Concerts begin to come back at ShoWare Center in Kent

The concerts are starting to come back to the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent.

Country singer Cody Johnson will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 16, according to a Monday, June 14 ShoWare Center media release. Tickets go on sale Aug. 27.

“After a year and a half without concert activity throughout our industry, it is exciting to finally be able to announce shows such as Cody Johnson and Grupo Firme,” said ShoWare Center general manager Tim Higgins in an email after COVID-19 put a halt to events at the city-owned arena in March 2020.

Grupo Firme, one of the hottest, new regional Mexican acts around, has been selling out venues across Mexico and the U.S. The group plays at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 18 in Kent. Tickets for that concert are available at accessoshowarecenter.com.

Those are the only two concert bookings so far this year, but more are expected.

“Concert promoters have been reaching out to us for dates to accommodate for the increasing number of show tours in the fourth quarter of 2021 and all of 2022,” Higgins said.

Johnson, a Texas native, will play more than 40 shows in the United States beginning this week, including two sold-out shows at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. He has stops in Boise and Yakima just prior to Kent before heading to Cleveland and Detroit.

“There are few feelings more amazing than being on stage with my friends in front of all our fans,” Johnson said in a press release. “I can’t tell you how excited the whole gang is to finally be back on the road playing country music for you.”

Singers Easton Corbin and Ian Munsick will join Johnson in Kent and at several other tour stops.

Johnson also recently released the new song “Sad Songs and Waltzes,” a retelling of Willie Nelson’s 1973 classic featuring the global icon himself. Johnson’s 2019 No. 1 album, “Ain’t Nothin’ to It,” features the single “On My Way to You,” his first Top 40 hit on Country Airplay. Johnson said a new, 18- track double album will be coming in the fall.

Johnson has amassed more than 2.1 billion streams of his music, racking up two New Male Artist of the Year nominations at the Academy of Country Music Awards and a New Artist of the Year nomination at the Country Music Association Awards.

Corbin’s distinctive baritone has been gracing airwaves for the past decade as his chart-topping debut single “A Little More Country Than That” in 2010 established Corbin as a mainstay on the country charts. Billboard’s 2010 Top New Country Artist would go on to garner another No. 1 hit with the feel-good “Roll With It.”

Wyoming-born singer-songwriter Munsick’s upbringing was a mix of working the ranch and working crowds. Incorporating elements across genres, he has now begun to establish himself as a progressive artist with an old soul. He has been named one of Spotify’s inaugural Hot Country Artists to Watch. His debut album “Coyote Cry” is out now.

Ticket prices for Johnson are $103 for VIP GA floor, $48 for P2 GA floor and P3 reserved bowl, $43 for P4 reserved bowl and $38 for P5 reserved bowl.

Disney on Ice to return

The popular Disney on Ice event is scheduled for Oct. 27 through Nov. 1, Higgins said. Tickets are not yet for sale.

The Seattle Thunderbirds junior hockey team returns to Western Hockey League play in October as the anchor tenant of the arena. The league schedule has not yet been released. Training camp starts the end of August.

“All of this activity is dependent on the governor allowing us to be at 100% capacity, and I believe this will be the case as vaccinations are reaching the 70% threshold he has established for fully opening our venues,” Higgins said.

Job fair

To prepare for the reopening of the 6,200-seat arena, Higgins said a job fair will be held in mid-August, with the date yet to be determined.

“W will need 200 part-time staff for restarting our event schedule,” Higgins said.