Mark Chesnutt Performs Concert in Women's Clothing

At least, that could have been the headline this morning in the Webb City Sentinel or the Joplin Globe.

Nicole and I went to the Webb City Wal-Mart last night to pick up a few things, and we were astounded by the lack of available parking out front. Once we finally got a spot and walked inside, it became evident what the people were there to see: country music artist Mark "Goin' Through the Big D" Chesnutt was performing a small concert in the store, no kidding, right in the middle of the ladies' wear section.

The stage setup was typical Wal-Mart. Dozens of "Cool Pack" cases of Dr Pepper (red) and Diet Dr Pepper (white) were set up in a wall formation so that the name "MARK CHESNUTT" was spelled out in big, pixely letters. They had moved some of the racks of women's clothes out of the way, but not so much that people couldn't still browse the latest 2003 fashions along the sides of the stage. And fortunately, people were still able to move shopping carts through the audience to get from the food section over to hardware.

I didn't see anyone waving a lighter during the show, and I'm not sure if it was because of fire codes or if they just wanted to avoid the obvious joke of "Chesnutt's roasting on an open fire."