Kenny Chesney in 3D opens

"I don't think til we slowed down and really started looking at what was shot did I really begin to get it," said Chesney. "You know, you're working so hard to try to be better, to try to be the person those fans deserve - and you are more aware of trying to give than you are considering how the fans are responding to it. When we started editing, that's when it hit me: when we saw those faces, the looks on them, the emotions.

"And I've said throughout the process: so many nights onstage, I'd close my eyes and wish they could see what I see, feel the things I was feeling... Now, through this amazing and time consuming process, they really, really can. People who've been have come up to me and said, 'Man, so that's what it's like. How do you do that?"

Following a red carpet premiere in Las Vegas, the film opened across America last night - and Chesney was on hand in Chicago - as a surprise -- to introduce the film to a sold-out room. "You guys are a big part of this movie," he told the assembled movie goers. "You're the reason we're all here... and what you're about to see isn't just a concert, or six concerts, it's a journey of a lot of nights, a lot of miles... and a lot of faces."