Chesney starts spreading the love

Chesney played 24songs over the course of 2 hours.

"Sometimes you can feel the energy long before you hit the stage," Chesney said. "It's gathering, and you can sense it. This was one of those shows, one of those times. It was so intense, it was so there, this is the reason we do this: to play music and feel all that energy coming at us."

The show - billed as the Music & Miracles Festival - was created to honor the last wish of Kevin Brown, who succumbed to cancer. Telling the crowd, "Before I came onstage, I got to meet so many great people... This show is because of Kevin: his dream specifically was to see us play in this stadium. And so, War Eagle...," the audience began what became a two-minute chant of "War! War! War! Eagle."

With only a piano, Chesney delivered a particularly heartfelt "My Home's in Alabama" to honor the sentiment behind the event.

Miranda Lambert, Sam Hunt and Old Dominion opened the show. Lambert offered her take on Hank Williams' "Move it on Over."

"Some years you just know from night one, it's going to be special. When we named it Spread The Love, we got it right. To be able to hear the kind of music and the crowd I did all afternoon, it really gets me fired up to get on that stage and make some music. We started back in February with everything pointed at tonight. From the first second we heard that crowd, all the work was beyond worth it. Miranda, Sam, Old Dominion and every single person totally rocked our world. This is what memories are made of."

Upcoming dates include Albuquerque, N.M. on May 5 and Phoenix on May 7.