Saturday night, right here in Chattanooga, Sir Reginald Dwight comes to the Round House at UTC in his second appearance in less than two years. That’s big. I get to see him this time, as I was out of town for his last visit with Leon Russell. Some people will ask why we can have Elton John at UTC, but not at Riverbend. It’s a simple answer – money. Reggie will sell approximately 10,000 seats times an average of $75 per seat for his Round House appearance. That’s $750,000! Riverbend pin costs would have to go up immensely to afford an Elton John.
However, we do have 10,000 Maniacs coming to Riverbend this year. This is a cool band that has had pretty good successes since the 80’s and continues to be a big festival draw. They will be on the Bud Light Stage Sunday, June 9.
Also on the Bud Light Stage is the Psychedelic Furs, an English punk rock band from back in the day. Riverbend has done a great job bringing in English rock bands each year, with Uriah Heep and Foghat the past couple of years. I would like to see The Zombies come in to Riverbend some day.
Track 29 sold out the Bassnectar and Flaming Lips shows in fast order, but they have some good acts coming that have tickets remaining. The Wallflowers (I saw them in Pensacola last summer – really good), Leftover Salmon, Shooter Jennings, the Black Crowes, Drive By Truckers, and another segment of the popular Scenic City Roots show are all coming up soon. Try www.track29.co for more info and tickets.
How about an update on my column from a couple weeks ago about Here Come The Mummies and their fundraising efforts through the kickstarter program? If you missed the column, here it is - http://chattanoogan.com/2013/3/7/246004/Chattanoogas-Live-Music-Scene-.aspx. They were trying to raise $50,000 in 30 days to fund a new CD and hire a PR firm. Two weeks into the program, they have exceeded their goal with over $57,000 raised so far. The trick? They came up with innovative and cool ideas for those that want wanted to pledge money.
For local music info, try www.chattanoogaentertainers.com or www.chattanooganightscope.com. They both have great local music info and schedules. For local info on Country music, try Jim Boles’ site www.chattacountry.ning.com.
Email Bob Payne at davrik2000@yahoo.com or catch him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/davrik2000 .
Sir Bob
- Photo2 by Reggie