KENNY'S HEAVY TRIP AROUND THE SUN

Tour Will Include 133 Staff Members, 28 Trucks, 19 Buses + A Whole Lotta Amps. It ALL Comes Together April 21 at Tampas Raymond James Stadium. 

TAMPA, Fla. When the stage alone weighs 360,000 pounds, it takes a whole lot of muscle, brains and technology to make Kenny's Trip Around the Sun Tour go off without a hitch for the No Shoes Nation. On Saturday, April 21, the man The Wall Street Journal called The King of the Road will debut another state of the art sound system, as well as a video wall thats three stories high.

The idea is nobody who comes to the show should ever think about what it takes to make this happen, Kenny says. But weve been having tech rehearsals separate from band rehearsals, building video for the screens, streamlining the production in ways that create less of an environmental footprint while still having a show that rocks.

Starting with a new GSL Box, there will be two stripes 24 boxes on each side of the stage, plus 24 V8s hung from the upper decks and 67 auxiliary cabinets. This configuration can produce 110 decibels to reach even the seats in the back of the stadium. Recently deployed at a New Orleans festival headlined by Bassnectar, the low end had enough intensity to set off all the car alarms in the parking lot 400-500 feet away.

We wont drive the system at those levels, Kenny laughs, but its nice to know it can create that kind of sonic intensity. For us, it was really about people being able to hear the words, because these songs are important to them and they deserve that.
 
With a video wall that stretches 48 feet wide and almost 36 feet high, its the largest screen deployment of Kenny's career. With 404 lighting fixtures some singles and some holding 72 LED flares his production team is working to also create the best visual experience the No Shoes Nation has ever had.

Weve got 19 buses, 28 trucks and 133 people out on the road, Kenny says. Plus we hire 60-75 local stage hands during the week, over a 100 on load-in days, and 175 to load-out at night when were done. Its a whole lot of people, but theyre so good at what they do, I am amazed every single time we do this.
 
With 60,000-80,000 square feet of flooring brought in to cover the fields, thats a whole lot of ground being covered with Kennys coming of age and into your life in the flyover catalogue of songs. But just as importantly, its the foundation for a whole lot of memories to come.
 
We just did our last rehearsal. Weve got some new songs, old songs people havent heard and a whole lot of the songs everybody comes for, Kenny says. Theres nothing like the sound of the No Shoes Nation when theyre on fire… and I cant wait for Tampa.

Kenny, whose tour is being presented by Blue Chair Bay Rum, will have played 156 stadium shows at the close of 2018's Trip Around The Sun Tour.