Concert Promoter Kevin Lyman Apologizes For Country Throwdown's Dallas Cancellation, But The Eli Young Band Actually Does Something About It.

By Pete Freedman Fri., Jun. 4 2010 at 8:20 AM

The above, poorly-lit clip finds concert promoter Kevin Lyman (he of Warped Tour creation fame) apologizing to the music fans in Dallas, Houston, San Diego and Phoenix for the fact that, due to low ticket sales, scheduled stops from his new Country Throwdown tour, which features Montgomery Gentry, Jamey Johnson, SMU alum Jack Ingram, Little Big Town, Denton's own Eli Young Band and others, have been canceled.

It's a nice sentiment, I guess, and perhaps some nice insight into the problems of concert promotion in today's supersaturated markets. But, mostly, it's just a confirmation of disappointment for area country music fans who were excited for the tour's scheduled stop at Superpages.com Center on Thursday, June 10--because, let's face it, there's no make-up date coming.

But, wait, might there be a sign of hope coming down the pipe? Yes, turns out. Re-enter the Eli Young Band. The Denton-based product, upset that its hometown fans will be missing a chance to see them perform next week, has scheduled its own personal make-up date already. On Friday, June 11, the band will pop out of the Country Throwdown's tour routing and play an area show regardless, performing at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie. And it's significantly cheaper than the Throwdown's offering, too: Tickets at the door on Friday are just $5 for patrons who enter the park before 9 p.m. And, even after 9, they're just $15--cheaper than even the lawn seats would've cost at the Throwndown's Superpages.com Center stop (where they would've cost $21).

Say what you want about Eli Young Band's surprisingly Nashville-ish sound, despite its Denton roots. That's a stand-up move right there.