LAS VEGAS – About a third through the second night ofKenny Chesney's groundbreaking residency atthe Sphere, the gregarious country superstar dipped into his 2004 hit "I Go Back." It's a song steeped in nostalgia, with lyrics that reminisce about wistful moments. High school gyms. Hearing John Mellencamp on the radio. A friend gone too soon. The accompanying video – well, better classified as all-encompassing graphics that sucked you into the visual vortex – of football fields and basketball courts pulled at the hearts of 17,000 people as Chesney sang of days gone by with his typical earnestness. But for all its nodding to the past, the song represented a milestone in Chesney's awards-laden, 30-plus-year career as he performed it May 24. As he looked around in awe of the crowd and the enveloping video, there was as much a sense of "How did we get here?" as "Let's look back." Chesney, 57, is the first country singer – and the first solo artist, despite an ace six-piece band – to play the game-changing venue. His two-hour show, a technicolor wonder, continues for sporadic dates through June 21 and are his only live performances of the year. It's as much a concert as a sonic and visual roller-coaster ride pairing one of themost acclaimed stars of countrywith the evolving technological wizardry of the Sphere. From the opening deep-sea dive that morphed into a fleet of pirate ships bobbing on the ocean while Chesney bopped through "Beer in Mexico" – his skinny jeans tight, his sleeveless shirt baring biceps – a carefree vibe permeated the show. Las Vegas Sphere concerts:All the bands that are playing and how to get tickets For years, Chesney has beena reliable stadium filler, a guy who feeds off his fans' adrenaline as he clocks tens of thousands of steps scampering around the stage. While he was slightly limited to roam given the Sphere's structure, Chesney found ways to maintain a lifeline to the front row of fans on the floor as he bent down during "Keg in the Closet" to smack a palm or accept a Nevada license plate emblazoned "Sphere." "Not only do we see you all, we feel you tonight," Chesney said in one of his frequent humble acknowledgements of the crowd. Typically,Chesney's concertsoffer few embellishments. So to see a Ferris wheel looming over him (" 'Til It's Gone"), a live shot of No Shoes Nation devotees blasted onto the 240-foot-tall backdrop ("No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems") and Chesney on a towering cell phone surrounded by vibrantly colored fish (the prescient "Welcome to the Fishbowl") elevated the fun quotient. At his opening show May 22, Chesney broughtKelsea Ballerinito the stage. But on this night,Grace Potter, who croons with Chesney on "You & Tequila," was the guest of honor to sing that Grammy-nominated hit from 2011. It was a breezy stroll for the pair, but when Potter, whom he introduced as "one of my best friends in the world," broke out her signature Flying V guitar, Chesney knew things were about to get rock-y. "We were in Vegas that last time this happened," he said, before the familiar sawing guitar notes of Rod Stewart's "Hot Legs" filled the room (Chesney and Potter covered the song during his 2013 shows at the now-defunct Hard Rock Hotel). It was a playful, if milquetoast version of the song sans Stewart'sraspy vocal leering, but also an indication that Chesney plans to shake up the setlist each show and maybe debut more deep cuts. The melancholic"Seven Days,"from 2010's "Hemingway's Whiskey" album, made its first live appearance at Chesney's opening Sphere show and he revisited it again for night two, complemented by a foggy lighthouse scene. During "Big Star," fans will relish the vintage photos of Chesney posing with music icons includingReba McEntire, Loretta Lynn andTaylor Swiftwhile sinking into the sensation of being dropped into a pinball machine. It was also another reminder of Chesney's longevity in an unforgiving industry. As he cranked out the country rock of "Living in Fast Forward," which plopped the crowd into the driver's seat on a NASCAR track, Chesney punctuated the lyric, "I still got some miles to go." It was an ideal capper to a song that summarizes the focused Chesney. Even three decades into his career, he's hardly slowing down. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Kenny Chesney captivates at the Sphere Las Vegas
