PatchU

Kent Stage Quietly Growing its Music Audience

Big-name acts draw crowds from afar

Since the Kent Stage opened in 2002, it has brought in a variety of well-known folk musicians to Kent. Booking acts from folk singer Joan Baez to musician Stephen Stills, the Kent Stage has become known among the folk circuit, Kent Stage booking agent Tom Simpson said. "We’re probably more famous in Nashville than we are in Kent,” Simpson said. “Within the music industry in New York and L.A., the major agencies all know who we are.” Folk music has become a focus for the venue because of its relationship with WKSU 89.7 FM, Kent State University’s local National Public Radio station, Simpson said. “WKSU had such a folk presence and they just fit naturally, that they were here and we were here and we could work together,” Simpson said. The …

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Todd Rundgren Show Fastest Sell-Out Ever at Kent Stage

Producer/songwriter will perform in Kent in May

The Kent Stage experienced its fastest sell-out ever when tickets went on sale for the Todd Rundgren show in May. The concert venue downtown sold all 642 tickets in about seven hours Monday. Rundgren's heavy piano and saxaphone riffs will headline the May 14 show. The spring show will mark the musician's third visit to Kent. In the 1970s Rundgren played two shows at Kent State University. The second fastest sell-out at the stage was for singer Brandi Carlile, but that ticket sale spanned more than one day. Click here for more information on Rundgren's 2013 tour dates.

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Sound Check

Rio Neon Serves Up Coffee Love

Party at Kent Stage on Sunday Celebrates New CD Release

Kent band Rio Neon is throwing a party this Sunday, and you're invited.  The reason for the celebration is the release of the group’s second CD, Coffee Love. At their concert this Sunday at the Kent Stage, the band will play the new effort in its entirety, along with other favorites and some holiday tunes. Rio Neon’s music incorporates elements of country, folk, swing, jazz and bluegrass. In other words, it’s a marketer’s nightmare.  The band simply refers to its sound as “folk jazz,” and that’s an apt moniker.  “It is hard to categorize what we do, and that’s both a blessing and a curse,” said Red Michel, guitarist and vocalist. “We go from Cab Calloway meets Ray Charles to the Eagles meets Manhattan Transfer. We’ve been compared to all …

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Election Night Watch Party at Kent Stage

Theater to host Democratic watch party for election starting at 7 p.m.

Local Democrats will be hosting an Election Day watch party Tuesday evening inside the Kent Stage in downtown Kent. The theater is opening its doors starting at 7 p.m. to air presidential race coverage on the stage's 30-foot movie screen. Beth Sadowski, the watch party's host, said she wanted to throw the watch party specifically for Democrats to celebrate all the hard work they've done in this latest election campaign. "And I honestly think they deserve to have a little of a celebration," Sadowski said. "We’re putting it on just so we can have a place where people cane come and congregate and celebrate all together." If Sadowski sounds confident that most Democrats, including President Barack Obama, will win on Tuesday, you're right. "I …

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Sandy Causes Delays at Kent Stage, Kent State

Kent Stage show rescheduled, Kent State changes lecture date due to hurricane

Local schedules encountered a few changes thanks to Hurricane Sandy. At the Kent Stage, the venue was forced to change its Little Feat concert originally set for tonight in downtown Kent. The Stage announced the change in an email to its followers. "Due to extreme the travel complications created by Hurricane Sandy, the first two dates of the Little Feat tour have been postponed," Kent Stage management wrote in an email. "The cancellation of thousands of flights made getting to the venues impossible. We are working with Little Feat's agency to confirm a new date. However, this process has been slowed by the storm-related closure of their (New York City) office." Tickets for tonight's show will be honored at the reschedule date, which has …

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Presidential Debate Takes Center Stage at Kent Stage

Music venue opens doors for public to watch final debate on foreign policy on 30-foot screen

The final presidential debate loomed larger than life for those who gathered at the Kent Stage to watch it on a 30-foot tall screen Monday night. The small crowd seemed to favor President Barack Obama, as those who came out to watch the debate responded often with applause or laughter when the president countermanded points made by his opponent Mitt Romney. Tell us, who do you think won last night's debate?

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Presidential Debate Watch Party at Kent Stage Monday

Theater will broadcast debate live on big screen

The Kent Stage will host a presidential debate viewing party Monday evening in downtown Kent.   The action will be larger than life as the TV image will be projected onto a 30 feet wide, 15 feet tall screen. Everyone is invited and admission is free. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the debate starts at 9 p.m. "The layout of the theater includes 253 seats on the left, 245 seats on the right and 72 in the center for the undecided," Kent Stage manager Tom Simpson said.  "Independents can sit in the balcony. If person changes their mind, they can move from one section to another. "Actually, a Kent Stage regular came up with this idea after the last debate and we felt it was a great idea," Simpson said. "We will have red and blue drink specials for …

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Arlo Guthrie Show Postponed at Kent Stage

Death of artist's wife pushes Kent show back to December

Fans of Arlo Guthrie who expected to see the folk singer perform at the Kent Stage Friday have to wait until December. The singer pushed back his performance schedule following the death of his wife, Jackie, at the age of 68. Jackie Guthrie had inoperable cancer and died Sunday, CBS News reported. "We regret that we must postpone Arlo Guthrie's appearance on (Friday)," management at the Kent Stage wrote in an email. "The Guthrie family is gathered together to share in their grief, as well as in their celebration of a remarkable woman." The show has been rescheduled to Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. Tickets for this Friday's show will be honored at the Dec. 5 show.

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Ghost Hunt Returns to Kent Stage

SIGHT of Ohio will lead exploration of haunted Kent buildings Saturday night

Ghost hunters both professional and just the curious return to the Kent Stage tonight for a late night of normal-paranormal activity. The Spiritual Insight Ghost Hunting Team of Ohio (SIGHT) will lead the annual progressive ghost hunt from 9 p.m. tonight to 3 a.m. Sunday morning at the theater. Laura Lyn, a psychic medium who leads investigations with SIGHT, said the two Kent buildings that are the focus of tonight's hunt — the Pufferbelly restaurant and the stage are full of spiritual energy. "We believe that this is actually normal presence," Lyn said. "They call it paranormal, but we feel that spirits are always among us." The hunt starts at the Pufferbelly with dessert and a tour of the building and its basement, where Lyn said much of…

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Sound Check

Todd Snider Brings Stoner Stories to Kent Stage

Sharp-witted troubadour invites audience to join in the fun

A few minutes into an interview with singer-songwriter Todd Snider, I got a good dose of the candid rambling style that makes his live shows so appealing. Recalling a very early gig at Kent State University, he tells of burning incense in the dressing room and being asked if it was marijuana. “I remember it like it was yesterday,” Snider joked, given that his memories of the gig are clearly quite hazy. Snider and his band the Burn Outs perform at the Kent Stage tonight at 8 p.m. Snider has carved out a niche as sort of a stoner/slacker alternative folk singer with a razor sharp wit, so it may come as a surprise to learn that Jimmy Buffet played a key role in his career. Snider was born in Portland, OR, and grew up in Atlanta, Houston, …

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