Hot on the heels of the announcement of the Savannah Stopover Festival, the Savannah Music Festival has booked The Avett Brothers for March 30th at Johnny Mercer Theatre at the civic center.
That’s big news, especially for the Avett fans who have been buzzing about the gig all day today online. A few pre-sale tickets were made available through The Avett Brothers website via a special message and password, but the vast vast majority of tickets will go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. through the SMF website.
If you’ve been living under a rock and don’t know the Avett Brothers, take a listen to this incredibly beautiful song:
The Avett Brothers played in Savannah last year and I’ve been kicking myself for months now because I missed them. Won’t miss them this time.
So why wasn’t this announced when the rest of the SMF’s amazing lineup was unveiled? Easy answer: pop and rock shows are typically booked much later than the classical, jazz, and world music performers that the festival specializes in. Wouldn’t The Avett Brothers have come to Savannah again anyway, without the SMF’s involvement? Apparently not. The Avett Brothers’ current tour already has dates booked into May and June.
The show is a great chance for the SMF to reach more and more young people who have not attended productions in the past. I don’t know if The Avett Brothers see the need to expand their fanbase at this point, but they’re going to get a lot of older folks in the audience who will be there for no other reason than their trust in the Savannah Music Festival.
As I mentioned in my column in the newspaper a few months ago, I can finagle — justifiably — a single free press ticket to a lot of SMF shows, but it’s a cause I want to support. I’m happy to buy tickets to shows that seem especially exciting. And I know I’ll be getting tickets to this one.