“It’s always amazing to come home and see my friends and my family that I haven’t seen in a while, and it’s great to feel the energy and love that’s been cultivating for years. It’s literally a homecoming kind of a thing for me, but it’s also becoming a place for a lot of our fans to travel to and meet up, so it’s a homecoming for them as well,” said David Shaw.
The festival will kick off with a solo acoustic performance by Shaw on Friday night at the Fitton Center. The acoustic performance on Friday is sold out. (Tickets for the acoustic performance sold out in a few hours.)
The one-day Big River Get Down music festival will begin when the doors open at noon on Sept. 9 and will be headlined by The Revivalists. The festival will also feature performances by The Record Company, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, The Marcus King Band, Atlas Road Crew, Smooth Hound Smith and Naughty Professor. General admission tickets for the festival are $28 in advance and $35 day of the festival. A VIP ticket package was a new option this year. However, the 116 available VIP tickets sold out in less than a minute.
The festival will conclude on Saturday night with an after party from 11:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the Fitton Center ballroom. The after party will include performances by Space & Harmony (11:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.) and Rumplesteelskin (1-2 a.m.) These bands are comprised of band members from The Revivalists and Naughty Professor. Tickets for the after party are $20.
Shaw came up with the idea for the festival, because he wanted to give something back to the community. Proceeds from the festival will be donated toward the City of Hamilton’s 4th of July fireworks and the RiversEdge concert series.
“David’s from Hamilton, but he’s also really involved with the festival – from helping to pick the bands to overseeing the design of the t-shirt and concert poster,” said Adam Helms, Hamilton’s director of resident services.
Helms said, “The neat thing about this event is it’s not just Hamilton supporting it. There are people coming to Hamilton from all four corners of the United States, and everywhere in between.”
Shaw and his band The Revivalists have garnered national attention, appearing on television shows, including the “Today Show,” “Ellen DeGeneres Show,” and “Conan O’ Brien” to perform their #1 radio hit “Wish I Knew You” and were named as one of Rolling Stone’s “10 Artists You Need to Know.”
“The Revivalists keep getting more popular, and the fact that David wants to make it a priority to come back to Hamilton every year is really cool,” said Helms.
The Hamilton Flea will partner with RiversEdge again for this year’s event. For more information, go to http://www.hamiltonflea.org.
Contact this contributing writer at gmwriteon@aol.com.
HOW TO GO
What: David Shaw's Big River Get Down Presented by Miller Lite
When: Saturday, September 9. Doors open at noon. The first concert will begin at 1 p.m. The festival ends at 10:30 p.m.
Where: RiversEdge Amphitheater, 116 Dayton Street, downtown Hamilton
Admission: General admission tickets are $28 in advance; $35 day of the show. (Plus, ticketing fees.)
More info: www.bigrivergetdown.com
Set Times: The Revivalists (9-10:30 p.m.), The Record Company (7:15-8:30 p.m.), Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band (6-6: 45 p.m.), The Marcus King Band (4:45 p.m.-5:30 p.m.), Atlas Road Crew (3:30-4:15 p.m.), Smooth Hound Smith (2:15-3 p.m.) and Naughty Professor (1-1:45 p.m.)
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