Kenny Chesney
Live: Those Songs Again

THE REVIEW

"5 summers, 374 shows, 13 stadiums, 14 college bars, 5.43 million fans, 1 incredible feeling"... and the best of all this is captured in the 67 minutes of great music of this "Live Those Songs Again", the first and so far only live collection by Kenny Chesney. Released in 2006, this album showcases Uncle Kenny as a stage animal, maneuvering between power ballads and faster episodes, thus creating a highly enjoyable and balanced tracklist, although with some unjustified absences.

The majority of the songs offered are from the period 1999-2005, with the album "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" from 2002, represented by 4 performances: from "Live Those Songs", the most country track on the album, which opens the dances in the liveliest and most exhilarating way possible to the little-known "On The Coast Of Somewhere Beautiful", a delicate and dreamy piano ballad, passing through the energy and AOR charge of the single "Young", which finds its highest expression in this live version, and the wonderful and captivating rhythm veiled with melancholy of "Never Gonna Feel Like That Again". Also well represented is the subsequent "When The Sun Goes Down" from 2004, strong with the catchy and rhythmic melodies of "Keg In The Closet" and "I Go Back", the reggae flavor of the fun title track and especially the emotion and impact of a magnificent "Anything But Mine", performed here in a particularly direct and inspired version that contends for the title of best ballad of the album with the equally moving "What I Need To Do".

Among the pleasant surprises stands out the fluid and crystal-clear melody of "Back Where I Come From" from 1996, while the album "The Road And The Radio" from 2005 is represented only by the bittersweet "Beer In Mexico", a beautiful song but one that makes us miss "Summertime" and especially "Living In Fast Forward", which in such a live would have been true dynamite, but Uncle Kenny more than makes up for it with a breathtaking finale, ensured by the big hits that, ten years ago, launched the album "Everywhere We Go": first Kenny's summer song par excellence, "How Forever Feels", a stunning and almost epic crescendo of vitality and freshness, and to close with full speed a pyrotechnic version of the super hit "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy": unmistakable, light-hearted, rustic, and joyful, complete with a drum intro and final reprise that further ennoble this song so fun and unique in its genre, which alone is worth an entire career, as well as the price of the album.

In conclusion, the final result is definitely excellent: Kenny always has a great voice, whether in the studio or live, the songs travel at high levels, there are no dead spots, and the band is always perfect and never misses a beat. Sure, the absence of songs like "She's Got It All", "Me And You", "The Good Stuff", or "No Shoes, No Shirt No Problems" is felt, but for a live that fully does justice to KC's entire repertoire probably even two CDs wouldn't have been enough. My secret and unattainable wish remains to see this extraordinary singer perform at San Siro Stadium, preferably on a stage set up under the North Curve, but "Live Those Songs Again" perfectly conveys the idea of the emotion and magic that is unleashed when a true singer performs in front of his audience, and for now, that's enough for me.