Nashville, TN. (Top40 Charts/ BNA Entertainment) - Always one to push himself, it's no surprise back-to-back and reigning Academy of Country
Music and two-time and reining Country
Music Association Entertainer of the Year began programming the lights and working on the video for the screens for his upcoming Flip Flop Summer Tour - which kicks off
Thursday April 12 in Des Moines - in the middle of January. And it's still being tweaked to 'get it just right.'
'I wanted to give the fans something they'd never seen before, something more intense,' Chesney says, laughing given the combustiveness of his always high energy performances. 'There is so much we can do with this set-up… so many options… pre-programmed footage, what's going on onstage, effects, lights… that's going to be a full-immersion aspect to what the band and I are already - I hope - doing.'
The major video screen extends the length of the stage, and is supplemented by five smaller vertical screens that extend up and another five smaller vertical screens that extend below the big screen. In addition, there are two horizontal screens on either side of the main stage - which will be beyond the amphitheatre shell for this summer's outdoor shows that aren't stadium-sized.
Every screen has the ability to be programmed independent of the others. They can work as a whole, given a giant tableau effect - or each can have its own element according to what serves the song. With all of that co-ordination, the production might seem unwieldy, but for this year's Flip-Flop Summer Tour, a master piece of gear - deemed 'the Control Freak' - has been built to work as the air-traffic control for all the video cues, effects, lights, cameras and action.
'This thing is amazing,' Chesney says of the Control Freak. 'We can do things we'd never considered before… from something as simple as running the schematic of Clayton's guitar solo across the screen to having live stuff inside computer generated graphics, stacking different images. The evolution of what you can do is incredible - and we're lucky to have people who're willing to explore what's possible with us.'
Various elements of what Chesney's combining have been on the road with Beyonce and Bon Jovi, but for Flip Flop Summer, he's integrating it all for a presentation that's ground-breaking. With a Mini-Freak for his lighting people to start familiarizing themselves with in the middle of February, they can't wait to see it set up, light up and blowing minds as the modular system adapts to stadiums, arenas and outdoor venues around the country.
'That's the best part,' says the man who just spent 3 weeks at No 1 with his self-titled 'Beer In Mexico' and has sold out the NFL Stadiums in Philadelphia , Boston and Detroit . 'As high tech as this is, it's adaptable… no matter where we play, the fans will get just as much impact no matter where they see the tour - although we hear a lot of fans are checking out different kinds of venues to see the difference for themselves. Or maybe they just like the tail-gating!'
