Storm can't stop Chesney's Medford fans

Fans line up to board the bus to Foxborough.

By Penny Schwartz, Globe Correspondent

Not much was happening in the Hillside neighborhood of Medford Saturday afternoon. In the hours before Hurricane Irene blew through with tropical force winds, the streets were eerily quiet and empty of the usual joggers, parents with their babies, grandparents with overfilled garbage bags of returnables, kids biking, dog walkers, and Tufts University students. 

When most residents were hunkered down inside their homes, something unexpected was unfolding outside on the streets as the first rain of the storm arrived. A group of 20-somethings were milling about in front of a two-family house on a corner intersection.

At first glance, it was hardly noticeable in a neighborhood of college students. Then a large white chartered bus appeared, pulling up to the stop sign at the corners of Adams  and Capen streets.

A lost driver? A sports team headed to Tufts? Who knew?

One by one, the young people began walking toward the bus carrying blankets, coolers, and even what appeared to be a large wooden board painted with the Confederate flag. As the driver waited on the sidewalk, they loaded their gear into the cavernous luggage compartment, had their names checked off by a woman with a clipboard, and boarded the bus.

As quickly as the bus arrived, it made its way down Capen Street. In the face of Tropical Storm Irene, these diehard fans of country singer Kenny Chesney (left) were headed off to a country music celebration - the last stop of the superstar's Goin' Coastal tour scheduled later that day for Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.

Chesney was wrapping up a huge comeback tour after a year off, according to a Globe reviewer. A show scheduled for Sunday was rescheduled because of Irene but the rain forecast for Saturday evening was not expected to pose a problem before the concert ended and fans got home, according to Jeff Cournoyer, Gillette Stadium spokesman.

Saturday evening's show drew nearly 58,000 fans, Cournoyer wrote in an e-mail to the Globe. Describing New Englanders as loyal fans, Cournoyer noted that the crowd heeded warnings about the rain and were prepared for wet weather.

“They appeared to have a great time dancing in the rain,” he wrote.

Before boarding the bus headed to Foxborough, one Medford fan assured a Hillside neighbor that they'd be real quiet when the bus pulled back in late that night.