Live music ramps up in Macon as Hargray Capitol Theatre plans reopening

Two tribute bands play in town Saturday offering fans the chance to hear some extraordinary music live.

Purple Madness plays the Society Garden at 8:30 p.m. paying tribute to Prince — you probably guessed that — and End of the Line is at the Hargray Capitol Theatre at 8 p.m. doing Allman Brothers Band tunes spanning the Brothers’ long history.

The bad news is tickets sold out early for Bobby Miller’s Prince Purple Madness Tribute Show at Society Garden.

Sorry.

But it’s good news that bands are getting back on the road more and more and into venues where COVID-19 kept stage lights dark too long. As a premier music hall, it’s good news the Hargray Capitol is back this month even at limited capacities after a rocky 14-month shutdown. True, there’s been music around at smaller clubs and the Society Garden’s done great things since it was able to reopen last August because it’s an outdoor venue — but the fact the Hargray Capitol is ramping back up says something.

General manager Hubble Beasley said keeping capacities down to 200 to 300 people allows lots of space and paying close attention to maintain and surpass changing health guidelines is a priority for keeping audience members, bands and staff safe. During this vaccinated/non-vaccinated season, masking-up is encouraged if not required.

Beasley said there’s not a concert scheduled next weekend, the last weekend in May, but the first weekend in June Rumors will play, a Fleetwood Mac tribute band, and the second weekend local band Parts & Labor is having an album release party. On June 14 Chris Roberts is set to appear.

“That’s basically our announced calendar for now but we’re working to book bands and re-book some we had to cancel,” he said. “It’s been great getting going again and nice seeing more and more people downtown getting things a little bit back to normal. Before COVID we were doing around 100 concerts a year bringing in strong regional and other groups and we hope to be back to that number by the fall.”

Beasley said he’s particularly happy the venue is able to bring back all its employees and once again provide entertainment for locals plus bring in tourists to Macon-Bibb. He said the Hargray Capitol typically sold 25,000 tickets a year and 50 to 60% of those were bought by people outside the city.

As for End of the Line, bass player Casey Conway said in a phone interview the group has played in Macon twice before: once at a Macon Bacon after-game concert and once at a private party at The Big House, the Allman Brothers Band museum on Vineville Avenue.

“But this is the first actual headlining concert we’ve booked so we’re happy about that and about coming to Macon for obvious reasons,” he said. “One of the biggest compliments we get is from people who say they’ve seen the Allman Brothers Band many times and that if they close their eyes when we’re playing it’s like they’re hearing them all over.

“I think that’s because while we know all the notes and the material, what we really shoot for is staying true to the spirit of the Brothers in our solos and jams and feeding off the audience’s energy. We take that seriously because that’s so much of what made the Allman Brothers great. But being in Macon, I guess that’s the most critical audience you can have as far as people knowing what’s what. It’s kind of like we’re playing Mecca.”

Those going to the show who are dedicated to all things Allman Brothers won’t be wrong if they think one of End of the Line’s guitarists looks familiar. Adam Gorman is from Macon and has played at the annual Skydog Festival for years, the music event honoring Duane Allman which also collects canned goods for charity.

Gorman typically played the Duane Allman parts in the festival’s stage band but in End of the Line he leans more toward doing Dickey Betts sections on early numbers.

Gorman said he started playing in bands while a kid at First Presbyterian Day School where, in sixth grade, he made friends with another budding guitarist, Hughes Taylor, who also draws from blues-rock music of the late-1960s and 1970s.

Taylor will play the Society Garden June 18.

“I cut my teeth learning guitar in Macon, rehearsing in Grant’s Lounge and all that,” Gorman said. “I left after school and went to the Berkley College of Music to study audio engineering. After that, it was Nashville working in sound and playing. This band is about five years old and we’ve had time to polish it and get everything right.

“It’ll be cool being back in Macon and as opposed to other trips there we’ll have time for me to show the band some of the sites: eat at The H&H where the Allman Brothers had so many meals thanks to Mama Louise, see Rose Hill Cemetery, Capricorn Studios, Grant’s, The Big House and other spots. I’m looking forward to doing that and then us getting in front of a Macon audience with these songs.”

The show is $15 with ticketing and other information at www.hargraycapitoltheatre.com.

Keep in touch with the Society Garden at www.thesocietygarden.com.

If you’re looking for something completely different for the weekend, visit Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park for the afternoon Sunday and take in a free, 15-minute “patio talk” at their outdoor classroom by the visitor center parking lot. A ranger will discuss the park’s wildlife, natural resources and cultural history. Information is at www.facebook.com/ocmulgeemoundsnps.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.