KENNY'S NEW STAGE "BIGGER THAN VAN HALEN'S"

Kenny Chesney's come a long way from performing in college with only one acoustic guitar and a set of cover songs. His new "Somewhere In The Sun" tour will be his biggest undertaking yet. The stage takes 15 trucks to haul and was co-designed by Kenny. It was built by the same company that has created stages for KISS, Fleetwood Mac and Madonna. The set will feature vertical video screens, hydraulic lifts and a sound system that can generate 280,000 watts. "We're gonna be able to give the fans the best show ever," Kenny promised. "We're having to play a lot more arenas this year, because the outdoor venues can't handle the staging and light trusses. It's bigger than Van Halen's...tour, which I saw when I was in high school-and I thought that was about the biggest thing I'd ever seen!" Kenny added that there will be over 240-feet of stage frontage due to the extended "T." "If you wanna see the energy go through the roof, we're thinking this'll do it," he said.

• March 2, 2005

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