Country Stars Lady Antebellum Plays Only Chi-Area Summer Concert, 8/7

Since its 2006 inception, seven-time Grammy award-winning trio Lady Antebellum has shot to fame, becoming country music's most influential contemporary group.

On Thursday, August 7, the harmony-based trio - Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood - winners of Vocal Group of the Year from both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music three times in a row - will play their only Chicago-area concert this summer at Aurora's new RiverEdge Park.

In addition to performing their favorite hits, "Lady A" is touring this summer on the heels of the debut of their rousing, getting-over-an-ex anthem "Bartender," the first single from their upcoming fifth studio album slated for release this fall.

RiverEdge will open for Lady Antebellum at 6 p.m. The concert begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are only $45 if purchased before August 1. Tickets are $55 starting August 1.

To purchase, go to RiverEdgeAurora.com, call the RiverEdge box office, (630) 896-6666, or visit RiverEdge's satellite box office, the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday-Saturday.

More about Lady Antebellum

Lady Antebellum has already released eight gold singles, with four - "American Honey," "Need You Now," "Just A Kiss" and "I Run To You" - surpassing the platinum mark. "Need You Now" went on to sell over seven million downloads, and claimed five of the trio's seven career Grammy wins in 2011, including the all-genre Record and Song of the Year.

The trio, founded in Nashville in 2006, is composed of Hillary Scott (lead vocals), Charles Kelley (lead vocals) and Dave Haywood (background vocals, guitar, piano and mandolin.) Their meteoric success was achieved through a fragile balance of several key pieces, each of which helps define Lady Antebellum's sound: ingratiating melodies, the interplay between Kelley's soulful male resonance and Scott's scintillating female texture, the threesome's bittersweet harmonic blend, and production elements that invariably emphasize the stylistic inclusiveness of modern country.

That sound has catapulted Lady A to an enviable level of popularity. The band has picked up an audience well beyond the typical country core listener, hitting the road playing arenas and stadiums, and performing on all the major television shows, including Saturday Night Live, Oprah, The Grammys, The Voice and most every other daytime and late night program on network television.

Most recently, the trio debuted "Bartender," their first single from their upcoming fifth studio album, on the season finale of American Idol on May 21. Their second performance of "Bartender," live on the CMT Music Awards on June 4, was hailed by Rolling Stone as a "standout" of that broadcast.

Speaking about "Bartender," Hillary Scott has said "I love this song because there's something empowering about not going for the rebound or just moping around over a guy. There are those times in your life when you need to feel sorry for yourself and be sad, but this song is all about hitting the dance floor with your girlfriends and just forgetting him."

At a press conference earlier this month at the CMA Music Festival, Charles Kelley added "I think for us, 'Bartender' is by far the most kind of fun, up-tempo record we've ever made. I think we always set out to do that and for some reason we've always kind of strayed off into the ballad/mid-tempo world, but we stuck to it with this album."

To learn more about Lady A, visit LadyAntebellum.com.

Lady Antebellum at RiverEdge Park is sponsored by The Dunham Fund, Gerald Nissan Naperville and Comfort Suites-Geneva.

Reminder to Chicago-area country fans: Jennifer Nettles, Indigo Girls and Brandy Clark playing RiverEdge on August 29

RiverEdge Park is a major destination for live country music in August. In addition to Lady Antebellum, RiverEdge presents the exclusive Chicago-area summer engagement of the That Girl Tour featuring Jennifer Nettles, the Indigo Girls and Brandy Clark on Friday, August 29. The park opens for the That Girl Tour at 5:30 p.m. Concert starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $40. To purchase, go to RiverEdgeAurora.com, call the RiverEdge box office, (630) 896-6666, or visit RiverEdge's satellite box office, the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday-Saturday.

About RiverEdge Park

Chicago and Chicago's western suburbs have a beautiful, new outdoor concert venue to enjoy after last summer's grand opening of the new RiverEdge Park in downtown Aurora - Illinois' second largest city.

In addition to the That Girl Tour, national acts playing RiverEdge this summer include 18th Annual Blues on the Fox headliners Jimmie Vaughan, Los Lonely Boys and Taj Mahal (June 27 & 28), Lee DeWyze and 10,000 Maniacs (July 5), Under the Sun Tour with Sugar Ray, Blues Traveler and Uncle Kracker (July 6), Lady Antebellum (August 7), Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland (August 29) with one more major concert TBA.

Aurora's popular Downtown Alive! outdoor music series presents American English for only $3 on August 1.
Community festivals also will attract all ages to downtown Aurora including Aurora's Fourth of July Celebration, the Aurora Puerto Rican Heritage Festival (July 26 & 27), the Fox Valley Irish Festival (August 2) and Roots Aurora (August 31).

RiverEdge Park is inspired by outdoor entertainment facilities in Chicago's Millennium Park and Northerly Island, and Milwaukee's Summerfest. Anchored by the striking John C. Dunham performance pavilion, RiverEdge features 30 acres of beautiful riverfront grounds, state-of-the-art acoustics and lighting, and a full array of concessions. RiverEdge has a capacity of 8,500.

Anyone who has been knows RiverEdge is clean, staffed with friendly people and is easy to get to. RiverEdge Park is accessible via Metra's Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) line. Paid public parking is available in the Metra lot, additional private lots surrounding the park and in downtown Aurora just a few blocks from RiverEdge.

All events at RiverEdge are general admission. There will be limited bench seating on and event-by-event basis at RiverEdge in 2014. Guests are encouraged to bring folding bag chairs (shoulder height) or blankets. Some shows like Lady Antebellum and Jennifer Nettles will have standing room only in front of the stage with a designated area for chairs or blankets behind the sound tower. Visit RiverEdgeAurora.com for specifics about each performance.

Food and drink are available for purchase inside RiverEdge Park. No outside food or drink (except sealed water bottles) are allowed in the park. RiverEdge concessions offer a diversified menu from official food vendor Two Brothers Roundhouse, along with a bar featuring domestic and craft beers, wine, sodas, bottled water and more. A busy row of festival food vendors also set up tents to sell everything from hot dogs to funnel cakes.

Events take place at RiverEdge rain or shine, unless conditions endanger the safety of artists and the public. Concertgoers are advised to call the RiverEdge Park Weather Line, (630) 723-2480, to check status if inclement weather is pending.

The 2014 RiverEdge Season is sponsored by The Dunham Fund, City of Aurora and Paramount Arts Center Endowment (PACE).

RiverEdge Park is managed and programmed by the Aurora Civic Center Authority (ACCA), which also oversees operations for Aurora's historic Paramount Theatre. Under the guidance of President and CEO Tim Rater, ACCA has a proven track record of attracting audiences to downtown Aurora, with first-year attendance at RiverEdge estimated at 100,000, and annual attendance at the Paramount Theatre having grown from 55,000 in 2010, to more than 250,000 for the recent 2013-2014 season.

For more information, visit RiverEdgeAurora.com or call the RiverEdge box office, (630) 896-6666.

To post a comment, you must register and login.