Kenny Chesney Adds Shed Dates To Summer 2020 ‘Chillaxification’

Allister Ann – Chillaxification Continues
Kenny Chesney announced the addition of several summer 2018 amphitheater dates on Tuesday.

Country star Kenny Chesney announced the addition Tuesday of 18 amphitheater shows to his “Chillaxification Tour,” which is slated to venture across North America in late spring and summer 2020.

The new dates span May 7, when Chesney will play Coral Sky Amphitheater in West Palm Beach, Fla., to Aug. 26, when he’ll perform at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. But the fresh dates aren’t an extension per se – instead, they weave throughout the 22 stadium shows Chesney announced in September, which will take place every Saturday from April 18 to Aug. 22, excluding July 4, and concludes at Gillette Stadium, in Foxborough, Mass., Aug. 28-29.

“As crazy and awesome as the stadium shows are – and there’s nothing like them – there is a vibe to the amphitheater shows that only happens in those places,” Chesney said in a statement. “You look out at the lawn, you see everybody coming together, singing the songs – and it’s this community that feels so close.”

The trek will include plays at several well-known amphitheaters, including Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio (May 28), PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte, N.C. (June 25) and Phoenix’s Ak-Chin Pavilion (July 30).

“There’s been so much speculation about which cities we were going to hit for these smaller shows,” Chesney said. “I figured we should go ahead and let people know where we’re gonna be. I know folks make plans, and rather than make people guess, it just makes sense to go ahead and let you know.”

The touring format resembles Chesney’s 2018 itinerary, when he similarly flipped between stadiums and sheds. Chesney will hit several of those sheds again in 2020, including Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Va. (June 18), where he sold 20,792 tickets and grossed $1.06 million on June 15, 2018, and Merriweather Post Pavilion, where he moved 16,978 tickets and grossed $1.18 million on Aug. 22, 2018.

Michael Franti & Spearhead, which is also providing support for Chesney’s stadium shows, will open the amphitheater dates.

Chesney was one of only two country artists – if one still classifies Taylor Swift a country artist – to land on Pollstar‘s Top Touring Artists of the Decade. The iconic artist grossed $608.7 million, landing him at No. 18 on the chart. That total includes gaudy annual grosses of $116.4 million and $114.4 million, in 2015 and 2018, respectively.

In a recent interview for VenuesNow‘s Women Of Influence package, Kate McMahon, executive vice president of Messina Touring Group, which promotes Chesney’s tours, pointed to her two decades of collaboration with the star as her proudest professional accomplishment.

“Kenny Chesney calls her direct,” MTG chief Louis Messina told VenuesNow.

Fans will be able to purchase tickets for some of Chesney’s shed dates through Live Nation’s Country Megaticket beginning on Jan. 24, 2020. Other venues will announce individual on-sale details in the coming days and weeks.

Find Chesney’s new dates below.