If you didn’t have a ticket to the Ozark Mountain Daredevils‘ headlining concert at the Gillioz Theatre during the Birthplace of Route 66 Festival in Springfield, Missouri, on Aug. 9, no worries — the sellout show will be simultaneously broadcast for free on a 16-by-30-foot screen in Park Central Square downtown.
The band enthusiastically endorsed the idea, according to the Springfield News-Leader. And the band also had a few interesting things to say about Route 66:
In the release, band member John Dillon said that Route 66 “played a key role in Springfield’s access to popular music.”
“Because of our location on ‘The Mother Road’ our area of the country was able to tap in to the amazing talent of so many great performers from so many different genres,” Dillon said. “Our band was influenced by the spirit of Route 66, the artists who traveled through Springfield, and the music they shared.”
The show and simulcast, which includes the opening acts Powder Mill, Cindy Woolf and Mark Bilyeu, will begin at 7 p.m. Aug. 9. The city is encouraging people to bring lawn chairs to Park Central Square so they watch it.
The band’s biggest song was “Jackie Blue,” which came within an eyelash or two of being a No. 1 single in 1975. The band has been in semi-retirement for years, but surviving members reunite every so often for shows, especially in its hometown of Springfield. You can hear much of their stuff here:
Some festival proceeds will go to building the future Birthplace of Route 66 Roadside Park on College Street in Springfield.
(Image of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils in 1975 via Wikipedia)