Kenny Chesney remembers that windy May night at Old Tucson Studios, looking out into the crowd of 3,000 filling the dirt yard.
It was 1999 and his career was a series of opening acts for superstars and shows at venues like Old Tucson.
“It really doesn’t seem like it’s been that long ago since I played Old Tucson,” Chesney said during a phone interview last Friday morning. “I really liked playing that place.”
That was his last Tucson show.
His 1999 album “Everywhere We Go,” which came out a few months after that show, elevated him from George Strait’s and Tim McGraw’s opening act to arena headliner.
Today, the Tennessee native has eclipsed both artists when it comes to drawing a crowd.
Chesney’s caravan of 50 semis pulls into Glendale this weekend for Saturday’s University of Phoenix Stadium tour stop. Country superstars Keith Urban, Gary Allan and LeAnn Rimes open the show.
Kenny Chesney’s Poets & Pirates Tour
• Featuring: Keith Urban, Sammy Hagar, LeAnn Rimes and Gary Allan.
• When: 3:30-11 p.m. Saturday.
• Where: University of Phoenix Stadium, off Interstate 10 and the Loop 101 in Glendale.
• Tickets: $69-$99, with discounts available, through Ticketmaster, 321-1000.
