Kenny Chesney is returning to the area... finally!

The country music superstar who for years has been doing pretty much only stadium shows, and had two years worth canceled due to the pandemic, is going back to smaller venues. That's great news for area country music fans who will get to see Kenny Chesney in Moline in the spring of 2023.

Monday morning, Chesney announced his "I Go Back 2023" Tour. The tour will feature special guest Kelsea Ballerini and will have a total of 21 shows, 20 of which were announced this morning. That includes a concert on Thursday, May 4 at Vibrant Arena at the Mark in Moline, Illinois.

Dimitrios Kambouris, Getty Images
Dimitrios Kambouris, Getty Images
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The tour will begin on Saturday, March 25 in State College, Pennsylvania, home of Penn State University. Chesney's other tour stops in the Midwest include Wichita, Kansas on March 30, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on April 1, Sioux Falls, South Dakota on May 11, Lincoln, Nebraska on May 13, and Fort Wayne and Evansville, Indiana on May 18 and 20, respectively.

I previously mentioned that Kenny announced a return to smaller venues. He said that after his Here and Now stadium tour ended earlier this year. He played in front of over 1.3 million people on that tour, according to Vibrant Arena.

So why Moline and all the other cities announced on the 2023 tour? Chesney said he wanted to include cities that were a major part of his success before the stadium shows began several years ago. Kenny said, "It's not about the numbers, but the joy you see on people's faces-- can still hear No Shoes Nation singing those songs after being apart for four whole summers... the more I thought about it, the more I thought about taking the music to the people who were there when this thing was taking off."

Tickets for the tour go on sale on Friday, December 2 at 10 a.m. You can also sign up to win a 4-pack of tickets below.

*Contest ends Sunday, February 19 at 11:59 p.m.

Last week, Chesney was announced as part of the 2023 IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway. It also includes Carrie Underwood, Zac Brown Band, and Ed Sheeran.

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