Kenny Rogers Says Farewell at Star-Studded Bridgestone Gig

You can’t make old friends, or so sings Kenny Rogers. And after 60 years in the music business, this guy has so many old friends, there’s no need to make any new ones. His famous pals, each relating a story about how Rogers made or shaped their careers, came out in force on Wednesday to pay tribute to the country music legend at Bridgestone Arena during All in for the Gambler: Kenny Rogers’ Farewell Concert Celebration. The star-studded lineup, led by rhinestoned ringleader Dolly Parton, has been touted since the show was announced this summer, but little had been revealed about what format the concert would take. Those expecting to hear Rogers sing all of his chart-topping hits one last time were a tad disappointed to discover that this was less a concert by him and more one for him.

Despite the fact that a vast majority of the key players here were septuagenarians, the concert ran about half an hour behind schedule. After putting the audience through the rigamarole of staging some fake reaction shots for the TV cameras — as though the actual reaction shots of the audience losing their shit at seeing Dolly and Kenny together wouldn’t be good enough! — the festivities finally kicked off around 7:30 p.m. Setting the stage for an evening that felt both celebratory and heartbreakingly morbid, a black-and-white photo slideshow lit up the screens, reflecting back on Rogers’ long and storied career. Hey, look! There he is with the First Edition! There he is as a brunette! There he is with his original face! “Good Lord, he’s been around awhile,” said the guy behind us. He wasn't wrong. And if anyone wasn’t sure quite how long, the photo and video montage kept rolling, transporting the audience through six decades of famous friendships, bad TV movies and various stages of plastic surgery.

The Oak Ridge Boys got the show started with “Love or Something Like It,” while Rogers and his wife, Wanda, sat in a couple chairs at the side of the stage, like the king and queen of Nashville watching a parade of celebrity troubadours cavorting for their pleasure. Chip Esten appeared from a cloud of smoke to emcee, because of course he did: This is a post-Deacon world, and we’re all just living in it. He reminded the crowd that Rogers was the first country artist to begin selling out arenas worldwide, and as a steady stream of megastars took the stage to cover Rogers’ hits, it’s pretty easy to understand why. Even the most Rogers-enthusiastic among us can underestimate the depth and breadth of the man’s multilayered career and just how many profoundly moving songs are in his catalog. Fortunately, the crowd was in for a refresher course on what good, solid, pop country sounds like, though some bits were more engaging than others.

Elle King, looking kick-ass in a custom-made Manuel-esque ensemble, endearingly fangirled over Rogers while scream-singing “Tulsa Turnaround,” the first of many throwbacks to Rogers’ early career with the First Edition. “I don’t even know who she is,” whined Guy Behind Us, a feeling that seemed fairly mutual among a large swath of this classic country-loving crowd. The “Blaze of Glory” medley performed by Travis Tritt, Billy Dean, Lee Greenwood, T. Graham Brown, Crystal Gayle, The Gatlin Brothers, Kim Forester and T.G. Sheppard seemed far more on-brand with this audience, as did the soulful performances of “You Turn the Light On” by a cowbell-playing Wynonna and “Back to the Well” by The Judds. The mother-daughter duo had a few lyrical missteps along the way, but ain’t nobody care when they’re delivering those sweet, sweet harmonies with just the right amount of sass thrown in. The Flaming Lips, looking like they'd just flown in from a festival somewhere — Wayne Coyne in a red jumpsuit and eye patch, Steven Drozd in a sparkling gold cape — came on next for "Ruby (Don't Take Your Love to Town)." 

The rest of the first half was a mix of huge stars singing lesser-known hits — like Reba’s performance of “Reuben James” and Linda Davis and Hillary Scott’s heartfelt rendition of “20 Years Ago” — and lesser-known artists performing Rogers’ most memorable tunes. “Lucille” seemed wasted on Justin Moore. (Who? Exactly.) Billy Currington delivered a version of “Morning Desire” that was perfectly adequate. Aaron Lewis, who miraculously rediscovered his inner country boy after years of fronting active-rock outfit Staind, tackled “Coward of the County,” wisely cutting the verse about the Gatlin boys’ gangbang as Rogers has been doing in his shows for years. The First Edition appeared just long enough to handle the evening’s tambourine-tossing duties and attempt to pose for a photo in the night’s most prominent display of age. Jamey Johnson closed out the first half of the show with one of the strongest performances, crooning “Sweet Music Man” to a nearly silent crowd before channeling early Rogers rock star badassery on “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)”.

The first half of the show, while packing some monster celebrity punch, was just an appetizer for what was coming after the intermission. Before the second round of performances commenced, a rep from Mayor Megan Barry’s office appeared to declare the day Kenny Rogers Day — and not, much to our chagrin, to officiate the long-overdue nuptials of Kenny and Dolly.

Alison Krauss cranked the sentiment up to 11 with “Love the World Away,” performed with the ethereal sublimity we've all come to expect from Alison Krauss, followed by a surprise appearance from Kris Kristofferson singing “Me and Bobby McGee.” Lady Antebellum and Little Big Town packed a one-two punch of “She Believes in Me” and “Through the Years,” the latter accompanied by yet another damned photo montage. (We’re not crying! You’re crying!) That was the official beginning of the Rip Out Your Heartstrings portion of the show, which would not let up until the final (double) mic-drop.

In a not-previously-announced but not-at-all-surprising appearance, Don Henley stunned the crowd with an extremely emotional (if not in-key) rendition of “Desperado,” continuing the night’s progression from celebratory retirement-party vibe to a reckoning with our own mortality. Idina Menzel delivered a pitch-perfect albeit slightly oversung version of “You Decorated My Life.” Songwriter Debbie Hupp, who had no idea the song was even on the set list, was seated in front of us with a small group, including her daughter (whom she wrote the song about), and they spent the entire three minutes crying and hugging.

Everything was a blur at this point, because there were Just. So. Many. Tears. But we barreled ahead anyway, knowing that we were right on the cusp of a Kenny and Dolly reunion. Before we got there, Lady A’s Charles Kelley joined Menzel for “We’ve Got Tonight,” a duet that showcases the Rogersian smoothness of Kelley’s vocals and his impressive ability to sing-speak nearly as good as the master himself. Lionel Richie earned all the assorted cartoon-wolf noises with “Lady,” eliciting a few laughs for mimicking Rogers' vibrato, and Chris Stapleton’s rendition of “The Gambler” was delivered with such raspy sandpaper-and-honey precision, it was almost like Rogers was singing it himself. Were we crying again? You betcha.

And then it was time.

The lights dimmed and a video of Dolly and Kenny singing “Real Love” lit up the stage. The roar in the arena was deafening. The two old friends appeared and took a seat on matching stools, permeating the massive space with such familial banter that it felt like all 15,000-plus of us were intimately involved in this decades-long friendship. Dolly gushed about Kenny’s talent and regaled us memories from their time on the road together. Those alternated between hilarious (like when she convinced him a steamer in his dressing room was a portable liposuction machine) to the heart-wrenching, like how she told him she’d never be able to sing at his funeral.

“I’d be so heartbroken if something ever happened to you, so I have to go first,” she said, before recovering quickly in typical Dolly fashion: “Good Lord, you’re just retiring, you ain’t dyin’.” And although this was just a farewell concert and not a funeral, the final precious moments that these two shared on stage carried a somewhat solemn air. This wasn’t just the end of Rogers’ singing and touring career — it marked the end of something much bigger. How many artists will ever again be able to boast a career that lasts six decades that’s both genre-defining and genre-defying? And will there ever be another duo capable of creating music that's both so personal and has such an electrifying zing? The pair duetted on “You Can’t Make Old Friends,” a song "The Gambler" writer Don Schlitz penned about their friendship, ruminating on a Kenny- and Dolly-less future, and while they managed to hold it together onstage, not many in the crowd did. When Dolly followed it up with “I Will Always Love You,” there was nary a dry eye in the house.

Finally, Kenny and Dolly gave the crowd what they’d been waiting on for months — years, actually — with one final performance of “Islands in the Stream.” Any time Rogers was required to move during the night, he hobbled around the stage like an old monarch surveying his kingdom one final time. But he couldn’t stay seated for this one, and neither could anyone else. When it was all over and the cheers quieted for the briefest of moments, Dolly suggested the two go out like rockstars. With a synchronized mic drop, they disappeared from the stage arm-in-arm for the last time, lowering the curtain on their time as country music's most beloved duo and returning to the comfortable role of old friends.

In The Spin — the Scene's live review column — staffers and freelance contributors review concerts under a collective byline.

Set List:

Love or Something Like It (The Oak Ridge Boys)

Tulsa Turnaround (Elle King)

Blaze of Glory (Travis Tritt, Billy Dean, Lee Greenwood, T. Graham Brown, Crystal Gayle, The Gatlin Brothers, Kim Forester and T.G. Sheppard)

Lucille (Justin Moore)

20 Years Ago (Linda Davis and Hillary Scott)

Morning Desire (Billy Currington)

Coward of the County (Aaron Lewis)

You Turn the Light On (Wynonna Judd)

Back to the Well (The Judds)

Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town (The Flaming Lips)

Reuben James (Reba McEntire)

Sweet Music Man (Jamey Johnson)

Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) (Jamey Johnson)

Love the World Away (Alison Krauss)

Me and Bobby McGee (Kris Kristofferson)

She Believes in Me (Lady Antebellum)

Through the Years (Little Big Town)

Desperado (Don Henley)

You Decorated My Life (Idina Menzel)

We’ve Got Tonight (Charles Kelly and Idina Menzel)

Lady (Lionel Richie)

The Gambler (Chris Stapleton)

You Can’t Make Old Friends (Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers)

I Will Always Love You (Dolly Parton)

Islands in the Stream (Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers)