Chesney reaches out to the back row

Sometime early this evening, a group will gather in the uppermost seats of Raymond James Stadium, the ones the greatest distance from the stage set up for Saturday's concert.

There, Kenny Chesney and members of his band and crew will savor the moment, knowing they are one of the few acts able to play venues this big.

More importantly, though, Chesney will try to visualize how far it is from those seats to the stage so he knows the gap he has to bridge.

"I make it a point to do that so I can see how far I've got to go to touch that person, to make that person feel a part of the show," Chesney says by telephone.

Saturday's show, Chesney's first stadium show on this tour, is a week and a half away when he calls, but he sounds as if he's ready to pounce on the stage and start the show any second.

Maybe that's what a year away from the road does to him.

"I've learned that being still is not an option in my life," Chesney says.

Chesney wasn't an out-of-the box success when he released his debut album, 1994's "In My Wildest Dreams." But constant touring and a string of radio-friendly singles pushed him into the upper echelons of country stardom by the end of the 1990s.

Now he's one of the only acts in any genre able to fill stadiums.

"Trust me, I thank God every day that we have such a passionate fan base," Chesney says.

Chesney took 2010 off from touring, he says, "because that relationship and love affair that we've built with the fans needed protecting."

He spent the time away from the road pursuing an old passion, football, and a newer one, film.

He made two documentaries: "The Boys of Fall," about high school football, and "The Color Orange: The Condredge Holloway Story," about the Southeastern Conference's first black starting quarterback.

"It fed my soul more creatively than anything in a long time," Chesney says of his filmmaking experience. "It's something I felt I needed."

The experience will carry over into his music, he believes.

"It's almost like it just woke me up in a way. It was an inspiration I needed," he says.

"There's not one specific thing that would make a song better but I think it's the overall feeling. To be able to come back to Tampa and get up on stage after a long break is very special," he says.

"I'm looking forward to feeling that again, that exchange of energy with the audience," Chesney says. "What did I miss most last year? The first note of every night. There's all this anticipation, of not getting to do what you came to do. Then there's that moment. That's what I missed the most."