Preview: Tour De Compadres

November 4, 2016

This is the concert event many of you have been waiting for! Student Activities is thrilled to be the final stop of the Tour De Compadres featuring NEEDTOBREATHE, Mat Kearney, Parachute, and Welshly Arms, taking place on Saturday, November 12 at 7:30 PM in the Vines Center. If, by the time you read this, you still need a ticket, here is what you need to know:

  • Only General Admission tickets remain
  • $16 for Students ($26 at the door)
  • $21 for general public ($31 at the door)

You can purchase tickets on our website (www.liberty.edu/sa) on the “Tickets” tab at the top of the screen. Just choose the ticket type that is right for you.

NEEDTOBREATHE has been a part of Student Activities and Liberty University for quite some time now. They performed here for the first time in 2009 and have been back several times since then, but none of those appearances have been as big as it will be with the Tour De Compadres. The first Tour De Compadres set a high standard for any successive versions as it featured, among others, Switchfoot and Ben Rector, artists that have no problem standing on their own. The Tour was such a great idea and big success, that it earned a sequel, the Tour De Compadres Dos, presumably, and it seems safe to assume that there will be many more sequels in years to come.

For NTB, this tour is all about their latest release, HARDLOVE (released July 15 of this year), their highest charting album yet; it debuted at #2 on Billboard’s Top 200, and was the top selling album the week of its release*. It has been a steady climb for them in their 15-ish year career, but certainly a difficult one, something Bear & co. talked about in greater detail in the process of making their last album, Rivers in the Wasteland**. That difficulty is reflected in the three opening tracks of their latest release. “Mountain, Pt. 1”, the title track, and even “Money & Fame” reveal in increasingly specific ways the struggles they face. Fans have always been drawn to their talent and sound, but their willingness to be vulnerable is their most endearing characteristic and something that will protect their songs from shifts in musical fads and fashions. In terms of overall sound, the latest album bends away from their brand of southern rock/pop a bit more than previous albums, leaning into obvious influence from R&B and soul, heard especially in tracks like the aforementioned “Money & Fame”, “When I Sing”, and “Happiness”. There are still plenty of the foot-stomping tracks that have been somewhat of their signature sound, as well as a couple of quite romantic ballads in “Let’s Stay Home Tonight” and “Clear”. Overall, HARDLOVE can only add to their appeal, but without losing the heart of what has gotten them this far. They are a band that is always looking for that “crack in the door filled with light” as they sang in “Wasteland”, and that hope shines through as a defining characteristic of their music.

As if they are not enough on their own, the Tour De Compadres also brings one of the artists we have received requests for most: Mat Kearney. To top it off, the show will kick off with Welshly Arms and their blues rock sound and Charlottesville’s own Parachute, who has established quite a following of their own. You get them all in one great night on the last show of this Tour De Compadres.

Check out all the details at www.liberty.edu/sa. If you have any questions, email us: studentactivities@liberty.edu.

*http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/7446707/drake-views-no-1-billboard-200-11th-week

**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7jbqxruhZ