Tonight at the Wiregrass Arena in Nicholls, a significant concert event was supposed to take place. Headlined by award-winning and chart-topping country group Shenandoah, the lineup also featured Whosoever South, Douglas’s own Derrick Flowers, and Daniel Johnson.
Yesterday, however, promoter Outback Entertainment posted a statement on its Facebook page that the concert had been cancelled and refunds on advance ticket sales would begin to be distributed “in 2-3 business days.” The event had been controversial from the time the concert was announced. Many people familiar with Outback Entertainment did not believe the event would ever take place and a number of lively discussions took place throughout the summer discussing that very fact.
In spite of Outback’s detractors, it appeared as though the event would in fact happen. Until this week. (DouglasNow will be exploring exactly what happened and Outback’s track record with past concerts in a future story.)
The other bands on the bill are trying to make up for the cancellation as best as they can. A concert will still take place tonight at Wiregrass beginning at 8 p.m. Shenandoah isn’t going to be there but Whosoever South and Derrick Flowers will be. Friday morning, Rowdy Eunice, Whosover South’s vocalist, reiterated his commitment to fulfill his band’s obligation to perform in Coffee County – free of charge. “Somebody dropped the ball somewhere so the promoter pulled the plug on the event. And we decided that regardless, if we’ve got to go to Nicholls and set up in a parking lot somewhere, we’re bringing Whosoever South. We’re coming to see our people,” he said.
Eunice said that he decided to turn the concert into a free event. “We’ve got people from other states just showing up to be a part of this movement. We just decided to move forward. So we turned it into a free event. We’re inviting people to bring chairs, their coolers, and have a good time,” said Eunice.
Eunice assured his fans that the event is going to be a good one. “I feel like good people stick with good people. If you come out tonight, you’re going to hear some great music. It’s a family event. Bring your kids, your mom, your grandma, everybody. We’re going to have fun,” he said.
There are a lot of hurt feelings, questions, and uncertainty around what will happen in the wake of Outback cancelling the Shenandoah show. But at least the other artists are taking care of the fans, the ones who shelled out their money for a ticket, and aren’t sure if they’ll get it back. The best artists have a connection with their fans and they understand that. Tonight at the Nicholls arena, fans and the artists alike will experience that connection in a way that they wouldn’t have had the concert gone off as planned. It’s not the outcome the bands wanted. But Eunice and his bandmates feel like it will work out in the end. “I try to live positively. I think you can always find good in any situation. And sometimes it’s hard and you gotta look hard. But I feel that there’s always a blessing hiding somewhere. So in this particular situation that seemed to be falling all apart and things weren’t working like they should, I felt like the obligation to us was to stand up for our fans and for our people and the people who have already committed to be a part of the Whosoever South family,” he said
The concert with the revamped lineup begins at 8 p.m. tonight at the Wiregrass Arena in Nicholls. All are invited to attend.