RIVERSIDE, Mo. — KSHB 41 News anchor Taylor Hemness reports on stories across the Kansas City area, including a focus on consumer issues. You can contact Taylor by email.
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Morton Amphitheater in Riverside is wrapping up its star-studded first season with another big concert this weekend: country music star Thomas Rhett is bringing his "The Soundtrack to Life" tour to fans in Kansas City.
The stop is one of the final three Rhett will make this year before visiting Mexico and Europe in the new year.
I spoke to Rhett ahead of his performance and learned about his history in Kansas City.
"I've been coming to Kansas City, I think, since about day one, playing in the clubs there," Rhett told me. "I remember early on in my career, I got to open for Kenny Chesney at Arrowhead Stadium, which was insane."
Rhett says he has a very specific memory of that concert and how Chesney warned him of what he was about to experience as a performer.
"And I remember Kenny before that show just being like, 'You are going to be deaf after the show from how loud this stadium gets,'" Rhett said. "And it was not a joke. And every time I've been back to Kansas City since then, it has been the exact same way."
Rhett is the latest in a list of big names to perform at the new Morton Amphitheater since it opened earlier this year. The venue has already seen the likes of Guns N'Roses, Rod Stewart, Tim McGraw and Chris Stapleton.
I asked Rhett about what it's like to play a relatively new location.
"We tour so often every year, and a lot of the time, you find yourself in the same parking lot, staring at the same backstage building," he told me. "And when you get to go to a new place, it's kind of a little bit more centralized to the city. You kind of get to go explore the city, get to go eat some local food, drink some local beer, and then come back and play a place that not a lot of fans have experienced."
Obviously, people are paying very close attention to their budgets and bottom lines right now, so even paying to go to a concert can feel like a luxury. I asked Rhett about how cognizant he and his team are about that reality.
"I mean, even just going to the gas station to put gas in your truck. I thought about it two days ago. I'm like, man, this is three concert tickets in my diesel truck right here, so it does not go unnoticed," he said. "It obviously cost us quite a bit of money to be there, with production and the lights and the staging and the sound and all that kind of stuff. But we also fully understand that it's a weird time right now to spend money. So, just very grateful for the people that do decide to spend their Saturday night with us."
Rhett told me he fully intends to explore Kansas City while he's here, specifically searching for barbecue. So keep an eye out when you go out to eat this weekend.
Tickets are still available at multiple price points for his Morton Amphitheater show.
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