This weekend will see a variety of music at the county’s two major music venues. On Friday night, The Fab Four plays the Fred in Peachtree City. The Fab Four is elevated far above every other Beatles Tribute show due to their precise attention to detail. With uncanny, note-for-note live renditions of Beatles’ songs, The Fab Four will make you think you are watching the real thing,
This incredible stage show includes three costume changes representing every era for the Beatles ever-changing career. This loving tribute to the Beatles has amazed audiences around the world, including Japan, Australia, France, Hong Kong, The United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico and Brazil.
During the show, you will hear record-perfect live performances of such classics as “Can’t buy Me Love,”, “Yesterday,” “A Day in the Life,” Twist and Shout,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and “Hey Jude” to name a few.
Gates open at 7 p.m. and picnic baskets and coolers are allowed in the venue or you may purchase food and drink at the concession area. Maguires Family & Friends Irish Pub is the concessionaire for The Fred. For more information about The Fred catering, go to http://maguiresirishpub.com/GreatFood. The Fab Four will take the stage at 8 p.m.
Tickets for the show are $25 for reserved seats, Picnic Tables are $210 and Gold or Terrace Tables are $240. To purchase tickets, or for further information, call the Fred Box Office at 770-631-0630 or visit www.amphitheater.org for a complete listing of concerts.
On Saturday, Toad the Wet Sprocket plays the Fred at 8 p.m.
When Monty Python’s Eric Idle created the fictional band “Toad the Wet Sprocket” for the program “Rutland Weekend Television” in 1975, he never dreamed that anyone would actually use such a silly name.
Fast forward to 1986, when four California teens desperately needed to come up with a name to call their band for an upcoming gig at a Goleta, Calif. watering hole called The Shack.
Since that day, “Toad the Wet Sprocket” has been the name of the four piece California rock band consisting of lead singer Glen Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning, and drummer Randy Guss.
From 1989-1998, they made five studio albums which combined sold over four million copies, had five major radio hits, and won over audiences across North America and Europe.
After breaking up in 1998, Toad would get together sporadically to play shows on a casual basis, but their hard core fans never gave up hope for a new album. After successful tours in 2006-2010, the band finally decided to put the last piece of the puzzle in place, and committed to working together on new music. They also decided to update their classic catalog, and created a new greatest hits album “All You Want”, which came out in 2011. Toad the Wet Sprocket have been in the studio with producer Mikal Blue and fans are looking forward to their new release and 2013 Tour.
Lee DeWyze, season nine American Idol winner, will be appearing with Toad on July 13 at The Fred. He has a signature vocal character balancing grit and warmth, and his songs uniquely blend and bend genres; in short, he’s known for his heart-on-sleeve music, his resolute vocals, sincere lyrical style, and accessible modesty. With his rough-hewn voice and laid-back Midwestern charm, Lee DeWyze won over millions of viewers as a contestant and eventual winner of the ninth season of American Idol. An accomplished singer, guitarist, and songwriter who had already built a following on the Chicago club scene by the time he auditioned for Idol, DeWyze displays his true nature as an artist on his major-label debut Live It Up. The title track captures the easy-going sprit of the album — a breezy blend of rootsy pop, rock, and folk, anchored by DeWyze’s soulful, husky voice and bright-sounding acoustic guitar.
Tickets for the show may be purchased online at ticketalternative.com or by visiting the Fred Box Office at 201 McIntosh Trail, Peachtree City. Reserved tickets range from $35-$45 with lawn seats selling at $25. Picnic tables are $330 and Gold and Belgard Terrace tables are $390.
For further information call 770-631-0630.
Finally, on Sunday night,concertgoers will be treated to a double whammy when Wet Willie and The Swingin’ Medallions both play sets at Fayetteville’s Southern Ground Amphitheater.
Although from different decades, both bands create a dance party atmosphere that will keep folks out of their seat and dancing in the aisles throughout the night.
Wet Willie, after The Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd, was the hardest-rocking of the Southern bands to come to national attention in the early 70s.
For seven years, from 1971 until 1978, they produced an enviable array of albums awash in good-time music, rollicking high-energy blues-rock, and white Southern soul. The band had a Top Ten hit with “Keep On Smilin” and several other chart toppers, including “Weekend,” “Airport” and “Dixie Rock”. In contrast to their label-mates, Wet Willie was a band closer in spirit to Booker T. & the MG’s, much more steeped in sweaty, good-time R&B than the blues-rock of The Allman Brothers Band or the country-rock of the Marshall Tucker Band. In 1996, Wet Willie was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.
The current lineup includes original members Jimmy Hall, Jack Hall, and Donna Hall Foster, and also features T.K. Lively, Ric Seymour, Ricky Chancey and Bobby Mobley filling out the Wet Willie band. Last year, Wet Willie released “Miles of Smiles,” its first live album since 1977, on Hittin’ the Note Records, and is currently touring in support of that latest release.
Opening for Wet Willie is The Swingin’ Medallions, an American beach music group from Greenwood, South Carolina, and long- time favorite performers of the Fayetteville crowd. Best known for their 1966 hit, “Double Shot of My Baby’s Love”, their reputation for crowd participation at live shows has become infamous across the Southeast and brought them the moniker of “The Party Band of the South”. It’s been a few years since they’ve played to the Fayetteville audience, and are excited to be making their return.
Good seats still remain, and range from $15 – $25. Please note that tickets for the original date on Saturday will be honored at this rescheduled (Sunday) show. The next concert will be Canadian rockers, The Guess Who on Saturday, July 27.
Tickets to all shows are available via the website at SouthernGroundAmp.com and at the Historic Courthouse in Downtown Fayetteville.
The Southern Ground Amphitheater is owned by the Downtown Development Authority and managed by the Main Street Tourism Association of Fayetteville.
