’90s stars kick up concert rush

Nancy Wilson is a morning radio personality for K99.1-FM.


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Luke Bryan is coming to Cincinnati.

The Georgia native is the hottest act going in country music these days and will be at Paul Brown Stadium on July 18 with the blazing hot duo Florida Georgia Line, the getting hotter Thomas Rhett and Randy Houser and the getting warmer Dustin Lynch.

Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday, March 13, at 10 a.m. Will it sell out? During football season, over 65,000 Bengals’ fans fill the seats. With concert setups a bit different, expect close to 70,000 people to snatch those tickets up in a matter of minutes. Last year, Luke sold out not one, but two shows at Riverbend Music Center in less than 10 minutes.

Before you think it’s only the young and swivel-hipped who are putting butts in the seats as they shake theirs: Veteran Garth Brooks has returned to the concert circuit after a 17-year hiatus. The announcement of his tour dates has been highly anticipated events. He and wife Trisha Yearwood have consistently sold out multiple dates in Louisville, Ky.; Atlanta; Portland and Buffalo, just to name a few.

Shania Twain announced her farewell tour last week after a long residency in Las Vegas. The woman who’s belly button dominated country in the ’90s is kicking off the Rock This Country tour in June in Seattle and will visit close to 50 cities before the dates wrap up in August. Shania’s camp has already said she’ll be adding dates, and if Cher’s “farewell” tour was any indication, Shania may be back more than once.

When Fraze Pavilion in Kettering announced earlier this winter country queen Reba McEntire would be there in August, the buzz was so loud, it was audible. In this day and age of computers and social media, nobody stands in line or even calls on the phone for tickets anymore. But Reba fans old-schooled it up, camping out in their cars and waiting in line in for tickets to go on sale at 9 a.m. last Saturday. How’d that work out? The show sold out in hours.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the convenience of the modern era, but I do miss the thrill of the old days, where sleeping outside the ticket office actually meant you had a shot at closer seats.

Reba can be proud to know when she comes to the Miami Valley she’ll be greeted by 4,000 fans who did the work the old-fashioned way but who’ll also be watching her show waving their cellphone “lighters!”

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