After two Hootiefest travels to Mexico in 2022 and 2023 we decided to watch the tour in Columbia, SC. We always spent a little effort but it‘s more than worth. If Hootie will not show up in Germany we‘ll carry on watching the gigs somewhere in the world. Carry on guys you‘re great!

The show was great! The warmup bands, Edwin McCain and Collective Soul, were top-notch. Then Hootie showed that they are every bit as good as they ever were. The entire experience was almost worth the expense and the logistics it took for me, as someone with mobility issues, to get to and from handicapped parking and to and from my seat. I first saw Hootie for free when I was dining over 30 years ago at a tiny restaurant on South Main near the USC campus, and they came to set up and practice for a gig they were playing later that night. My friends and I thought "wow, this band is good!" So, we found out the name of the band and no one had ever heard of them yet. We later learned of them becoming friends and first playing together when living in a dorm while attending USC. For ten years they played in small venues up and down the eastern seaboard, practicing their craft and trying to break through. They became an "overnight" sensation when David Letterman heard them on the radio in his car and told his people to book them on his show. They were already scheduled for a show in Columbia that night so, not wanting to cancel and disappoint the hometown fans, they chartered a plane and did BOTH the New York Letterman appearance AND the Columbia, SC gig! The appearance on Letterman shot them into super stardom and never disappointing the fans kept them that way. They still never disappoint.

It’s was like being back in the 90’s in New Jersey wanting to be back in Chs and all I had was their music that reminded me of home. Everything sounded the same and everyone is looking fab. Will always love those guys! Darius voice has sooooooooooooooo much soul. Will always support them…

I've been waiting forever to see Hootie and the Blowfish in concert and they did not disappoint! They sound just like they do on their albums, they were energetic, and all around put on a great show! Collective Soul was their opening act and those guys still rock! It was full of nostalgia and good memories. It was well worth the money spent.

Southern Rock n Roll at its best. Could not have asked for a better show. So many memories of the past and for Van Zant and Medlock to carry this on and recognizing the past is an awesome fan experience. 50 years and thriving through it all Long Live Skynard Nation!!! 👆🤘

My review is over a year later, and I can tell you that this concert is still brought up as a highlight for me and my family. In fact, my kids are requesting to see Imagine Dragons again, and my daughter's Amazon wishlist is full of Imagine Dragons records for her new record player. The messages provided to my family through this concert have stayed with us over the year(s).

Janet Jackson: 4/25/23 “The Queen Of Pop herself or Ms. Janet (if you’re nasty) made her way to Colonial Life Arena in Columbia Tuesday for her 5th show of a 33 date tour. Wedged between dates in Birmingham and Atlanta the ‘Together Again’ tour (her 10th major tour) got her back on the road after Covid had caused her to cancel the Black Diamond World Tour back in 2020. Enthusiastic to finally see her for the first time I scored some good and reasonably priced lower bowl seats just behind the soundboard in December on the presale. To say that the 10th and youngest of the Jackson family comes with a musical legacy is simply an understatement. The 3rd greatest female all time and the ninth most successful act in rock and roll history according to Billboard charts is also the second most successful female artist in pop music history. With 11 studio albums (’82-’15) and 50 charted singles including 15 #1’s the evening was guaranteed to be fueled with plenty of hits. Upon arrival the stage was virtually concealed by a curtain until show time which would later come to reveal a rather simple set up. Far left were a platformed DJ station, guitar, and keyboards and far right a platformed drum kit (with JANET in pink on the drumhead), percussion and bass. At 7:35, 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time, DJ Infamous took the stage bringing the sold out crowd to their feet in anticipation of Janet’s opener Ludacris. With three giant video screens displaying the fiery logo ‘DTP’ for his record label ‘Disturbing The Peace’ a front the main performer’s stage length curtain, Christopher Brian Bridges ‘Ludacris’ got the night underway with a 45 minute set. The 45 year old American rapper from Champaign IL and former DJ at Atlanta's Hot 97.5 came into town with a lot of ‘E’s’ for energy, and equally for ‘expletives’ just as expected. He drew from a catalog of 8 studio albums (all in the 2000’s) with 34 charted singles and 4 #1’s. Chris worked the crowd, ‘I can already tell up-top is the livest side of the whole crowd, or maybe it’s everybody on the bottom row. What’s going on this side? Let’s take ‘em back to Atlanta Georgia DJ DTP, what do we do?’ With his DJ majorly hidden behind the left video screen Ludacris put on a show himself sporting GIANT Nike Air Force 1’s during the #1 ’Stand Up’ and at another point in the performance putting on a set of giant muscular arms to the muse of the crowd. There was the #1 ‘Money Maker’, along with ‘Welcome To Atlanta’ and plenty of ‘Are y’all ready to start the show’ shout-outs in between songs. He called out the local three digit codes for his 2001 #7 ‘Area Codes’, ‘It’s been a minute since I’ve been here, it’s a lot of 864’s and 843’s and ah 803’s in here tonight. Where the hell are my 803’s, make some noise.’ Ending the set a brief intermission bided the time, brief being the operative word as Jackson’s set was already prepared and the opener’s equipment needed only to be removed. At 8:47 the lights went down to the sounds of ‘Love Me’ as a photo slideshow of Janet’s life and career ’50 YEARS OF ME’ was broadcasted on the big screen culminating with a photo collage of her fans and a big ‘I LOVE YOU’ written in large letters. The curtain enfolded center inward and the 56 year old mother of one took the stage for a 1:45 hr / 40 song set beginning with ’04’s ‘Damita Jo’. The show separated into ‘Acts I, II, III, and IV had commenced! Jackson emerged in an all purple hooded cape on a circular mini-stage with video screens left and right and two dancers a top a platform above her also arrayed in purple. Next she exited a door in the rear while two additional dancers entered onstage below the platform —entering back in the entertainer showed up with her first wardrobe change, a gold shimmering body suit, gold knee high boots with a giant purple ribboned bow across her waist. Her custom look from designer Valentino and Christian Louboutin was the first of four wardrobe changes, one for each act. Rolling through eight songs non-stop the four dancers matched her in perfect choreography, the band being still hidden behind five moving video screens —up and down and side to side. The concert moved fast paced with pauses only during act changes each featuring laser shows with background sounds during the downtime. Enter Act 2 which included all six number ones from the ’86 breakthrough 10 million selling ‘Control’ album Anyone who has heard the all familiar ‘Control is just an illusion’ needs to know that although true, Janet Damita Jo Jackson may just be the exception! There was ‘What Have You Done For Me Lately’ with green and blue lasers and ‘Nasty’ where the same four dancers which performed all evening long came out wearing white jumpsuits and caps covering their faces up to their eyes with a diagonal black strip over their eyes to match her black and white top. Next was ‘The Pleasure Principle’ and ‘Because Of Love’ which was last performed LIVE back in 1995. She addressed the audience, ‘You remember this one, my first number one, I was just a baby’ and broke into a minute and forty-five second rendition of ‘When I Think of You’ transitioning into Herb Alpert’s ‘Diamonds’. Her transitions were the key in how she was able to skillfully place 40 songs in an 1:45 hour set. For ‘Control’ there were a set of white chairs placed center stage which the dancers used for props. A circular light rigging a top the stage raised, lowered and pivoted behind the singer for the balance of the act as she continued her classics such a ‘Let’s Wait Awhile’ performed as she sat on the stage singing under a triangle of pink and red laser light. During ‘I Get Lonely’ the now shirtless male dancers slid down poles from the upper platform for some of the evening’s most seductive moves. Enter Act 3 where the full band was finally revealed with a backdrop of six illuminated industrial rotating fans (3 on each side). Four larger boxes were positioned a front the band for the dancers as J.J. dressed in all pink revealed her best dance moves particularly during 2006’s ‘Do It 2 Me’. Her dancers were now wearing half orange/ half pink jackets with multi-colored plaid knee high trousers and white leggings underneath. In Act 4 Jackson came out in all black with a ‘Rhythm Nation’ shirt, the song itself being the highlight of the Act along with Michael Jackson’s ‘Scream’ where she sang along to video clips of the pop icon himself! As the evening wound to a close ’Together Again’ was the encore with Jackson leading a clap along, ‘How you guys doing?, come on, everyone clap, sing!’ Janet who carried herself with few words all evening long ended in a close of verbal appreciation to her fans, ‘Thank you so much, I hope you enjoyed the show …I love you so much… goodnight, thank you, I love you South Carolina, I love you so much, God bless, good night!’ Some haters gonna hate as social media posts have criticized the tour, particularly the aging performers dance moves and wardrobe, but the consensus I heard round about the arena rang true in a unanimous ‘She’s still got it!’ and I agree. Oh and by the way, a must be said, there were NO wardrobe malfunctions in Columbia South Carolina Tuesday evening!” Review and photo by DAve (Concert #771)

Maxwell, Anthony Hamilton, and Joe put on great show! Maxwell is one hell of a performer! Great energy, dancing lol, and vocals. I love how he interacted with the crowd. This was my first Maxwell show but definitely not the last. Oh yeah and I enjoyed the Meet and Greet. :-)

Enjoyed the concert. My granddaughter was standing for most of it. The music and showmanship of the band was excellent. It lasted @ 2 hours, but would have been fine if it had lasted longer. Would love to go to another one. I just need to buy the tickets before the scalpers buy them up at regular price and resale them for a huge profit. Venue seats @ 18,000 and only saw a few empty seats.

Grandson was opening for Imagine Dragons, and I loved every second of his performance. His energy was amazing and the messages he gave were beyond anything a normal artist would give. He played all the best hits, and even brought me to tears at one point with the moving words that were spoken in between songs. Thank you Grandson, for giving me the most spectacular first concert ever. I will never regret my ability to say that this was my first concert.

Exile is one of those dozen bands still touring that I haven’t seen and wanted to. They didn’t disappoint playing an abbreviated set but holding audience interest focusing on the vocals. It must have been a special night for them opening for Alabama in lieu of Charlie Daniels and Martina McBride, their first show of 2022 a sold out arena! Some of the critics on social media were not very kind with the replacement. I can’t help but know that they left with a matured appreciation of 50 years of music. A super-fun evening!

This was my second time seeing Alabama in the last three years and to be totally honest, I went to see Exile open. I learned one can never underestimate the power of Alabama. We celebrated Teddy’s birthday a day early with a filled and sold-out arena with a gleeful chorus despite the weather outside being frightful (a rare midland SC snow storm). Randy delivered great frontman interaction swapping hats with a fan and bringing a first concert youngster on the stage via security for a local round of applause. Highlights for me was hearing Gordon Mote’s lead vocals on “How Do You Fall In Love” and super musicianship by the band on “Orange Blossom Special”, both not expected to be on the set list. A great 3 year wait for the Colonial Life fans.

Wow! I went because RED was going to be there and the VIP ticket was only about $50. I was shocked to find out that there were actually about 12 bands there. All of the were great. The lighting and sound were Superb! But what really blew me away was the large screen at the back of the stage. They had a video camera that help zoom in on various band members so people way in the back could get a view as if front row. The video that played with the songs were expertly crafted, high quality, and many had the lyrics so everyone could sing along. Of course I only knew Red songs, but still... it was an amazing, very long show. I got early entry with my VIP ticket around 4:30, I think the show started around 5pm and went until 10pm, with various autographs sessions until 10:30z I’ll definitely try to make it next year. They said that Skillet has played Winterjam, and I like that band as well. Definitely the best $50 for 3rd row I’ve ever spent on a concert!

This was my first Ariana Grande concert and she did NOT disappoint. I have been a fan of hers since her Nickelodeon days and have been dying to see her and my dream finally came true. I had further away seats, but the view was still amazing and she put on a fabulous show. My mom was even impressed! I will definitely be going to another one if she goes on tour again in the near future.

Carrie did not disappoint!! I did have an issue with the security at the venue!!! There were 2 women in my party 1 is a P.A, The other is a Hospice nurse both thought I needed medical assistance however the staff treated me as if I was intoxicated, they were rude and Insensitive to my issue!! While I understand they do have to deal with those types is things! I had a reaction from something and have made arrangements to see my physician had I been having a serious medical issue things could have been horrible! I think they should be aware that not everyone is a drunk!!!!! And sometimes a medical issue can present in different ways!!!!!

The best concert I have been to period. I am very lucky to see this man perform one last time. My mom was my age during his prime and here I am now able to see him perform. She came along with me, she was able to finally see him after 49 years! Amazing!!

This show was just about as good as I expected. It was incredible! I have not seen him in 43 years. His Voice was awesome. Very strong and can still belt those great Ballads. My favorite was someone saved my life tonight. Will have such great memories! Thank you Elton!!

Absolutely LOVED it! My wife was so happy of her surprise early Christmas/birthday present. She cried during some of the songs, as it reminded her of her late mother. I was very happy to see her extremely happy to see the band she and her late mom were supposed to see together -which, in a way, she still did.