An Evening with Dr. John and The Neville Brothers
A Fundraiser for the Englert and Summer of the Arts! Two iconic American musical legends unite on one stage for an unforgettable evening of music on Valentine's weekend. A limited number of VIP Packages are available that include 2 Premium Tickets, a night at the Sheraton or hotelVetro, and dinner at a great area restaurant!
All profit will be split between Iowa City's Summer of the Arts and The Englert Theatre.
*Tickets:
LIMITED NUMBER OF VALENTINE’S VIP PACKAGES:
$300 - Includes 2 Premium Tickets, Orchestra Center Rows A-C; plus an overnight stay at the Sheraton or hotelVetro and dinner at an area restaurant. DETAILS BELOW.
$77 - Orchestra Center Rows D-U; Balcony Rows A-E
$55 - Orchestra Left or Right; Balcony Rows F-M
VIP Valentine's Packages - $300
Limited Quantity! Available by ordering over the phone or in person ONLY
1) Choose 2 PREMIUM SEATS in the first three rows
2) Add a room at the Sheraton or hotelVetro*
3) Add a $40 gift certificate to your choice of the following restaurants:*
- Devotay
- The Motley Cow
- One Twenty Six
- Graze
- Blackstone
- Taste on Melrose
- Takanami
- Carlos O'Kelly's
- Old Chicago
- Texas Roadhouse
- MORE GREAT RESTAURANTS WILL BE ADDED SOON
*VIP Packages - Fine Print:
- Choice of restaurant gift certificates and hotel will be fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis.
- No seat substitutions, please.
- No refunds or exchanges, please.
- Premium seats can only be sold as part of the VIP Package.
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About Dr. John and the Lower 911
When a BBC interviewer recently asked Dr. John, “What is the secret to musical longevity?” the legendary New Orleans artist had a ready answer. “Living,” he replied. Through more than half a century of music making, Mac Rebennack Jr. has been doing just that as he’s rolled with the highs and lows that come with being a working musician, and these days he finds himself in an extended stretch of being in the right place at the right time. Now 65, this American icon, whom fellow legend Jerry Wexler once described as “the blackest white man I know,” continues to take all that life has to offer, crisscrossing the country and spanning the globe with his band of virtuosic veterans, the Lower 911, and recording whenever the spirit moves him, which is frequently. More than ever, it seems, Dr. John’s head is brimming with ideas.
The latest one, which comes to glorious fruition on the Blue Note album Mercernary, came from his daughter Tina, who pointed out that “Personality,” a 1946 hit for Johnny Mercer, would be a perfect fit for her dad’s down-home style. In fact, Tina suggested, why not do a whole album of songs written or popularized this giant of American popular music? That got Mac thinking. Mercer was a fellow Southerner and workaholic—the Savannah-born artist wrote the words, music or both to a good 1,500 songs, a remarkable number of them classics, as well as spending decades as a performer. He could relate.
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About The Neville Brothers
The differences between the four Neville Brothers are as dramatic as the similarities that unite them. The source of the similarities is passionate funk, a feeling for blues-soaked deep pocket grooves that is the basis of their greatness and exalted place in our cultural history.
Art is the oldest. They call him Poppa Funk for a reason. He formed the first band. As both inspired singer and blistering keyboardist, his role models were Fats Domino and Bill Doggett. Art is the Founding Father. He still lives in the same Thirteenth Ward block of Valence Street where he and his siblings were raised in New Orleans.
Charles is a year younger than Art. His religions are bebop and Buddhism. His instrument is the saxophone. At fifteen, he was the first brother to leave home and hit the road, playing with everyone from the Rabbit Foot Minstrels to B.B.King. They called him "The Boy Wonder of Sax." He went to Memphis and returned home with a new stew of blues.
