Newberry Opera House

The were absolutely amazing. They rocked the house and you can tell they have fun doing it!!

Ty Herndon: 2/24/24 My full review here: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10234151595037822&set=a.10229433691293177 Review and photo by DAve (Concert #859)

This is the third time we've seen James Gregory perform and he did not disappoint. He was hilarious! We laughed til we cried. An incredibly talented man! Opening act of Dan was also great! A must see show!

Great show!! He super funny!!! If you haven't seen him yet you are missing out!!

the best show ive been to ever . etta may put on the best comedy, she was a number 10

Great concert. Excellent music and great show. Joyce, Moses Mo, Glen were all on it. Rocking good time.

Tiffany: 5/2/23 “Well she was just seventeen …RECALCULATING… actually she was sixteen and I twenty-one when the California native released her first album back in 1987. Some 35 years later I picked my front row seat with the tap of a mouse for only $24 during a venue sponsored FLASH sale to see Tiffany LIVE in concert. With a deal in pocket this concert lover could not pass up I set out to re-listen to the eponymous quadruple platinum release as well as her 2022 ‘Shadows’. ‘The Shadows Tour’ billed ‘A UV Pop Art Show’ promised to deliver a much more refined or mature (if you will) offering after ‘all this time’! With 11 studio albums (’87-’22) and 12 charted singles the singer/songwriter who started out country has recorded in most every contemporary genre: Pop, Freestyle, Rock, Dance, New Jack Swing, Country, and Electronica. The latest release is ‘rock’, —all rock— with a ballad or two mixed in for good measure. Butted right up against the stage front row I could see everything in detail from R to L: Lead guitar, drum kit with TIFFANY LOGO on the drumhead, bass and rhythm guitar. A ‘Tiffany’ black backdrop written in cut and paste letters was in the background, there were no video screens.The band used Blackstar and Orange amplifiers. At 8:15 Tiffany Renee Darwish 51 came out heavy-hitting with the ninth cut off her recent release ‘Keep On Swinging’. It didn’t stop there, turned out that half of the evening’s material —seven of fourteen songs were taken from that album. I’m glad I familiarized myself with it in advance. Dressed in a black leather jacket, black top, silver chained skirt, torn fishnet stockings with studded boots, the red haired rocker is not your grandmother’s Tiffany! It was likely not the same Tiffany that an audience of ‘all grown up now’ mall fans were accustomed to either. The band was something I took notice of immediately, noting to myself they did not seem like your ‘average joes’. It turns out that two of them are also present members of L.A Guns! After moving through the first three songs she addressed the audience stating that she could hear us but could only see the first couple rows. That was understandable as the entire vibe was that of a dimly lit and heavy on the spotlight club show. It may have turned in both the artist and the audience’s advantages as there were a number of open seat vacancies including a near entire empty balcony. ‘I’m gonna make you work, you didn’t know you were coming to work right? You gotta sing, you gotta dance, have some fun, party out with us. You guys up for it? Come on South Cackalacky!’ The band introductions came just prior to one of the albums ballads, ‘You’re My Everything’. The four person band was composed of Oliver & Mark Alberici on guitars (Mark being a former sound engineer for ‘Big Country’ —remember them?), Johnny Martin on bass (L.A. Guns), and Scot Coogan (also of L.A. Guns) on drums. All were mic’ed up and provided great harmonies, particularly Scot as he drummed and sang simultaneously. The trip down memory lane was reserved for the second half of the performance as she called out ‘Where’s my singers?’ for 1988’s number ten ‘All This Time’. She walked over to the lower opera boxes which connect directly to the stage to sing to the lucky fans on the right side. With a pause she noticed a strong voice coming from a gentleman in the second row of the orchestra section almost immediately behind me. Walking immediately in front of me and extending the microphone to the gentleman they finished the balance of the song together in absolute perfect harmony. Identifying himself only as ‘Big Mike’ he reminisced, ‘You were sixteen, I was fourteen.’ On Tiffany’s return to the stage she reflected emphatically ‘That was a magical moment for me!’ Next with a ‘I know you know this one, sing along and have some fun’ came 1987’s ‘I Saw Him Standing There’. The band was having themselves a blast performing the Lennon-McCartney classic. On 1987’s #1, perhaps the best song of the evening vocally she noted, ‘The label didn’t want me to record this when I was fourteen cause it was too adult… it’s my favorite song I ever recorded’ —Could’ve Been. With a call for everyone to get on their feet, sing, dance and clap the evening ended with her first number one ‘I Think We're Alone Now’. The children, now adults finally behaved. Tiffany summarized the evening, ‘I love local theater, I love community, so this place is enchanting and I want to come back, thank you again for having me here tonight.’ As she left the stage I got a fist bump from guitarist Mark Alberici as the band stayed on to shake hands and jam! Kudos to tour manager Garret Lauer who auctioned off three guitars along with a hand painted jacket by Tiffany on stage immediately after the show all to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network. Of the five concerts and seven artists I’ve seen this week I think I enjoyed this one most primarily due to my seat and secondarily to the element of surprise!” Review and photo by DAve (Concert #777)

I have seen ALOT of music in my 67 years on this planet and have yet to see a humble human put SO much energy into his work. Still beaming 24 Hrs later. A TRUE master at work with a superb compliment of talented associates. I will not forget this for a long time. Hail Tab, you were nothing short of awesome 👏

Great venue, great show, so glad Tab is willing to play smaller halls. Never been to a bad Tab show, this was no exception.

The Verve Pipe 4/14/23 “With 4 easy steps (Like. Tag. Comment. Share.) and a little luck I secured two #TicketTuesday winning seats to see The Verve Pipe LIVE in Newberry South Carolina. The 90’s alternative rock band from Michigan (not to be confused with the English band of the same name —minus the ‘pipe’ i.e. 97’s ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’) made a trek to the 426 seat Opera House for a 1:45 hour / 19 song set Friday evening. During their 29 year/7 studio album (plus two children’s albums) career with seven singles released the band is majorly known for ‘The Freshmen’ which topped out at #1 on the Alternative Chart in 1997. The present line-up includes brothers and founding members since ’92 Brian (vocals/guitar) and Brad (bass) Vander Ark, Lou Musa since ’09 (lead guitar), Randy ‘Reckless’ Sly since ’10 (keyboards), and Channing Lee since ’14 (vocals). Not being familiar with a whole lot more than ‘the essentials’ plus their newest album I wasn’t sure what to expect setting into engagement my element of surprise reflexes. I half expected based on old set lists found online a number of covers which is not what we got and I was actually surprised at the number of songs of theirs I did know. The stop for the band midway between shows in Atlanta and North Carolina for whatever reason was not a big attention drawer. I counted the amount of tickets sold on the map at noon and there were only 97 seats taken, by showtime it had filled in somewhat. Stopping at the stage before settling into my 8th row center seat I took in a close up view of the arrangement from L to R: bass, drums on a mini-platform (Gretsch), guitar and main vocals, keyboards (Korg CX-3 Roland RD-8), lead guitars. Each of the guitars and bass had their own amps of separate manufacturers: Ampeg - Fender Deluxe - Marshall. At 8:06 p.m. the band came on stage opening with ’No One’s Gonna Break My Heart’ from the new album. It took all but one song to get a large taste of the incredibly tight harmonies I was to be treated to all evening long. Brian addressed the Newberry faithful, ‘How we doing, ah a beautiful place I’ve not been to. I love it, thank you.’ Next was ‘I Want All Of You’ one of a total of 5 songs from ’01’s ‘Underneath’ album. ‘Penny Is Poison’ was the first of 6 performed from their ’96 platinum album ‘Villains’ followed by their #6 ‘Photograph’, #35 ‘Cup Of Tea’, and ‘Veneer’ all from the same album. Lou hammered the opening chords of Penny on the telecaster with a drumstick as Sly on keys video recorded it. On ‘Photograph’ the band showcased some skillful feedback on their respective amps as each front member bent down letting the individual sounds resonate. Channing who wasn’t in the original band line-up left the stage quietly in humble fashion as the core took on most of the songs from the early years by themselves. There was ‘Hero’ and ‘Love Isn’t Love’ the later tastefully featured Brad, Lou and Channing harmonizing around a single mic while Brian carried the lead alone. Randy ‘Reckless’ Sly (so named because he insists on never playing the same thing twice on the keyboards) stood alone on the instrumentation. Channing took on the lead next, ‘I’m going to ask all the men to leave the stage, is it okay? Lets have a moment alone with all of you right now, okay good’. With that she proceeded to lay down the backing tracks for her a capella ‘Bridges Are Burning’ from her Channing & Quinn days. A ‘ha ha ha ha’ (4X) and a ‘bum bum bum bum’ (4X) on the looper and she began the sheer masterpiece! She also was showcased next on ‘Medicate Myself’ first on tambourine as the instrument was tossed across stage to her, and then on vocals in Pink Floyd’s ‘Great Gig’ fashion —simply haunting! Brian began singing Kansas’ ‘Carry On Wayward Son’ but running into difficulties with the lyrics he discarded the balance of the song in lieu of his own #20 ‘Never Let You Down’. Winding things up Brian again addressed the crowd, ‘The Opera House is an amazing place, the people here have all been fantastic, we thank you so much I appreciate you’ with which he intro’d their number one ‘The Freshmen’. The song had everyone singing along to the all familiar line ‘can’t be held responsible’. Following were an impressive cover of David Bowie’s 1971 art rock parody of Frank Sinatra's My Way ‘Life On Mars’ and their own ‘Happiness Is’ with band member introductions. Channing in true Channing fashion broke into an impromptu chorus of Alanis Morissette’s ‘You Oughta Know’ mid-song during ‘Happiness’. The encore was phenomenal, first was ‘Found’ from the new album which was performed entirely without amplification, half the song sung stage right and half stage left, ‘Can I walk into a solo?’ —Brian ‘You can walk… sound’s pretty good’ —Channing. I had once before witnessed an entirely unamplified song in the same Opera House with Ernie Hasse, the venue itself is amazing enough to support it unobjectionably. The song itself is eerily familiar to Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘The Boxer’ and ‘Homeward Bound’, later come to find out that the Central Park album is one of Channing’s most influential albums. Channing has proven herself 100% an integral part of the line up with her indie-folk roots complementing the six person band entirely. Ending the evening was a rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ with all members on backing vocals that would rival any tribute or cover band —and win out by a long stretch! With Brian announcing that about 10 minutes after they left the stage they’d be in the lobby signing anything we had, I made my way out quickly and was afforded the opportunity to greet each of them separately. How cool was that! I mentioned to each that it was my 767th lifetime concert and first time seeing The Verve Pipe. We talked of how the next day a Fleetwood Mac tribute band wold be playing a near sell out at the same Opera House and that those folks would never hear ‘The Chain’ like we heard ‘The Chain’ this evening! After thanking them for booking a date in Nowheresville, South Carolina they each signed a CD for me. In summary, TVP continues to bring live performances perfectly matching the very meaning of their name [Verve: 1. vigor and energy, as in movement, portrayal, 2. exuberant enthusiasm, spirit, dash]. A concert ticket price is well-worth any music or concert lover’s investment as well is giving ‘Threads’, the newest album a couple check-it-out spins. With a listen, lather, and repeat, the power of the pipe just may procure you as it did me!” Review and photo by DAve (Concert #767)

I love Paul Thorn. He is so delightful. He hangs out with his fans and makes everyone feel like old friends. An entertainer in every sense of the word. Wish there were more like him. The world would be a much better place!

Nothing beats an evening with Chloe. You would think the shows couldn’t get more amazing, but here she comes with something even more memorable. The Newberry Opera House was a beautiful location.

Always a great show with James Gregory. I always leave with a sore belly from laughing 😂 . Newberry Opera House is an awesome venue. Plenty of places nearby to visit nearby.

Keb and the band put on a great show as usual despite the “big bat” circling the stage. The Brother Brothers performed a pleasing bluegrassy folk set to warm things up and a surprise appearance by Eric Gales topped the night off. Eric blows my mind as a left handed guitarist playing a right handed guitar both upside down and backwards. I learned after the show that he’s not even left handed! Newberry has a great thing going with the Opera House and their quaint downtown. We’ll done.

I commented to a friend the morning after the show that there was probably the most musical talent on one stage that I’ve seen in over 550 lifetime concerts! Bluegrass is not my genre but I can appreciate good music when I hear it. The band interacted well with the audience and it was nice to see Ricky outside the front of the venue prior to showtime!

I finally got to see Boney LIVE in South Carolina after following him for years up in New England! Great band, energetic, diverse, comp tickets, great venue! It would have been perfect if it weren’t for COVID and Boney would have perused the venue the way artists typically do there!

I don’t often attend Southern Gospel concerts but when I do it’s Ernie Hasse! Signature Sound’s great LIVE esp. in the front row. Great interaction with the audience. Nice to walk in and see Ernie out in the Lobby with the fans prior to the show. Newberry Opera House and Ernie+ you’re both class acts!

The best bluegrass I have ever seen, so tight and dynamic and fun! Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder are top-notch! Jake Workman on guitar was unbelievable in particular. Hope to see them play many more times! Tickets were pricey, but absolutely worth it - I would have paid more, for the quality of the musical show I got to see!

It doesn't matter how many times I've seen these guys perform, they are wonderful! Fantastic entertainment from beginning to end! They put a smile on my face and a tap in my toes! They deserve every accolade they have, and then some!!

The Dailey and Vincent concert was GREAT as always. Love. Love, love those guys and the awesome music they provide! Bring them more often please.