Hootie & the Blowfish to play multiple shows at music festival, but it won’t be in SC
Hootie & the Blowfish is getting back together for multiple concerts. But the shows scheduled for January 2022 won’t be anywhere near the band’s native South Carolina.
The music group that formed when its members were students at the University of South Carolina is headlining a music festival dubbed HootieFest: The Big Splash.
Hootie & the Blowfish will play three shows during the four-day event in Cancun, Mexico.
The destination concert vacation event will be held at Moon Palace Cancun from Jan. 26-29, 2022.
Fans interested in seeing Hootie & the Blowfish members — Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker and Jim ‘Soni’ Sonefeld — take the stage for the live performances will need to buy more than a ticket to the concert. The packages also include “all-inclusive resort accommodations, concert access, roundtrip airport transportation and more,” according to an announcement on the band’s website.
A 24-hour pre-sale will begin Wednesday at 1 p.m., before packages will go on sale to the public on Thursday at 1 p.m.
Information on ticket prices was not available, but based on similar destination music festival events the cost could range from four to five digits.
These are Hootie & the Blowfish’s first live shows since the band reunited for its massive “Group Therapy” tour and a new album, “Imperfect Circle,” in 2019. That included a three-night stay in Columbia at Colonial Life Arena.
There are no other upcoming dates scheduled for the band.
“We were blown away by the response from fans during our last tour,” lead singer Darius Rucker said in the announcement. “It was so special to be back on stage together and to know that people still love the music as much as we do. What better way to keep that celebration going than in Mexico!?”
Barenaked Ladies, who opened up for Hootie & the Blowfish on the “Group Therapy” tour, will headline the fourth night of HootieFest. The music festival features a who’s who of hitmakers from the 1990s, including Blue Traveler, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Better Than Ezra, Spin Doctors, Toadies, Sister Hazel, and Drivin N Cryin.
Sister Hazel, best known for its chart-topping hit song “All For You,” recently played at the Icehouse Amphitheater in Lexington. Sister Hazel is also listed as a performer for Irmo’s Okra Strut Festival on Sept. 25, according to the band’s website.
HootieFest is part of a series of festivals promoted by CID Presents & On Location! Other headlining acts include Dead & Company, Luke Bryan, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, Phish, and My Morning Jacket among others.
When Hootie & the Blowfish was getting started, the band played gigs at USC frat houses and were staples in Five Points bars and restaurants in Columbia.
Hootie & the Blowfish hit it big with the 1994 album “Cracked Rear View,” which has gone platinum 21 times. It remains one of the best-selling albums of all time and won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1995.
