And like McGraw, Chesney has a considerable nostalgic side. It can creep into his uptempo material ("Young"), but his ballads are especially rife with images of past memories, whether of favorite classic-rock songs ("I Go Back") or a whirlwind relationship ("Anything But Mine"). But he saved his most introspective moment until the very end, a heartfelt tribute to school-age football players (including himself), "The Boys of Fall."

As a postgame picture of uniformed Chesney and his parents flashed on the video screen, he brought a young boy onstage and crowned him with a Houston Texans helmet. Perhaps after the near-relentless pace of the previous 90 minutes, there was simply nowhere left to go.

Except one. Of course there's no way the two Brothers would allow their fans to sit through a six-hour concert and not do a few songs together. So they did, with an encore of their recent duet "Feel Like a Rock Star," "Indian Outlaw," "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy," and a nice Texas-size surprise in George Strait's "The Fireman."

Some of us in the audience couldn't help remembering that King George will be at Reliant Stadium soon enough (next March), but surely even McGraw and Chesney themselves will admit he's probably up to the job.

Personal Bias: I respect McGraw and Chesney's showmanship and work ethic more than I admire their artistry, but I am abso-fucking-lutely learning to love the virtues of "Truck Yeah."

The Crowd: A good guess would be about 60,000 people, young to middle age, Caucasian, skewing female and ready to party. Dressed for a day at the beach or a night on the town: Khakis and flip-flops; sundresses or cutoffs and cowboy boots.

Overheard In the Crowd: Assorted screaming.

Random Notebook Dump: Chesney brought out his buddy, birthday boy Roger Clemens, onstage during "Out Last Night."