Photo provided by David Thomason
Photo provided by David Thomason
Photo provided by David Thomason
River's Edge Entertainment
GODFREY — For a man who’s made his mark in the Metro East booking acts that bring warm nostalgia to music fans, David Thomason knows when it’s time for a change.
Recently, Thomason changed the name of his company from Carmen Concerts to River’s Edge Entertainment as a means of leaving the past behind and embracing a future guided by the spirit.
“Carmen Concerts was named after my ex-fiancée, and after eight-and-a-half years, I decided it was time for closure on that,” Thomason says. “I’m a man of Christian faith, and when it came time to find a new name in November, River’s Edge Entertainment was already there, like a message from above.”
Thomason is one of the driving forces behind Mississippi River Festival: Revisited, which brought the original festival acts of the 1970s back to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s campus throughout the spring and summer of 2016.
Born with the intent to serve as a summer home for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and blossoming into a renowned piece of pop culture history, Mississippi River Festival saw an original run of 12 seasons from 1969 to 1980. In that time, some of the biggest artists in world — such as Alice Cooper, the Eagles, the Who, Yes and ZZ Top, to name just a few — graced the stage for at least one of the 350-plus concerts near the present-day intersection of North University Drive and New Poag Road.
“I would say the series is back by popular demand,” Thomason boasts, citing the especially well-received show featuring Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with the Ozark Mountain Daredevils last July. “It was a great time with a great audience response.”
Daredevils bassist and multi-instrumentalist Michael “Supe” Granda also was instrumental in reviving the concert series throughout the course of late 2015 and early 2016.
Recently, the MRF Revisited series moved from SIUE’s Meridian Ballroom to Lewis and Clark Community College’s Hatheway Cultural Center. Thomason believes the new venue is better-suited for live acts and is happy to say beverages will be available for purchase at upcoming shows.
Leslie West’s Mountain, known for the hard rock 1970 single “Mississippi Queen,” will perform at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 11. Other upcoming shows include influential country-rock band Poco joined by Brewer and Shipley of “One Toke Over the Line” fame from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Saturday, April 29. These acts respectively played their original sets at Mississippi River Festival on July 26, 1971; July 23, 1975; and July 18, 1972.
Alongside MRF Revisited, Thomason is excited to announce that Purple Masquerade: A Prince Tribute will come to the Hatheway Cultural Center on Saturday, March 25.
“I’m not big on cover bands, but the man playing Prince (James Kincherlow) worked as his stand-in and stunt double for the ‘Graffiti Bridge’ and ‘Thieves in the Temple’ videos,” he says.
With a new moniker, new website to match and upcoming new summer venue at the Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater, Thomason remains consistent in his mission to help conjure old memories while introducing a new generation of fans to music — from the millennials who stumble across classic pop and rock tunes to the generation that first heard the hooks and riffs right here in the local area.
Information and tickets are available on the website.