C4 Live Entertainment and city of Augusta officials unveiled XPR Augusta, a Masters Week festival with concerts by Blake Shelton and Tim McGraw, at a news conference Tuesday, Sept. 21 at Edgars Above Broad.
“Live music and live concerts are back. They’re bigger; they’re better; and they’re not going to go away,” said Michael Perry, managing partner of C4 Live Entertainment, based in Las Vegas, Nev.
C4 Live will be investing $1.7 million in Lake Olmstead Stadium, the site of the planned concerts. Improvements to the 26-year-old stadium will begin next week to get the facility ready for the first major events, which will be held in conjunction with the Masters Tournament in April 2022.
C4 Live has a 10-year partnership agreement with the Augusta Economic Development Authority.
Blake Shelton is scheduled for an April 6 concert with Tim McGraw on April 7. A third concert will be April 8 with the headliner to be announced.
“All too often we think of just the Masters, but today we’ve got an opportunity to see Augusta as a city of entertainment,” said Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis Jr.
Augusta is known as the home of the Godfather of Soul, James Brown and opera great Jessye Norman, but with this endeavor, the mayor said the city will become known as a “destination for entertainment.”
XPR Augusta is more than just a concert. It’s designed to be an experience of sight and sound, according to Perry.
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The Pavilion will be at the heart of the venue, with chefs preparing “eclectic edible art” and various adult beverages, according to the XPR Augusta website xpraugusta.com. The spot will also have special activities, games and shopping.
The April events will kick off a year of other types of festivals and live entertainment including a Soul Music and Food Festival.
Perry said other event announcements will be forthcoming, and that the company will create 50 new full-time jobs.
Not only will XPR Augusta provide entertainment, it will give back to the community.
Philanthropy is an important aspect of what C4 Live Entertainment already does, said Perry. As the company expands into the Augusta market, it will continue that mission.
“At heart, we’re a service organization,” he said, announcing that five area charities will be the first to benefit from proceeds from the events.
The James Brown Academy of Musik Pupils (JAMP), the Jessye Norman School for the Arts, Augusta Boxing Club, Savannah Riverkeeper and Golden Harvest Food Bank are the first five organizations to receive funds.
The word “experience” was used multiple times during the news conference, and Deanna Brown Thomas, the daughter of James Brown and the president of the James Brown Family Foundation, said the best types of experiences are the ones that are felt.
“When you feel it, it stays with you,” she said.
And the community will feel the effects of XPR Augusta long after the musicians leave town.
“That is the best part,” said Thomas, who had a new name for the Garden City – the Cyber Soul City of America.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
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