MESS-ACHUSETTS (Items on Kenny Chesney, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Sugarland, Lee Ann Womack, Chris Hillman, Maureen McCormick)

Arrests were made "by the busload" last night at The New England Country Music Festival, aka the Saturday stop for Kenny Chesney's "Poets & Pirates" tour, according to The Attleboro (Massachusetts) Sun Chronicle. They report that the "festival (at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro) once again dissolved into a block party of underage drinking and fighting" with perhaps over 100 arrests being made for underage drinking, drunk and disorderly conduct and assault and battery.
Last year the Festival, now in its fifth year, was plagued by fights, vandalism and binge drinking.
After reading about that incident today, I was immediately remembered reading a piece in Sports Illustrated almost 28 years ago about the drunken and rowdy crowd at a Patriots game at the old Schaefer Stadium in Foxboro...and if last night was rowdy, well, get a load of what happened there in 1976 at a Patriots game...and again ("another night of horror") in 1980.
Linked to last night's concert, more tragically, two young women were killed and another seriously injured in an auto accident, apparently after leaving the Gillette Stadium parking lot before the show because they did not have tickets. Police surmise this because of pictures found on their cell phones.

Okay, back to the actual show...It was a memorable one for the thousands who showed for entertainment and not to get faced, sez Chattahbox, and featured a Red Sox hurler and Patriot legend...here's a review from a dude "who can take or leave" Kenny...Who is a superstar, the Sun Chron sez, who didn't disappoint. Ditto Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes and Sammy Hagar. The Sun shined less favorably on Gary Allan's set...and did you know that staging a single "Poets & Pirates" show costs $1.4 million?...and that's before the artists are paid or, gulp, the buses are fueled up. Adding to the cost nightmare: upper deck tickets were budget-priced this year for fans, courtesy of team Chesney, meaning a revenue punch will be absorbed.
The economy can be blamed for a steep dip in concert revenues in the U.S. this year; Kenny, Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi are vying for the top-grossing trek this year, though the winner will probably only pull in slightly more than half of the cash that 2007's top tour, by The Police, did.

Want Two: Great feature on Sugarland in The New York Times. And this dig at a legend from the duo's Kristian Bush: "I can’t figure out which George Strait record to buy because I don’t know which song is on which record. All 50 of them are great, but you can’t tell them apart."
And here's a "Sugar High" for your Sunday with a rundown of the duo's history and all they wanna do in their career.

To Everything...There is a Season: His pedigree includes The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers and a boatload of more country-rock combos (he's "the Forest Gump of country-rock"), but Chris Hillman is proudest of his time leading '80's country hitmakers The Desert Rose Band.

Again, Again: Lee Ann Womack tells us where she's been, where she's going, why she dumped her last album and who her biggest cheerleader is (Hint: It's Alan Jackson).

Here's the Story...: Maureen McCormick is gearing up for a birthday, a "Gone Country" spin-off and the October 14 release of her autobiography/"Brady Bunch" tell-all (I can't wait to read some juicy dirt on cousin Oliver!).