think country music.
July 3, 2016 @ 5:39 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49puoyrSu3k
July 3, 2016 @ 6:00 pm
See, for all the folks who say this is not a problem, show me another example where folks are taking the time to create videos about the madness that transpires at this event every year.
Here’s another one from three years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY74e2b4Y2I
July 3, 2016 @ 6:20 pm
Lol! I gotta admit, even as a fan, that’s hilarious!
July 4, 2016 @ 8:14 am
That video is funny lol
July 3, 2016 @ 5:42 pm
I’m all for people going to a concert and having a good time. Maybe it’s the”Momma” in me, but it’s disturbing to see a young woman, smashed out of her mind, wandering around at this show by herself. I’m aware of some of the rapes and sexual assaults that have gone on at some of these bro shows. I willing to bet she went to the show with friends and got separated, but you have to look out for yourself. It’s too dangerous to be doing what she’s doing in this video.
July 3, 2016 @ 5:47 pm
People died at Woodstock. Everybody remembers that as an idyllic 3 day love fest.
I’ve been to 10 Rolling Stones concerts, several Aerosmith concerts and several all day concerts in Indianapolis about 100 years ago. Except for the trash part this is selective outrage.
July 3, 2016 @ 6:03 pm
You’re right, the arrest and ambulance numbers are pretty much par for the course. But the trash, especially after this being a story year after year, and last year the organizers implementing dedicated efforts to control it, is absolutely inexcusable. That is why this story is going viral all over the place. People see the pictures, and are appalled.
July 4, 2016 @ 8:45 am
I’ve been to a bunch of concerts at Red Rocks. No trash, no violence. Maybe it’s the hike and the altitude that takes the fight out of ya. Or maybe your mama taught you some manners. Seriously…
July 3, 2016 @ 6:18 pm
Kenny Chesney needs to set the record straight with his fans and politely urge them to respect their community and do their part to leave no trace.
I have nothing against Chesney on a personal level. He has always struck me as genuinely down-to-earth even when I’ve seldom gotten into his music. I know he means well. However, that does not excuse him from the responsibility of holding his fans accountable in that entertainers are as much ambassadors as anything. And he has been failing at each gig to take that responsibility seriously.
These fans in question should be ashamed of themselves, and their lack of self-awareness is confounding.
July 3, 2016 @ 6:26 pm
That’s the thing, I wonder how many fans at this concert see Pittsburgh as “their community”? I bet a lot of the people who attend these shows drive quite a ways to see him and are probably from neighboring suburbs and cities. Therefore, they have no real connection to Pittsburgh the city and could care less if it gets trashed. It’s the “not in my backyard” complex flipped on its head.
July 3, 2016 @ 6:30 pm
That last line is a pithy way of summing this all up! =(
September 6, 2016 @ 7:36 am
Chesney is hired to perform. He is not responsible for the venue encouraging tailgating & heavy drinking year after year. The venue management makes the choice to let “problems” continue as they are or to make changes.
Options: No more tailgating? Security could make sure that open containers or flagrantly intoxicated people are removed from the parking area prior to entering the concert area? Extra security hired to ticket those who throw trash down with disregard..
A messy parking lot following an alcohol filled tailgating party is no shocker. Other venues solve the problem. Fine, arrest, or remove problematic individuals. As you know, not everybody cares about behaving in a decent way. Another problem not mentioned? Tons of drunk drivers skidding out onto highways after fueling-up for hours.
The artist performing does not police the area. It is simply not his responsibility. Place responsibility and blame where it belongs.
July 3, 2016 @ 6:20 pm
Trigger, I’m honestly glad to see you bringing this subject to light on here. As a Pittsburgh resident, I remember back in 2013, after that Kenny Chesney show, the news showing what a wreck the parking lots were. People, mostly non-country fans, had a field day with this and blamed country music and country music fans on the debacle. I didn’t go that year but I could understand how and why people would be extremely pissed off. Kenny C didn’t tour in 2014 BUT in July 2014, the Luke Bryan show at Heniz Field had practically the same probelm with tons beyond tons of garbage all over the parking lots and fans needing medical attention due to overheating and over drinking. Now, I thought, people have more reasons to bash country music and their fans. I went with a group to see Kenny at Heinz Field last year and our mayor, Bill Peduto, set a precedent that the gates would open at 1:00 PM and ticket holders would have to be inside the show at 6:00 PM. Anyone without tickets HAD to leave the parking lots. The City reported on Monday after the show that how they regulated everything cut down on the trash left all over and there weren’t very many other issues. Our particular area seemed to be pretty decent. Most people bagged up their own garbage and left it outside of their vehicles to be picked up by the cleanup crew. Myself and the group I went with are in our early/mid/late 40’s. However, after the show, we walked through the parking area past a group of easily 3 or 4 dozen fans – who all appeared to be college students and in their early 20’s – who were just having a ball throwing paper plates, Solo cups, empty cans, plastic ware, food….you name it…. everywhere. I said to my group, “Did you guys notice how clean, by comparison our section was and other sections in the parking lot until we walked through those yokels??? It must be a generational thing. Seriously. ” I’m in no way here to defend Pittsburgh or try to downplay what happens at Kenny Chesney and /or other country shows that are at the stadiums here nor tell you you’re wrong…. because you aren’t wrong at all, Trigger. I’ve seen this behavior first hand and it’s making Pittsburgh seem like a city of drunks and pigs. If fans want to blow off some steam, have a few drinks, cookout and listen to some music, they should at least try and use the sense God gave a common sand dollar and clean up after themselves. I thought after last year’s show that fans got the message. Nah. Too many idiots out there with a sense of entitlement. Hate to use this phrase but….I wonder what their homes look like.
July 3, 2016 @ 7:13 pm
If you bring the trash in, take your trash out. Don’t over indulge in the heat… cuz that is not a good time.
Clean up after yourselves. It isn’t complicated people. But… they are Chesney fans, so… 😛
July 3, 2016 @ 8:06 pm
I know it’s blatantly resorting to stereotyping, but I still can’t get my head around the idea of a decidedly laid-back, Adult Contemporary-leaning artist for the most part inspiring such disregard for the environment and rowdiness……………….while countless acts that are known for their high-octane, adrenal, relentless bombast and you may feel intimidated by making direct eye contact with their stage personas are nonetheless just as ravenous about civic responsibility than making noise.
Drawing that picture in your mind just can’t help but make you laugh nervously! =/
July 3, 2016 @ 9:01 pm
I think it’s the stadium environment or the large arena environment that plays a part as well in these incidents. By in large, you really don’t get a GREAT music experience, when you go see once of these massive shows. I know there are exceptions to this, not going to fight examples to the contrary, but I think the fact that you are one in a sea of people and you usually have to rely on jumbotrons or football screens to actually SEE the artist or band in question just leads to more of these actions. The best musical experiences I have had, have taken place at smaller, more intimate venues. You actually get to feel a “connection” with the artist and their band and that makes you want to be sober(ish) to truly take it in.
Put another way, if I go see Jason Isbell at 1st Ave (famous Minneapolis music venue), I might have a beer or two, but I don’t want to get drunk because I want to actually experience and take in the show and listen to Isbell’s lyrics, his great backing band, his guitar playing, etc. And that can go for other acts that “rock” harder as well, recently I went to see Whiskey Myers at The Varsity and it was great for a lot of the same reasons. I think these large, monolithic concert venues, just betray the entire experience. You don’t really ever get to establish a connection with the band or artist for that night, it detracts massively from the songs and overall you are left with Kenny Chesney or Blake Shelton as basically functioning as little more than background noise.
It sure as hell seems like most of the incidents that have been taking place lately at Country music concerts all generally happen at massive festivals, large arenas or stadiums.
July 3, 2016 @ 9:27 pm
There are some nuggets of truth to the whole intimacy = connection, expanse = disconnection correlation.
Yet, I then immediately reflect on acts that constantly pack arenas and stadiums including Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Muse and so forth; who all strive for high-energy performances and spectacles in their own individual ways and yet still inspire civil, responsible-minded crowds. They all employ Jumbotrons as part of their stage settings (or variations of them). Bon Jovi has utilized pyrotechnics in some shows from what I’ve recalled, while Muse relies on extravagant light and laser effects…………………and they don’t seem to diminish the concert experience to the observer.
Again, your latter point leads back to a question Trigger and some like myself here have wondered without drawing staunch conclusions: whether there’s a positive correlation between a more corporate modern country concert environment and an increased likelihood of unruly behavior………………………and whether the themes frequently recycled in countless radio songs like dodging the blue lights like it’s some kind of sport, glamorizing fist-fighting like some Brantley Gilbert songs do for instance, or poking fun to outright ridiculing green lifestyles like Justin Moore and Blake Shelton have done in individual songs, have fed into that subcultural mindset.
July 4, 2016 @ 6:03 am
That’s one of the jokes of mainstream Country music though. No other genre, perhaps outside of mainstream rap/hip-hop glamorizes stupidity like mainstream Country music does. The “Good Ole Boy” lifestyle that they sell now, is really just glamorizing a guy who makes $10/hr, dumps what little money he makes into his jacked up truck, and doesn’t even have his GED. It’s sad, because then all Country music fans get painted with that broad brush. I have said it before on this site, and I know it sounds elitist to say, but one of the worst things to happen to Country music and our culture as a whole was twisting it so that being “simply or stupid” was/is something to be proud of. I’m not saying that everyone needs to fit into the same box where they study ancient philosophy or read Tolstoy, but there is something wrong if you consider reading a book some sort of crime against humanity or get your new and information from sources like what’s trending on Facebook or Twitter. This “pride in stupidity” seems to run particularly rampant amongst the bro-Country set of Country music fandom. Granted, Chesney has never dipped his toes all that much in that particular body of water, but it’s symptoms have spread out to all of mainstream Country music at certain points (Moore and Shelton included as you point out).
Long story short, people suck haha.
July 5, 2016 @ 10:21 am
Nadia…. If the boot fits, shove it! KC draws millennials that cant pick up for themselves, put their phones down for more than 3 minutes, cant just listen to a singer without wailing to every freaking song, taking more selfies than pics of the singer so they “tell their story”, cant stop getting pissy every time they get bumped into (usually while on their phones) …. I’m surprised they were all collectively able to show up on time. They are lead around like sheep looking for other sheep to tell them its cool. BroCountry is bad for your health and judgment and it makes people who defend it mushy between the ears.
July 3, 2016 @ 7:34 pm
I already got my flight and hotel booked for three straight Garth Brooks concerts in San Antonio and I guarantee you the fans might be a bit more civilized compared to Chesney’s. The only problem I’m more likely to find is people getting up too many times to get some beer and some other shit (and I’m talking about during the time when I was in Atlanta to see him).
July 4, 2016 @ 7:58 pm
Atlanta concert goers (and sporting event attendees), are just about the rudest when it comes to showing up late (and loud), and carrying on like the event is in their living room, everyone else be damned (and yes, I live here)
July 3, 2016 @ 9:03 pm
Well ………………maybe if Ol Kenny quit the buisness this would stop but that’s probably to much to dream about.
July 3, 2016 @ 9:05 pm
It makes me wonder what these peoples houses look like. Show some decency and clean up after yourselves.
Also, I’m amazed the woman in the video stayed upright as long as she did. She looks like a dog trying to stand on its hind legs.
July 3, 2016 @ 10:25 pm
God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy…
July 4, 2016 @ 12:48 am
Most kenny chesney fans are fake ass country frat boys/girls, typically total white trash in general. i never tell anyone i’m a chesney fan because i’m embarrassed for anyone to know. i grew up listening to him so thats why i like him lol.
July 4, 2016 @ 7:05 am
I admit to liking him as well, and I’ve been a reader of this site for 2 years and completely sober from country radio haha. He can nail a great ballad like “There Goes My Life” or “Don’t Blink” and even some of his nostalgic songs like “I Go Back” connect with me.
This article certainly isn’t meant to single Chesney out as the main reason why country concerts are so beserk these days. It’s just meant to show that there are steps that can be taken such as Chesney addressing the issue or perhaps any major “country” star.
(And now for the part that doesn’t concern you Summer Jam)
The gatekeepers of our genre are just needed to patrol the music being made, we need some to stop this shit as well.
I’m not even in my twenties yet but as someone who has had to go to these things due to family matters and such, it’s disgusting watching some of the people around me, people who are supposed to be grown ass adults.
I’m close to seeing Chris Stapleton and Brandy Clark at a venue near me that’s also been fostered acts such as Luke Bryan, and you guessed it, Kenny. I’m curious to see how the crowd will be at Stapleton. Real country fans are a damn hard find in Upstate New York.
July 5, 2016 @ 5:06 am
Chesney USED to be a good pop country artist. He completely sold out in 2014 with that PIECE OF SHIT album “The Big Revival”. You can tell the upcoming one is going to be no different. The guy wants endless attention and money, obviously.
July 4, 2016 @ 3:49 am
Many of the tailgaters aren’t actually attending the show. The parking lot is open 5-6 hours BEFORE the show even starts! That’s ridiculous. Price of tickets has nothing to do with how people should throw away their garbage. Problem is they get so damned drunk, that they end up doing whatever, then just leave before the show, after the parking lot is totally trashed. Someone ran over a girl in Mass, that had no business being there. He never mentioned that, either. Maybe he needs to open his timid little mouth and say something about all of this. How many other idiots drove home drunk from his concerts? How many actually made it?
July 4, 2016 @ 5:37 am
My two oldest sons have worked their summers at the concert pavilion near our home for the past couple of years. Both work parking so the stories that they come home with are clearly insane at times. All concerts have some degree of craziness, but sadly the country ones are the concerts with the most crazy drunkenness, the rudest fans and the most mess. If anything, this parking job has taught my boys how not to behave. My oldest has had to go to court three times to testify as a witness to fights and under age drinking.
It’s pretty sad that fans can’t just go to the concert, enjoy the music, drink responsibly, and be respectful to the employees and other fans. I agree that it would be nice if the music artist would say something to the fans. It is possible to have a good time without getting to the level of insanity that some of these fans seem to take it.
July 4, 2016 @ 8:33 am
I think it comes down to the brand that artists like Kenny Chesney and Luke Bryan sell as both concerts have had similar problems. Hell, this is a country song: sitting on a tailgate (in a parking lot), drinking cold beer with my bro’s and watching the pretty girls with their daisy dukes.
They sell it and the fans go there with this image in their minds. I have been to a U2 concert at Heinz Field and I can tell you that this atompshere of debauchery did not exist. I say it’s the whole bro country bullshit lifestyle image that creates the problem.
July 4, 2016 @ 10:18 am
I would like to see U2 but they keep fucking up their songs compared to how they might sound in the studio. I understand trying to be original and everything but I’m one of those audience members that prefers to have concert music sound similar to what I hear on record. (This is me talking)
July 4, 2016 @ 10:14 am
I don’t see this as a “country fan vs. X genre fan” issue, I believe it’s a generational issue. This is more of a party for young people than a music concert, the music is a side-note. I’ve been to many concerts and never seen this, including several Jimmy Buffet concerts which are famous (infamous?) for the party atmosphere which commonly lasts 2-4 DAYS. When we leave the parking lot on Sunday morning there are neat piles of trash bags to be picked up with very little loose garbage…BUT…those staying in the lots probably average 45 years old and despite lots of partying and drinking, don’t leave a disaster behind.
July 4, 2016 @ 12:23 pm
Jimmy Buffet fans are better human beings than (Jimmy Buffet wannabe) Kenny Chesney fans.
July 6, 2016 @ 7:53 am
I went to my first Jimmy Buffet show a few years ago, and was surprised to see the RV section of the parking lot… people handing out jello shots for Buffet trivia games, tiki bars, someone on top of an RV tossing out tshirts to anyone who would flash them — and somehow it was still tamer and people were more behaved than at the Kenny shows Ive been to. (Every single one in my area since 2002.) This year is the first I’m skipping. Things at Gillette are a little better than they have been in years past, but at 31, I feel like I’m getting much older and the crowd is getting much younger. Not to mention, every year I shell out about $125 a ticket for the same show since 2002!!! He plays a few songs to get you pumped up – ALWAYS ACDC, then comes out on a swing over the crowd, then plays the same songs he’s always sang while running back and forth across the stage. Theres never anything different, never anything to make it more special than last year.
July 4, 2016 @ 1:47 pm
It’ll slow down only if and when the artists themselves say something about it. I have some friends who just saw a bro-show (Luke I believe) and for them the whole highlight of the show was when he threw cans of beer into the crowd. Encourage a beer-drenched lifestyle and you attract beer-drenched fans. I for one do not understand why anyone would want to attend an expensive concert they won’t even remember. Having fun is cool but when “fun” centers around reckless animal-like behavior you gotta wonder about the motivation behind it all.
I’ve been to literally hundreds of concerts, everyone from Johnny Cash to SunnO))) and all points in between. My observation is: “beach bum” music + large female-populated crowd + massive tailgate scene = mayhem. Having many women around always brings out the worst in hard drinking concert crowds. Testosterone + alcohol always = trouble. I’m not blaming women, mind you, it’s just how it works.
The artists need to remind their fans that they value their reputations and want to be welcomed back again and again and their (the fans) behavior reflects on the artists and the entire scene as a whole. I doubt Mr. Chesney enjoys or wants to be associated with alcohol poisoning and mountains of trash. These popular performers have power…use it.
July 4, 2016 @ 2:05 pm
The artists have to step up and remind their fans that they don’t want their names to be associated with violence, alcohol poisoning and mountains of trash. I have friends who recently saw Luke Bryan and in their opinion the highlight of the concert was when he threw beers into the crowd. Keep encouraging it and it’ll continue.
I’ve been to many hundreds of concerts, everyone from Johnny Cash to Suffocation and all points in between. My observation is that “beach bum boozer” music + a heavy female presence + a huge tailgate culture + the potential for mayhem. Not blaming women at all, but facts are facts and when the beer and testosterone is flowing, social norms go out the window.
I enjoy having fun, I like tailgating, I like women, I like music. But again facts are facts and right now the tailgate culture has overrun that particular scene. Every year everyone wants to top the year before. If you attend a show and end up in a hospital or in a cast or worse you really need to re-assess why you’re into it in the first place. If, say, The Velvet Underground were still around and playing large outdoor venues and a few dozen fans overdosed on heroin there would be mass outrage. These artists need to step up and renounce these slobbish antics, I seriously doubt that Mr. Chesney really wants to be associated with liver damage and humongous piles of garbage.
July 4, 2016 @ 8:16 pm
the only thing i can think of is they trash the parking lot because kenny cheesey sucks so bad, and he played that phony beach reggae songs one too many times and wore his sleeveless tee
July 5, 2016 @ 5:40 am
These aren’t country music fans, they are ghettoized whites who grew up on hip hop. They listen to hip hop and crap country and go to these concerts for the party. They couldn’t name you two Waylon Jennings songs. If they’ve even heard of Hank, Jr., they have no idea who his father was. To them, Willie Nelson is that old hippie who smokes a bunch of pot, but his music sucks. I grew up with a lot of these people. If they were slightly older, like me, they would have listened to GnR, Motley Crue, Metallica, and on the country side Garth Brooks, Hank jr., etc., but they missed that era by a few years, and by that point popular culture had been ghettoized and it was acceptable, even laudable, to live thug life.
July 5, 2016 @ 6:17 am
I live in Pittsburgh and I once attended this concert, several years ago. I vowed never to go again because of the crowd and the parking lot. This embarrassment has gone on long enough. Mr. Chesney can return to our city for a concert if he likes, but it’s time for him to choose a new, smaller venue.
July 5, 2016 @ 9:30 am
Kenny Chesney needs to address these kinds of situations from the stage, even if it’s just a 2-. He’s not directly responsible, and maybe it wouldn’t make a dent on the outcome, but if he doesn’t say anything, it kind of implies that he doesn’t care.
Also, I am so very grateful that YouTube didn’t exist when I was young(er) and stupid.
July 5, 2016 @ 11:09 am
It sounds like this is a trash problem more than anything. 7 arrests for 50,000 people isn’t bad at all, the hospitalization numbers aren’t too bad either. But the trash is pretty bad.
I remember someone say last year that its not the Pittsburgh people, it the people from out of town and parts of WV that make this one concert their annual summer event. This doesn’t happen at the Chesney concerts I’ve been to in Metlife. I do agree that if Chesney is really going to keep coming back, he should part of the effort to make it clean.
July 5, 2016 @ 6:22 pm
FWIW this kinda thing isn’t confined to Pittsburgh ~ or country concerts (unfortunately) ~ 2 festivals in Sweden report 40+ sexual assaults ~
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/07/sexual-assault-swedish-festival-reports.html?utm_source=PMNL&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=160705
July 6, 2016 @ 6:11 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ5e_JBfvBs
wow, I don’t know what you guys are talking about…. there was nothing but good clean fun going on.
July 6, 2016 @ 8:37 am
I bet if you asked the girl in the video if she liked the concert, her answer more then likely would be ;
“Concert? What Concert? I don’t remember going to any concert! And what are all these charges on my credit cards, and why do I hurt all over?”
Yup, Instant idiot, just add alcohol.
That sounds like a GREAT TIME! Spend however much on tickets and parking and whatever, and get SO HAMMERED before the show that you either pass out in the parking lot and lie there with the rest of the garbage, or can’t remember a THING about the show when you sober up several days later, nursing a hangover that is so bad that your hair hurts!
Sounds like a LOT of NASCAR fans, too.
July 6, 2016 @ 10:18 am
Man that chick was plastered. lmao. I’ve never seen anyone do that before. Somewhat reminiscent of the spiderwalk in the Exorcist.
July 6, 2016 @ 8:39 pm
Sounds like a party. Sounds like something you need in your life Trigger (FUN), so you won’t be such a miserable cunt anymore. 😀
July 8, 2016 @ 9:35 am
Hey Studley Dudley. Find a nickname and stick with it, okay???
July 8, 2016 @ 12:43 pm
Hey Mikey, you’re not the boss.
July 10, 2016 @ 5:57 am
“When a culture’s music is lifeless, that culture is bound for more touble than just having nothing decent to listen to.” Says all we need to know here.