Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 2/15/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Kari Schneider Members of Little Big Town during their performance in Sheboygan.

Media Credit: Lori Sass

Media Credit: Lori Sass

Who says there's never anything good to do in Sheboygan?

Okay, well I may have uttered that phrase a couple times. After all, I have lived here my entire life.

However, thanks to Sheboygan's Downtown Rotary's Rotary Concert Series Thursday, Feb. 8 was a little different than most nights in the city.

Little Big Town, which was up for two Grammy's this past Sunday, took the stage at the Stefanie Weill Center on 8th Street.

While the auditorium did not sell out, the fans who were there took advantage of the great view of the stage and small, friendly atmosphere of the Weill Center. I was definitely one of those fans! I was in the sixth row with my mom and two of my friends.

Copper Box, a band from Oshkosh, opened for Little Big Town. The four person band got the audience ready for the main act.

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Little Big Town took the stage around 8:30 p.m. in the dark. Karen, Kimberly, Jimi and Phillip began a cappella and then the lights went up.

From that point on the entire show was high energy.

For the acoustic version of "Stay" they brought us back to the roots of Little Big Town: sitting in Kimberly's living room with only one guitar.

Calming the audience, we all took our seats. Well, all except for the two girls in the second row who felt it necessary to keep standing and take a million pictures of Jimi.

Several hits from their The Road to Here Album, released in 2005, were featured in the concert.

My number one favorite, as well as the rest of the crowd's, was "Boondocks." Jimi started the song by himself, a cappella. His voice brought the whole audience into the song.

As the other three band members joined in, so did the audience.

Another high-point of the concert was when Little Big Town sang "Go your own Way." Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac and Little Big Town had teamed up on CMT's show, Crossroads, in 2006. The way their four voices blended during this song was beautiful.

Following the concert the band was cheered back to the stage. For the encore they played the Eagles' "Heartache Tonight."

Little Big Town was as impressive live as they are on their albums.

Not one member upstages the other. They all have strong voices capable of leading the group.

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Sheboygan was Little Big Town's fourth concert in Wisconsin on their The Road to Here concert tour. They will make their fifth stop in the dairy state on Feb. 22 in Madison at the Alliant Energy Center.

On Sunday the group was up for Best Country Performance by a Group or Duo for "Boondocks" and Best Country Album for The Road to Here at the Grammy's.

If you caught a glimpse of them on the television, I hope you looked at Karen's and Kimberly's nails. The two of them got their "Grammy nails" done at a nail salon in Sheboygan last week before the concert.

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The Rotary Concert Series began in 2002, following the renovation of the Sheboygan Theatre which was completed in 2001.

The concert series is a fundraising program for the rotary.

"To date, the series has donated in excess of $80,000 [back into the community]," Mike Vandersteen, rotary member, said.

The rotary has committed "to contribute $45,000 to the Weill Center/Sheboygan Theatre over a five-year period," Vandersteen said.

Rotary has also donated thousands of dollars to other areas of the community, including Camp Y-Koda, Deland Park, Above & Beyond Children's Museum, student scholarships and to many other needs.

What's next for the Rotary Concert Series?

"We have to establish a track record of bringing in national touring acts," Vandersteen said. "This is the first country act that we have brought to the Weill Center."

According to Vandersteen, the Downtown Rotary is made up of mostly baby boomers. For that reason "a lot of the rock acts that we grew up with" are often featured in the series.

The rotary is currently looking for acts for next season. They have developed a good relationship with B 93.7 of Sheboygan and will consider another country act.

"Last season, we were trying to book a date with Sara Evans. Then her popularity took off and we could not afford to bring her into Sheboygan," Vandersteen said. "We also had made an offer to the Wreckers, but it did not fit in with their tour routing."

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